We are beginning another interesting year at ACC with much to do and much to plan. That's all great news, though! We have a huge enrollment, we have talented, committed staff, and we have great support from our administrators. As with any beginning-of-the-semester memo, I always have to remind myself as well as each of you, that we don't have all of the answers we need, however, we have many of them and "not knowing" is a natural part of business life. We are steadfast in tracking down the answers to our unanswered questions, coming up with different ones, and being creative and will continue to!
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) visits us regularly every 7 or so years and reviews the college's general education and workforce programs as well as all support services. They review "where we are" based on their standards and recommendations. In addition to a visit for the overall college, they visit immediately after major changes such as a new campus, a renovated campus, etc. They visited after Round Rock opened up and they will be here a year from now for their general visit. Prior to them visiting, each area prepares extensive content as an overview for what each department is, what they do and student outcomes.
I am now gathering data and attending meetings related to SACS requests on information and status in general as well as requests for new information. Library Services is creating their section of a major document which is designed to submit "answers to SACS questions." These answers indicate status and illustrate how we measure up to SACS standards. Drafts will be reviewed by managers and facilitators and leaders as needed. When completed I will distribute a copy of it to all staff.
Higher education environments have additional accrediting bodies (in addition to SACS) for a number of areas - many of which are workforce programs. Areas such as health sciences and culinary as well as mid-management have accrediting review panels visit every 5 to 7 years to determine program status against recommended standards. We are gathering lists of visits and dates and will post these in the wiki for bibliographers and team leaders.
As we all know our new president has started his presidency. I have been in one meeting with him to date - a Highland Visioning Committee - and as you may remember although his plan is to observe for his first year - his initial goals include continuing our strategic plan and our student success initiative. We have not yet scheduled our IRT meeting with the President. I will distribute the content we have prepared for him, when it is finalized.
For a number of years the college has been moving toward expanding health and safety initiatives. Including in these policies has been a commitment to a no-smoking environment. ACC Board Policy C-10 was passed by ACC Board of Trustees last night. "It establishes a smoke-free environment for ACC, while allowing the use of smokeless tobacco products. Implementation is planned for Monday, January 2, 2012. Administrative staff will proceed with development of Administrative Rules, guidelines, and procedures; internal and external communication and signage; workshops for faculty, staff, and students to support smoking and tobacco cessation; and other actions to ensure policy compliance."
The ACC website is undergoing a number of changes and areas being explored include:
- Additional consistency of online services
- Organization of student support for learning technology
- A revision of FAQ's for Helpdesk links
In addition, the college is working with data to try and correct Directory issues. Please report problems you may find with the Directory and other search tool inconsistencies to the Helpdesk.
The College's mission, vision and values statements should be visited periodically when we are reviewing our own plans and revisiting why we do what we do.
LS Mission, Goals
The Library Leadership Team reviewed the college's mission and goals and reviewed and revised LS Mission and Goals. The Mission Statement is linked from the Library Home Page on the left sidebar and from pertinent other pages on our site.
Strategic Planning
Library Services has named an Ad hoc Strategic Planning group and will be meeting before the end of the Fall 2011 semester to review our existing LS goals and strategies and compare and revise - as appropriate - ACC strategic planning content to LS initiatives.
We are still committed to keeping LS Advisory Group/Ad hoc Workgroups and establishing a number of meetings to provide us with diverse input. These activities include:
- We have established our Ad hoc Head Librarian and Librarian Workload group. Using ACC Administrative Rules, job descriptions of team leaders and facilitators and other work responsibility documents, this group will look at equity and provide recommendations in areas such as team work, facilitator work, reference hours, and collection responsibilities - to name just a few areas.
- The Head Librarians – who have met informally together over the past few years – now have a formal meeting time beginning this fall. They are setting up meetings, establishing wiki space and will be posting agendas and minutes post meetings. Look for an email from the group on dates, locations, group leadership and with information on how to get items/issues on the agenda.
- We will continue to have our Five or Fewer meeting of librarians. It was suggested and we will have a More than Five meeting with the same questions, discussions, etc. to get input from senior staff.
- We will continue to have Team Leaders, Facilitators and Managers meetings once a month. Agendas and minutes are posted in the TLF wiki environment.
- We are continuing to have an Opening Day Collection subgroup of CDT. They are already at work on Hayes and Elgin Campuses.
- We are retaining a Sustainability presence and are identifying this responsibility - for this academic year - as that of a Steward. (Based on a recommendation of the Sustainability Facilitator from last year.
- As promised - we reduced the Technical Services MAM presence to 8 hours (down from 20 originally) and are focusing on completing MAM projects.
Services
- Usage in general
Our usage overall is up and libraries are - literally - packed with students in chairs, on the floor, etc. - Registration/student support at reference desks
The college's phone registration program is ending in its current format. I am working with Student Services to identify how we assist students needing Advising and Registration in the library/often referred from the Welcome Center. I am providing four recommendations on how Student Services might enhance their process to better prepare students in Advising Centers, A & R and Welcome Centers to name but a few areas. When Student Services responds to our data and suggestions, I will disseminate information on how they will be assisting and referring students. - Reference service at reference desks and through digital/virtual services
- We are exploring - through the Reference Facilitator - standardizing the format of online/virtual and digital access for this academic year. A more standardized platform will provide us with a more seamless delivery and simpler training modules and methods.
We are reviewing and implementing many of the recommendations of our Teaching and Learning retreat and study from last year. To this end we have an Information Literacy Facilitator who will continue to assess our Information Literacy program in all forms including in-person in libraries, in classrooms and in Blackboard and other digital and virtual teaching and learning delivery methods and mode and our "container" for delivering our resources. Our IL plans for change include our reviewing our teaching and learning relationships and a review and revision - as appropriate - of supporting and integrated curriculum and professional development for our librarians/faculty.
The college has chosen to - for the time being - reduce the number of weekend colleges and weekend hours at some locations to ensure that our funding models are secure. IRT managers were involved in all discussions and recommendations. Herb Coleman and I worked together on the design of hours for this coming year. Our goals included: ensuring services in many geographic sectors; providing support for health sciences weekend Eastview classes; advertising how our health sciences students can continue to access needed resources when libraries are closed; working with health sciences faculty to identify assignment needs for the spring and summer of the FY'12 academic year; and, finally - an aggressive marking campaign to inform those patrons most likely affected by changes at any and all campuses. LS has already been asked to/and has met with health sciences faculty on access and support issues and LS PR/Marketing will be designing standardized messages for this fall. If any IRT/LS employees have any questions on how we arrived at these decisions, please ask me, Richard Smith, Mary Hensley, etc. As stated earlier, we all worked together on choosing our direction. Note that I am very pleased that campus hours are standardized. This makes marketing what IS and ISN'T available much simpler.
Existing Campuses - Round Rock and Elgin Center
Round Rock Campus is busy, busy, and busy and the college has been wonderful in adding much needed things to our newest site. As I mentioned before, we now have our new dropped/additional ceiling to reduce dust and the sound and the office areas are being soundproofed to reduce sound in public service areas and increase privacy for staff. Our project for new study carrels on the north wall and additional tablet seats will be completed by the end of this month.
Elgin Center is open and as a reminder is a slightly different site with new furniture, research workstations and comfortable study space. Elgin Center is a model we had some time ago and we have included a small reference and periodical collection. We will have the same hours for this fall and spring as we have had this past spring and summer. Remember, Elgin Center will be open until August, 2013 when we open the Elgin Campus.
Elgin Campus
Hays Campus
Highland Mall
Our biggest news is that Highland Mall is moving along quickly. I serve on the visioning group and we have met once. You may have seen some of this in the paper, however here are some interesting points about the project:
- The college is moving to immediately begin plans to renovate Dillard's (the administrative wing) and J.C. Penny's (the academic wing). This has a quicker timeline than first thought and we are looking at approximately three years+.
- We own all of the land under all stores at Highland and entities currently in the mall have contracts and will continue through their contract years.
- The surrounding land will be developed through a partnership with Red Leaf Commercial Real Estate and is an exciting partnership.
- The academic space will be characterized by: space for approximately 6,300 student; campuses swinging in while they are renovated; NCAT-driven (National Center for Academic Transformation) student learning areas; workforce curriculum such as mathematics delivered in experimentation space; expanded opportunities for partnership such as service learning; commercial variety; and wonderful "sticky spaces" for students for support for academics as well as active learning spaces.
- The ‘swing space’ concept at the mall provides the College the capability to temporarily house displaced courses, staff, etc. Thus, as part of the College’s master planning projects, RGC is currently slated to be the first campus renovated. Affected courses and facilities will be temporarily be relocated into the Highland swing space. Libraries will “swing” with their campuses but specifics have not yet been determined. Much more discussion and planning between now and then is required. Consult the college’s facilities strategic plans for a list of campuses to be renovated. So far we know:
- Rio Grande will first swing the Annex area in to mall space with the main building staying in place.
- Rio Grande will then have the second swing space with the annex returning to RGC and then the main building closing and those areas moving to HBC.
Our visioning group is discussing how the mall might be built out and talks include...a major campus? swing space for in-progress renovations only? Commercial partnerships? Continuing Education located there? Our video/film studio located there? A child lab school there?
And while my role in the team is general visioning, I have other questions such as "should areas (like the library) 'swing' 30 year old furniture in to the new space? Should the new space be outfitted for and return to swing spaces?" There is a lot to think about.
Additional supplementary activities include subgroup meetings with visioning team members representing general ed, workforce and support areas like the library to discuss how we might present creative ideas to the larger group. I am meeting with them soon.
Planning and design ideas are NOT yet posted to the ACC Buildings and Facilities web space but will be soon.
As everyone knows, my goals include moving Technical Services to the mall. I am updating the Technical Services space needs assessment.
We had two librarians leave the college. Our new librarians are:
David Wilson - Reference Librarian, South Austin
Dave will be joining the Library Services team as a reference librarian at the South Austin Campus. Dave is a librarian, who (in his own words) is "passionate about the intersection of teaching, learning, and technology, and is committed to finding the best strategies to meet each individual student's unique learning style."
Dave holds an M.S. in Information Studies from U.T. Austin, where he complimented his reference and library instruction coursework with a capstone project designing online video tutorials. Dave also comes to ACC with a prior background in film and media, which informs his teaching style both inside and outside of the classroom, and continues to inspire him to look for new ways to engage students and promote library services.
Dave is very knowledgeable about both reference and information literacy and - through coursework, continuing education and experience has participated in the design of information literacy for student course activities, developed a library's social media presence and produced offbeat promotional videos for Banned Books Week and New Student Orientation. A 2009 graduate of ACRL's Information Literacy Immersion program, Dave also has good experience developing course-integrated information literacy activities and assessing student progress.
He started with the college Monday, October 3rd and his mentor will be Molly Dahlstrom. Because we have a number of new people beginning with us with slightly different timelines, the Staff Development Team has divided Library Services orientation and training for Dave into three parts:
- Orientation for South Austin (Pam Spooner, October)
- Spooner and others (October/ongoing)
- Orientation to ACC Library Services (All, November/ongoing)
Carrie Gits - Head Librarian, Rio Grande Campus
Carrie is joining the team as a Head Librarian for the Rio Grande Campus. She comes to us with a variety of experiences in academic libraries including experience as a Communication and Latin American Studies Librarian at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL and an Assistant Director of Reference at Nova Southeastern University's (NSU) Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center. Her library management experience (recruiting, hiring, training, evaluating) includes management of circulation desk staff as well as management of professional librarians and student employees. In her positions she has been responsible for outreach; and references services including scheduling and assessment and Carrie also has extensive experience in library instruction including management of a program, general information literacy instruction and teaching a three credit Research Methods course.
Carrie is professionally active at the local, regional, and national level. She participated in the regional SEFLIN Sun Seekers Leadership Institute and presented on technology and leadership topics at SEFLIN Regional Conferences, ALA Annual, ACRL National, and internationally at ACURIL. Carrie's interests in librarianship encompass reference, library instruction, staff development, emerging technologies, and leadership in libraries.
Carrie begins employment at ACC on November 1st and her mentor will be Leigh Kilman. Because we have a number of new people beginning with us with slightly different timelines, the Staff Development Team has divided Library Services orientation and training for Carrie into sections that include:
- Orientation for Rio Grande (Julie Todaro, Leigh Kilman, November)
- Orientation to ACC Library Services (All for overall LS, Julie Todaro for management)
Our thanks to Dr. Richard Smith and Dr. Mary Hensley for their ongoing support for Library Services and for their assistance in the hiring process.
New classified staff
Two managers converted hourly funds to create two ½ time positions for libraries with fewer staffing table classified staff at circulation desks. Nathaniel Dickerman - previously an hourly library circulation desk employee (Round Rock, Pinnacle) - is the new Cypress circulation desk employee and the new Pinnacle ½ time employee is Charlene Michallick. Both new employees are very customer service oriented and are very familiar with library settings.
Staffing Changes
I am pleased to announce that Jennifer Weber is moving to Riverside Campus Library Services as Head Librarian! Most - if not all of us -- know Jennifer based on her previous roles in the college which include - in order since 2001 - management of IRT public service spaces (computer centers); IRT server administrator; and Round Rock reference librarian. She is an excellent educator, has experience managing in a variety of higher ed, community college and library environments and is a tech expert.
Jen began her position on Tuesday, September 27th and we are working on a schedule for acquainting her with her new position and with her campus. A special thanks to Margaret Peloquin, who has managed both Eastview and Riverside Libraries for a number of years. I am so grateful to her for her expertise, her flexibility and her service at both locations. I know she has come and gone from Riverside a number of times over the past years and that she will be missed (again) by Riverside Library Services.
In addition:
Terese Morgan has moved from South Austin as Head Librarian to Reference Librarian at the Riverside Campus. Sallie Buchner is now working part time in Technical Services and part time for Pinnacle circulation. Lola Cowling moved from Eastview to Riverside, Cary Sowell moved from Riverside to Eastview and Jonathan Buckstead moved from Riverside to Cypress Creek. Pam Spooner moved from Rio Grande as Head Librarian to South Austin as Head Librarian. Adrian Whatley moved from Cypress as Reference Librarian to South Austin as a Reference Librarian.
Basic skills - As we all know we are continuing with our basic skills assessment. We will continue to refine our tech skills assessments as well as integrate new ACC elements such as Google Apps - into our skills sets and tech skills assessments.
Orientation and Training - New Staff and Staff in New Roles
We are still training our new staff and - as needed - staff in new roles. This includes not only management and campus library staff training but also one-on-one, work with mentors, tours of campuses and meeting with individuals responsible for certain areas. If you haven't noticed already, our training is an ongoing - continuous learning - role and responsibility of all of us. Thanks to everyone who has met and will be meeting with new staff to integrate them into Library Services. We continue to coordinate and streamline orientation and training.
Membership in Central Texas Library System (CTLS)
ACC Library Services joined a local consortium (no membership fee at this time). We are the first academic library to join CTLS and it will provide us with a number of unique staff development opportunities. Watch the SDT’s emails from Sheila Henderson with CTLS webinars, workshops, etc.
Core Collections
Bibliographers are working on creating core print and media collections. These cores will be compared against our existing collections and then be used for the Opening Day Collections for new campuses.
Textbook Collection
We continue to review our textbook collection availability, weeding and circulation.
Elgin Campus and Hays Campus - ODC
We are currently working on Opening Day Collections for Elgin and Hays Campuses.
Media Collection
We formed an Ad hoc group last year whose goal was to discuss media, accessibility, and collection management and make data-driven decisions based on use, copyright, and space. Although this group is still managing the process, we are making significant process on weeding outdated media and identifying replacement media in more contemporary formats.
Counting In-library Use
The FY'10 Collection Development Team organized a pilot in-library use study. We are reviewing the pilot (began Fall '2011 semester) and determining what data can be gathered and inferred by in-house use.
- We are drafting a patron code of conduct. We are reviewing in LLT and will have ACC Police Chief Lynn Dixon review for accuracy and correct handling. We are hopeful we can post it/implement it into our processes in Spring of 2011.
- We are continuing to review our facilities to determine the best use of space as well as updated furniture needs.
- Our strategic planning group will meet this fall. Using the college's documents and strategic plan as a foundation, the group will determine the planning process for Library Services to use in designing a three to five year plan of action.
Funding for FY'13 is uncertain for the state in general and for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Current plans for the statewide database program are certain, however, it is know that the agency lost 6 million dollars and the database funding for the aggregated subscription program has shrunk significantly. A smaller program - beginning in July of 2012 - necessitates "shopping around" and our E-Resources Facilitator is exploring costs while the statewide academic director's group is exploring membership in other consortia.
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