The Libraries’ 2014-2019 Strategic Plan Steering Committee is pleased to offer its first quarter 2016 update to the Strategic Plan with the introduction of the 2016-17 Action Plan (PDF).

The committee’s sponsors have begun charging group leaders and committee members for objectives listed in the action plan.

The action plan includes a timeline for each action, expected deliverables, a leadership sponsor, the action’s reflection of the Penn State Strategic Plan thematic priority or supporting element, and its status.

There are a total of 33 proposed actions — 11 for Advancing University Research, including one moved to the agenda of the associate deans; nine for Discovery, Access, and Preservation; and 13 for Teaching and Learning. One action is listed as substantially completed, nine are in progress, 18 are in the planning phase, and five are to be initiated between now and June 30, 2017.

At the end of this action plan, the University Libraries’ roles in university-level initiatives like engaged scholarship, Invent Penn State, and research data management will be better defined. We also will have advanced Libraries’ work in support of outcomes-based assessment of student learning, digital preservation, and digital scholarship.

The Strategic Plan Steering Committee has established a communication strategy to keep everyone updated on our progress on each action item and to continue to involve University Libraries faculty and staff in advancing the strategic plan. Each quarter, we will update the status of each action item. To continue to advance the strategic plan, an action plan will be completed during the early part of each spring semester. In the fall of each year, a small group will be charged to gather feedback on the current action items and to brainstorm additional action items for the upcoming action plan.

The University Libraries strategic plan document is also currently being slightly revised to place the programmatic areas, goals, and objectives in the context of the recently adopted Penn State strategic plan. None of the objectives of the plan will change; however, the Steering Committee will place them in the larger context of strategic planning at the university level.

We welcome your feedback on the current action plan, process for updating the action plan, communication strategy, and revisions to the strategic plan. Please feel free to send your comments or questions to any member of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee (UL-STRATEGIC-PLAN-STEERING@lists.psu.edu):

Chris Avery (cca2@psu.edu)
Matt Ciszek (mpc16@psu.edu)
Karen Estlund (kme20@psu.edu)
Jennifer Gilley (jrg15@psu.edu)
Anne Langley (ael22@psu.edu)
Lana Munip (lzm10@psu.edu)
Rob Olendorf (rko5039@psu.edu)
Kimlyn Patishnock (kjp2@psu.edu)
Sheila Sager (sss2@psu.edu)
Joe Salem (jas1218@psu.edu)
Diane Zabel (dxz2@psu.edu)