What Provosts Want Librarians to Know, Beth Paul, Stetson University
1. University Library
as Institutional Change Agent
Elizabeth L. Paul, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs
Stetson University
Charleston Conference
November 8, 2013
2. The Higher Education Landscape
American higher education has become … increasingly
risk-averse, at times self-satisfied, and unduly expensive.
It is an enterprise that has yet to address the
fundamental issues of how academic programs and
institutions must be transformed to serve the changing
educational needs of a knowledge economy. It has yet to
successfully confront the impact of globalization, rapidly
evolving technologies, an increasingly diverse and aging
population, and an evolving marketplace characterized by
new needs and new paradigms.
– Commission on the Future of Higher Education, 2006
3. One University in the National Higher
Education Landscape
• Stetson University
– A private university with four locations in Central
Florida
– 2700 undergraduate students / 1400 graduate
students (1000 law)
– Primarily residential
– Four Colleges/Schools: Liberal learning core
– Character of learning:
rigor, relationship, responsibility
4. One University in the National Higher
Education Landscape
• Libraries
– duPont-Ball Library
• Multidisciplinary
• Supports undergraduate and graduate programs in College
of Arts and Sciences, School of Music, School of Business
Administration
– Dolly and Homer Hand Law Library
• Unidisciplinary
• Supports College of Law graduate programs
• Tampa Law Center Library (satellite)
7. The Critical Role of the University
Library and Library Leaders in
University Renewal
• University libraries are more reflective than
academic departments of what society needs
from higher education
– Interdisciplinarity
– Multiple literacies
– Swimming vs. drowning in information
– Nimbleness, risk-taking, adaptability
8.
9. The Critical Roles of Library Leaders
Success
Coaches
Role models
Integrators
Bridges
Path Makers
Change
Agents
Educators
Neutral
Hosts
Innovators
Collaborators
11. Library Leaders as Change Agents and
Path Makers
• Adaptive Leaders
– Constant business model adaptation
• Demand-driven acquisitions; ebooks
– Proactive vs. reactive
– Innovative and resourceful
– Future oriented – leading vs. lagging
13. Library Leaders as Innovators
• Proactive vs. reactive
– New tools
– Integration of technology
– Academic innovation
– “Inciters” – under guise of service
provision, introduce new strategies and resources
as triggers for pedagogical or research
advancement
15. Library Leaders as Educators
• Experts in learning
• Informants about students as learners
– Front line interaction and observation
• Faculty and staff development
17. Library Leaders as Hosts
• Sense of place
• Place for wonder, expanding one’s
mind, transformation
• Place for intellectual interaction and
celebration
20. Library Leaders as Hosts
• Place for innovation, intellectual play and
experimentation
• Reinforce intellectual identity as part of a life
well lived
22. Library Leaders as Success Coaches
• Learning Commons
– Student Success partnership
• Integrated Success Coach model
– Key role in retention and progression
• Student employer / career developer
– Transferability of librarian skills
– Students as active leaders of innovation in library
24. Library Leaders as Neutral
•
•
•
•
“Safe,” “trusted,” “apolitical”
Integrated / central in University
The role of librarian faculty in shared governance
Neutral role in curriculum development
(disciplinary, interdisciplinary, General Education)
• The role of library dean on the senior academic
leadership team
26. Library Leaders as Collaborators and
Bridges
• Collaborators
– Coalition builders – inside and outside of the University
– Mutually-beneficial consortial agreements
• Bridges
– To new information/knowledge
– Between people / entities
– New student / faculty socializers
• Dean meetings – prospective faculty
• Personal librarians – all new students
• Establish partnership for learning right from the beginning
30. Library Leaders as Role Models
•
•
•
•
Curious – thinking ahead – looking into the future
Risk-takers
Path-makers
University stewards
– Mission – unique recognition of interdependence of all
components
– Resources – responsible management
• Assessment – use of data for continuous
improvement, innovation, and fiscal responsibility
• Strategic choices – clarity of purpose and goals
31. Library Personnel Models for
University Adaptive Leadership
• Faculty vs. staff
• Tenure vs. non-tenure-track/term-limited
faculty
• Director vs. dean
• Imperative of professional
development, renewal, leadership
development