LISC Report for Senate Meeting 4/12/23
LISC met on April 4th, 2023. We approved minutes from the March 3rd meeting and received updates
from the Dean of Libraries, the CIO, and the LISC Chair.
Report from the Chair (Lindsay Van Berkom)
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OPIC membership update to follow at next meeting
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LISC membership decisions and updates will take place at next meeting
Report from the Libraries (Carey Hatch)
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Facilities:
o Current Periodicals Reading Room – painted, furniture ordered, technology selected,
carpet arrived. Wall wraps installed today
i.There will be delays in the technology due to a local company supplying classroom
technology closing
o Presidents Room – at the request of the President we’re looking at the room. It has 8 oil
portraits of former Presidents. We are looking to add photos of the other past Presidents.
o We had a meeting with the new Facilities Director to discuss carpeting and other
facilities improvements
o New trees and plants were brought into the Science Library Atrium, with financial
support from other residents
o We’re planning improvements to the front service desk area over the summer
o The Dewey Library has traditionally experienced lower volumes of usage compared to
our other library facilities, and as overall student traffic is waning on the Downtown
Campus, I anticipate that usage will drop off even further over the course of the next few
academic years. Our response to the drop in usage has been to cut hours and services. This
may be an appropriate short-term response, but I believe that it is time to reconsider how
the Dewey Library might be better utilized to serve the University. Dewey Library is a
historical building with a rich history at UAlbany. It has beauty, charm, and provides a
convenient location for students that live off-campus and faculty that live locally or have
community partnerships in the downtown area. Therefore, we will be engaging a group of
campus stakeholders in conversations about the future of the Dewey Library over the next
few weeks.
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Student success activities
o Study Sunday
- Kicked off 2/19 with coffee and a raffle
- Continues with coffee and promotion
- We have been promoting the event and have been reaching out to other units
on campus. We’re still brainstorming ideas that will encourage students to come.
- We have used this opportunity to align communications with Student
Affairs. This will help us beyond Study Sundays
- We are now looking at this as semester to build on so we hit the ground running
in the Fall
o We continue to build partnerships across campus
- We had a meeting of the various student success entities in the Undergrad
Education Department.
- Academic Coaches held 6 classes in B16 this month for student on academic
probation
- Hoping to bring Tutoring activities into the Library
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Reorganization – the plan was delivered to the Provost in late February. Discussion scheduled
with her for the end March was postponed until mid-April.
o Reviewing proposed actions with ODI
o We’ll be looking to utilize the summer for implementation and professional
development to be in position to launch by Fall Semester
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Institutional Research has released the Library Satisfaction Survey on April 3. The survey will
close on April 24.
Report from ITS (Brian Heaton)
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ITS Report
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Congratulations: Michael Dzikowski won the President’s Excellence Award in
Professional Service
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IT Strategic Plan finalized and to be published this month
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Currently 18 vacancies in ITS out of 110 positions
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CNSE Reunification
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Began working with NYCreates IT staff, SUNY Poly IT staff, and the CNSE Dean's
office to inventory the technologies in place and IT services provided to CNSE
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AI Initiative
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Finalizing the design of the large AI cluster for purchase
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Evaluating cloud-based options to hold us over until the new system is in service
Working with VPRED office to additionally explore partnerships to diversify capabilities available to
faculty and researchers
Report from CATLOE (Aviva Bower)
No report
Upcoming LISC Meeting: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
