Category Archives: Strategic Planning

Strategic Plan in Action: Invent Penn State

by John Meier, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library, Strategic Action Plan Blogging Team

Since President Barron announced the Invent Penn State initiative at the beginning of 2015 the many startup and entrepreneurship efforts already underway at Penn State have gained new momentum. The commitment of $30 million drew the most interest in the beginning. The emphasis on innovation and commercialization from our university leadership, recently praised by the governor, has shown far-reaching results both geographically and in impact. One of the most visible Invent Penn State successes has been the opening of Launchbox and Innovation Hubs across Pennsylvania from Great Valley to Lehigh Valley to Happy Valley (a.k.a. University Park). These spaces support teams just starting their businesses with new technology, networking events, and training. Another event to level-up the many “Shark Tank”-like pitch
competitions around Penn State is the biannual Invention to Venture Conference that brought serious inventors and dozens of Penn State startup companies together with interested investors. There is a massive economic impact from bringing millions of dollars of investment into Pennsylvania and creating new successful businesses here.

graphic displaying newest innovation hubs

The Invent Penn State Action Team in the University Libraries began our work in 2016 to develop a plan for engaging with this initiative. We immediately realized that the Libraries had been supporting entrepreneurship already through teaching and research support in many Colleges and many Campuses. The Entrepreneurship & Innovation (ENTI) minor, programs in business and engineering, as well as startup events in Information Sciences & Technology (IST) were already part of our instruction and liaison programs. There were new opportunities, like Global Entrepreneurship Week at University Park, where the Libraries hosts many events and delivers programs on business, patent, and government information. We discussed the challenges of providing information, often restricted by license agreements for non-commercial purposes, to entrepreneurs and found both alternative sources and partners in Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and public libraries.

Moving forward the University Libraries has a plan to improve and increase our impact with teaching and resource guides, both through deeper integration into the ENTI program and  through broader expertise in intellectual property and business resources across the state.

“At Altoona, we have expanded our guide for EMET 403: Electromechanical Design Project Preparation to include their joint design projects with the Sheetz Fellows Program,” Reference and Instruction Librarian Lori Lysiak notes. “We also retooled our guide for ENTR 320: Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation to a second, similar guide that supports World Campus students enrolled in the fully online section of ENTR 320.”

We are building strong connections to key stakeholders, including new opportunities like the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Penn State Harrisburg. Both print and electronic collections have been identified to enhance the information resources and professional reading for our users. We were approved to hire an Entrepreneurship Librarian, who can focus on the growing curricular needs, bring expertise in new venture creation, and help to coordinate our many efforts across the Commonwealth. The most important element to our success in this area is communication. With the pace of innovation speeding up, keeping track of news and identifying where the Libraries can bring our unique value will determine our success.

Strategic Plan Update: Action Plan progress as of Dec. 31, 2016

The Dec. 31, 2016, action plan update of the Libraries’ 2014-2019 Strategic Plan Steering Committee is now available as a PDF. As you review it, please note the progress on these action items over the last quarter. In addition to all of the progress underway since the last quarter, a few opportunities will be available to participate in strategic action planning over the upcoming
months.

A team of five colleagues (Heather Benner, Matt Ciszek–co-chair, Hailley Fargo, Rob Olendorf–co-chair, and Angel Peterson) will be reaching out to faculty and staff throughout the University Libraries to gather ideas for the 2017-2018 action plan over the next two months. A forum will also be announced soon to allow the action item teams that have completed their work to present it publicly.

A new monthly series in the Libraries News Blog on strategic initiatives underway will be starting in February. Four of our colleagues (Tim Auman, Elyssa Cahoy, John Meier, and Shea Wert) have agreed to write monthly articles about major strategic initiatives from not only the University Libraries perspective, but the national perspective as well.

National searches are underway for three strategic faculty positions developed to support the work of three action item teams, the Student Engagement Librarian, Open Education Librarian, and Entrepreneurship Librarian.

We always welcome your feedback on the current update of the 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:

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)

– submitted by Joe Salem, associate dean

Volunteers needed to help advance strategic plan

The Strategic Plan Steering Committee is seeking volunteers for two groups. The first will help to develop the Academic Year (AY) 2017-18 Action Plan. The group will review the progress made on the AY 2016-17 plan, review ideas gathered for new action items, and seek new ideas from our colleagues in a variety of venues, including online opportunities for brainstorming. The group will be charged in early December and their work will commence in January.

A few colleagues are also sought to help with a regular blog series on the strategic plan. We are seeking interest from colleagues with in an interest in writing short articles for the University Libraries news blog. Each article will describe new developments in our profession as well as the ways in which the University Libraries is contributing to them locally and nationally through the Strategic Action Plan.

Anyone interested in serving in either capacity or in discussing either further can get in contact with Joe Salem at jsalem@psu.edu.

– submitted by Joe Salem, associate dean

Strategic Plan Update: Action Plan progress as of Sept. 30

The Sept. 30, 2016, action plan update of the Libraries’ 2014-2019 Strategic Plan Steering Committee is now available as a PDF. As you review it, please note the progress on these action items over the last quarter.

Since the June 30 update, the Penn State strategic plan implementation has launched. As part of that process, University Libraries completed an alignment report in early September, further describing the ways in which our strategic plan and action items advance the Penn State plan. We anticipate more collaboration with external units as a result over the next year.

The Strategic Plan Steering Committee will be meeting soon to review the progress and process so far as well as next steps. Over the next month, we anticipate an open call for volunteers to gather feedback on the current action items and captures ideas for new action items. In the meantime, if you have any ideas that you would like to share, or are interested in serving on
that team, please let a member of the steering committee know.

We always welcome your feedback on the current update of the 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:

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)

Library Management Council 2016-17 work plan

The Library Management Council (LMC) has spent the first several meetings of the 2016-17 academic year seriously considering its scope of work, purpose, and membership. These conversations have resulted in a revised statement of purpose, a year-long work plan, and an injection of enthusiasm and inspiration.

LMC is committed to transparency, and in order to enact that, we will be sharing information about our goals, our progress toward those goals, and any other work that we undertake via this news blog and our Drupal page. As each set of minutes is approved, we will be posting those to our Drupal page, and announcing that posting here.

The LMC Drupal page is available on the PSU Libraries staff site at the following URL:
https://staff.libraries.psu.edu/groups/library-management-council.

Our work plan for the 2016-17 year is linked to this main page, and available via this direct URL: https://staff.libraries.psu.edu/lmc-2016-17-work-plan.

We invite feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions from all of our colleagues; those can all be sent to one or both of the current LMC co-chairs, Athena Jackson (anj11@psu.edu) and Rebecca Miller (rkm17@psu.edu).

We look forward to hearing from you and working with you over the next year!

– submitted by Rebecca Miller, Library Learning Services

Strategic Plan Update: Action Plan progress as of June 30

The June 30, 2016, action plan update of the Libraries’ 2014-2019 Strategic Plan Steering Committee is now available as a PDF. The document includes group leaders and committee members for each objective in addition to a timeline for each action, expected deliverables, a leadership sponsor, and the action’s reflection of the Penn State Strategic Plan thematic priority or supporting element.

The 33 objectives on the list include 11 for Advancing University Research (one objective of the original 12 was moved earlier to the agenda of the associate deans); nine for Discovery, Access, and Preservation; and 13 for Teaching and Learning. Three actions are listed as substantially completed, one action is the refinement/assessment phase, 20 are in progress, five are in the planning phase, and four are to be initiated between now and June 30, 2017.

At the end of this yearlong 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 (link on the staff site) 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.

In addition, we are seeking your perspectives for a new Library News blog series. What does the Libraries’ Strategic Plan mean to you? We are seeking contributors to write blog posts that reflect your individual thoughts about the plan and how you see it in practice in your work. Submissions can be sent via the Library News – Submit an Article form on the staff site using the working title “What the Strategic Plan Means to Me.” Those with additional questions (about how and what to write, etc.) can email Joe Salem.

We welcome your feedback on the current update of the 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:

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)

Strategic Plan Update: 2016-17 Action Plan

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)