Lehigh University is an internationally recognized research university with a strong residential tradition. Lehigh’s faculty, students, and staff rely on Library and Technology Services for leadership, expertise, and support as we work together to educate students, conduct research, produce and disseminate scholarship, and conduct the business of the university. In this strategic plan we reaffirm, both for ourselves and for our many campus partners, our organization’s Five Primary Goals, and set for ourselves Ten Initiatives that we believe will allow us to meet those goals. As we undertake these initiatives, we do so with an understanding that all of the choices we face are shaped by the following facts about the world in which we operate.
Technology is ever-changing.
Every day, new technologies create new possibilities for changing how we teach, learn, research, and conduct the university’s business. Today’s solutions may not be best for us tomorrow. Educational institutions must continually assess current solutions and monitor the horizon to discover, evaluate, select, and implement new technologies.
Demand is increasing.
Lehigh students, faculty, and staff are increasingly mobile, global, and connected, creating a need for resources that are available anytime from anywhere in the world. Our campus increasingly relies on technology in more areas of our academic, professional, and social lives. New academic programs, new areas of research, new administrative initiatives, and new technologies create ever-expanding expectations for access, resources, and support.
Data is increasingly accessible and vulnerable.
A growing amount of our institution’s intellectual, personal, financial, administrative, educational, scholarly, and research data are stored on our networked systems and in the cloud. While this environment creates unprecedented possibilities for efficiencies and open access, it also creates new challenges: cyberthreats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, pervasive, and complex; information security regulations and compliance requirements are continually expanding; and user expectations of privacy protection are rising.
Academic models are evolving.
All institutions of higher education face difficult questions about how best to educate students, conduct research, and disseminate scholarship, given changing demographic, economic, and social factors.
Workforce skill sets are rapidly shifting.
Today’s faculty and staff must rapidly develop new skills, adapt to changing workplace priorities, and work collaboratively to keep current with new technologies, initiatives, and programs. In addition, institutional demographics predict retirements among key staff, creating a need for transition planning and the preservation of institutional memory.
Costs are rising.
Escalating demand and the rising costs of electronic library resources, equipment lifecycle replacement, and professional staffing make it increasingly challenging to manage, expand, and improve our services.