DRAFT LISC Meeting
October 12, 2021
Present: Lindsay Van Berkom, Angela Hackstadt, Michael Dzikowski, Rebecca Mugridge, Brian Heaton,
Heather Larkin, Aviva Bower, Tyler Norton, Rakesh Naik R
Approval of minutes from 4/12/21 meeting
Report from the Chair (Lindsay Van Berkom)
Introductions and overview of LISC roster
Review of the LISC charter
Report from the Libraries (Rebecca Mugridge)
Open Access Policy. The President approved the OA Policy, effective September 15. The
Libraries are in the process of putting together an OA Policy Implementation Committee to
help evaluate workflows and develop outreach efforts.
Anna Radkowski-Lee Graduate Assistantship. The Libraries hired a GA to support outreach
and communication.
Library hours. The Libraries have had to cut back on library hours significantly this past year
due to the budget reductions. The hours are posted here: https://library.albany.edu/hours
IMC renamed “Lower Level Lab.” The Libraries reviewed services and hours of the IMC.
With the budget cuts and the loss of staff, we will be folding some equipment lending into
Access Services, and eliminating the circulation of other equipment.
EITA Update.
o
The Libraries’ disabilities services webpage has been updated:
https://library.albany.edu/services/persons-with-disabilities .
o
The Libraries conducted an inventory and assessment of assistive technologies;
they are listed here: https://library.albany.edu/services/persons-with-
disabilities#assistive-equipment-and-software
o
The Libraries’ policy: Library Services for Persons with Disabilities has been
updated and shared on our public policy library:
https://library.albany.edu/policies/persons-with-disabilities
o
The Libraries conducted an inventory of the Libraries’ furniture and space to
determine whether we are meeting guidelines. We shared the results with
Carolyn Malloch, Disabilities Coordinator, who confirmed that we are meeting
guidelines and advised us to purchase bariatric furniture. Order placed for
bariatric chairs for each of the three libraries and several library classrooms.
o
Libraries are on a list for consideration if funding becomes available for lever-
style door handles.
o
Confirmed that high quality scans and basic OCR for instructional materials are
available upon request.
o
Confirmed that transcripts are available for many, but not all, AV resources
owned or licensed by the Libraries.
o
Confirmed that closed captioning is available for many, but not all, AV resources
owned or licensed by the Libraries. We try to acquire or license materials with
closed captioning when possible, but it is not always available.
o
A committee of subject librarians has been charged with evaluating the
Libraries’ collection of materials on the spectrum of disabilities, issues, and
services, and will submit recommendations to the Director of Collections by
October 31, 2021.
o
Training offered by DeQue University is being evaluated this month. We plan to
develop a curriculum of customer service training related to persons with
disabilities for all staff, and training for faculty and staff who develop either print
or online content.
Strategic planning. The Libraries have reviewed and updated its 2018-2023 strategic plan,
documenting status. We are spending the next few months identifying priorities for the next
2-3 years.
Policy and Procedures Manual Review. The Libraries are undertaking a review of its P&P
manual with the goal being to review and update all policies by the end of 2022. As we
update policies, we are making some of them public, which you can find in our Policy
Library: https://library.albany.edu/policies
Report from ITS (Brian Heaton)
CEAS support change
o
Has always been provided by ITS, in part
o
Moved Will Augustine from CEAS into ITS on 9/16
o
ITS now provides all IT support for CEAS
CAS support change
o
CAS has always had their own IT support unit
o
Moved all CAS Computing staff (5 positions and 1 vacancy) into ITS on 10/1
o
ITS will provide at least the same level of service that CAS Computing has been
providing
Duo in front of VPN now (as of 2 weeks ago)
We're working to get our service request workflow in place for our video captioning tool
(3Play Media)
o
Coordinating with the Library on copyright issues related to the use of video, and I
believe, looking for Library to take the lead on copyright guidance for faculty
o
Chris Moore is working with Library folks
SUNY went through an RFP for a new LMS/DLE contract since the Blackboard contract is
expiring
o
Desire2Learn's Brightspace was awarded the contract
o
This will have implications to UAlbany's DLE
o
ITS is working closely with ITLAL and the Provost's Office on next steps
ITS continues to advocate for a student tech fee increase
o
UA students pay $682/year
o
The other 3 University Centers average $844/year; all 3 are over $800
ITS is reviewing the Responsible Use of IT Resources policy
Several ITS vacancies are posted
o
Difficulty recruiting for most positions, particularly:
Research Technology Manager
Research Technology Analyst
Report from ITLAL (Aviva Bower)
Fall workshops for faculty and instructional staff have concluded, but our workshop
series for graduate students begins next week. If you work with graduate students
who are preparing for the academic job market, please direct them to www.itlal.org
to learn more. A full listing of workshops is available from the Events tab.
ITLAL’s Early Semester Survey service closes at the end of this week (October 15).
Instructors have the option of administering paper or web surveys this semester. To
request surveys for a course, visit our website (www.itlal.org) and click on the Our
Services tab.
ITLAL recently published a collection of resources specifically aimed at graduate
students who are new to teaching. If you work with graduate students who are
teaching this semester or preparing to teach soon, please let them know about the
Toolkit for New Teachers, available at www.itlal.org/tnt.
Reorganization is currently underway to create a new organization, the Center for
the Advancement of Teaching, Learning, and Online Education (CATLOE), that will
bring together the functions of three existing units: ITLAL, OTL, and Educational
Technology Services (ITS). The primary goal of this reorganization is to create a
“one-stop shop” for teaching and learning support. We believe this will facilitate
faculty access to all the University’s teaching support and development resources
and provide seamless support for the development and implementation of online
programs. Details of the center’s structure are still being finalized, so you’ll be
hearing more details in the days to come. We are very excited to continue
supporting effective teaching and learning at UAlbany in this new organization.
Rakesh raised graduate student concerns regarding library hours
Specifically mentioned Dewey Library is not open late enough M-F and is closed on the
weekends
Graduate Students have expressed they are not happy with the lack of
evening/weekend hours and do not feel
they should have to drive Uptown to use the library during later evening hours or
weekends
The Dean of the Libraries (Rebecca) explained the current hours are due staff losses, not
being able to fill positions, and budget cuts.
Upcoming Senate Meeting: Wednesday, October 13
Upcoming LISC Meeting: Tuesday, November 16 at 3:30 PM
