Most important contributions as a
Library and Information Science faculty member:
As a faculty member, I have contributed to the Division’s strength
in information technology. I developed and first taught the
Database Management and Networks courses. I also regularly taught
Computer Programming, Introduction to Information Science, and
Introduction to Reference Materials and Services. I also have
taught a wide variety of other courses as the need arose, courses I
had previously taught at Rutgers and Alabama.
As Director of DLIS, I lead the Division toward more
interactions with other units of the University, toward increased
grant funding, and toward a more modern information infrastructure.
Under my direction we submitted an application for a Double Degree
program with Sociology; we established a teaching assignment for a
member [who much later joined the Division's faculty] of the
Mathematics and Computer Science Department to teach selected
information technology courses; we arranged with the undergraduate
Telecommunications Program (College of Professional Studies) to
teach a telecommunications course for the Division; I served on the
University’s Information Resources 2000 Taskforce; and was chair of
the Graduate Council’s Ad Hoc Information Technology and Distance
Education Committee. I made substantial contributions to the
reports used by the latter two committees. I have applied for and
received fellowship grants under the Higher Education Act and the
Freedom Support Act. As part of the University’s Information
Technology Initiative the DLIS developed a strong, modern,
versatile information infrastructure, including the first wireless
data network on campus. These developments for DLIS were largely a
result of the Division’s faculty and my participation in a variety
of committees concerning information technology. The Division’s
early loading of a home page on the University’s World Wide Web
server also demonstrated our interest and competence in information
technology. We were one of three departments within the Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences to develop pages during the first cycle
of website development; Mathematics and Computer Science and
Theology being the other two departments. In my subsequent
positions, I have remained an active instructor in the division and
have participated in its planning efforts. My position in the
University administration have served to make the Division more
visible than it otherwise might have been.