ACTION ITEMS
Amazon Business orders: The iSchool has been informed that the University will discontinue its contract with Amazon Business, likely in mid-March. In preparation for this change, all orders must be placed by Friday, February 26. Questions? Contact Emily Volk.
Biennial inventory: The deadline has been extended by campus, so if you have not completed the iSchool's biennial inventory form, please do so as soon as possible. If you have questions, please contact the Help Desk.
Employment requests: Please watch for the following emails in early March and respond promptly, contacting Lori Kelso with questions:
- Information regarding how to submit requests for summer graduate student assistants and hourly employees will be emailed to faculty and staff (appointments for summer teaching assistants will be coordinated by Academic Affairs).
- Information for faculty summer appointments, including instructions for submitting a request, will be emailed to faculty.
Joint Conference on Digital Libraries: The iSchool will be hosting JCDL 2021 this September. Calls for Participation have been released. Researchers, please consider submitting your work, especially if you have a workshop submission, and please inform your students about the Doctoral Consortium. If you are interested in volunteering to help with the conference, please email Alaine Martaus.
Research Services workshops: Watch for email announcements regarding upcoming short workshops designed to provide insights and guidance regarding new opportunities in research. Topics will include navigating the NIH/NSF SciENcv online forms and using Amazon to pay research participants. If you have suggestions for useful topics, please email Alaine Martaus.
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
CCB 75th Anniversary Celebration: Register online for the following lectures in February-March (all lectures presented at 12:00 p.m.):
- Thursday, February 25,"CENTERED: The Life and Times of a Book Review Journal," presented by Professor Emerita Betsy Hearne
- Wednesday, March 3, "Storytelling: From Story Times to Epistemological Information Divides," presented by Kate McDowell
- Tuesday, March 23, "Advocacy and Infographics: Doing the Work for Diversity in Youth Literature and Librarianship," presented by Sarah Park Dahlen (MS '09, PhD '09)
Eldercare Group: The iSchool Eldercare Group continues this spring with meetings every second Thursday of the month. The next meeting will be on Thursday, March 11. Please email Kate McDowell if you would like to be included on the Outlook invitation for the series.
Film discussion panel: In celebration of Black History Month, the iSchool Diversity Committee will host the following event:
- Sunday, February 28, "John Lewis: Good Trouble" film discussion panel
Register here for the panel discussion. Questions? Contact Victor Jones.
iSchool Student Showcase: Save the date for this annual event, which now includes undergraduate students:
Please announce the event in your classes and encourage students to submit proposals as well as attend. Any current BS, MS, or CAS student is eligible to submit completed, in-progress, and prospective work related to the information sciences. Questions? Contact Kristin Walters.
Parenting Affinity Group: This meeting is open to the iSchool community and provides a space to talk, share, and develop resources for working parents during this challenging time.
- Friday, March 5, 1:00 p.m. (please contact Melissa Ocepek for Zoom information)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Alumni participants: If you need alumni participation for a panel, guest lecture, or similar event, please contact Jill Gengler.
December Virtual Convocation: For those who missed this celebratory event, the program and recording are available on the iSchool website.
Enrollment increase: The iSchool's total enrollment for the spring semester is 1,063 students, which is an increase of 220 students (26%) compared to spring 2020. This increase includes 148 BS/IS students and 61 MS/LIS students as well as greater diversity in the student population.
EurekAlert!: To increase media coverage of iSchool research news, the communications team has subscribed to EurekAlert!, an online news service featuring health, medicine, science, and technology news from leading research institutions and universities. Questions? Contact Cindy Brya.
Fab Lab e-newsletter: The CUC Fab Lab Innovator is a new quarterly email newsletter highlighting the many ways the Fab Lab serves our campus and broader community as well as sharing events and programs. Questions? Contact Lara Orr.
Library Trends: Clara M. Chu and Jaya Raju have been appointed as coeditors-in-chief of Library Trends, effective February 1, 2021. They succeed Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, who has served in this role since January 1, 2017.
New iSchool position: Dean Santos recently secured approval from campus for a new position of Director or Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Diversity Working Group and the iSchool's Diversity Committee will be consulted in the development of the job description.
Proposal submissions: Please be timely with your submissions. Deadlines for funding agencies often overlap, and multiple faculty may be submitting for the same award. In addition, University's SPA guidelines currently request that you submit materials at least four days prior to the sponsor's submission due dates.
Spring academic calendar: Courses for the second half of the semester begin on Monday, March 22. No classes will be held on Wednesday, March 24, or Tuesday, April 13.
Summer/fall course scheduling: Academic Affairs and Student Affairs are working on course scheduling; please watch for email inquiries. The Office of the Registrar will provide an update on March 1 regarding the scheduling and instructional outlook for fall. Priority registration begins on April 19. A marked increase in iSchool course enrollments is anticipated for the fall, and Academic Affairs is planning accordingly. Please contact Emily Knox with questions.
"The Power of Information" tagline: Our homepage carousel now features this new tagline, which strengthens the iSchool's brand through consistent messaging regarding the excellence and societal importance of our teaching, research and engagement. The next steps in implementation include developing templates and recruitment materials.
Zoom Webinars: The iSchool has one Zoom Webinar license, which will remain active through June 30. Available on a first-come, first-served basis, webinars allow view-only attendees and can host up to 500 participants. If you have questions or would like to know more, please email the Help Desk.