Our most important priorities for the coming years are described in the following ten initiatives.
1. EWFM 2.0
LTS has started an extensive study of the E.W. Fairchild-Martindale Library and Computing Center (EWFM) to determine faculty, student, and staff needs. Through this initiative, we will determine the appropriate collection of print materials to be housed in EWFM; decide which areas of the physical building can be modified to increase the space dedicated to student study (both private study environments and student-centered collaborative learning spaces); explore the possibility of creating new instructional and creativity spaces; assess off-site storage needs; expand the role of our digital library; and determine optimal uses of our various physical facilities.
2. Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning
Lehigh’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) will continue to provide faculty, students, and staff with pedagogical development opportunities, teaching tools, course re-design guidance, classroom and instructional support, and consultation services. Areas of focus in the coming years will include collaborative and peer-to-peer learning, inclusive teaching, the use of online learning to enhance face-to-face courses, video and media production for teaching and research, enhanced classroom technologies, writing as a tool for learning, the integration of library and computing resources into coursework, and a strategic expansion of fully online courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
3. Open Access, Open Source, and Online Learning
LTS will continue to explore the possibilities the Internet provides for sharing the fruits of research and scholarship more freely and openly, for participating in cooperative software development efforts, and for enhancing education. As part of this initiative, LTS will work with the Library Users Committee to move the campus to adopt and create more open access scholarly materials; will work with faculty and staff to adopt or create open source software whenever doing so is appropriate to meet campus needs; and will develop and use effective online forms of learning.
4. Cyberinfrastructure
LTS will partner with the university administration and faculty to identify and obtain funding for our $30 million campus network plan, which needs to be implemented within the next five years if we are to maintain a highly reliable, cutting-edge research and education network. The plan has four major components: updating and expanding our core network capacity; expanding our fiber optic capacity in key locations across the university; updating and replacing antiquated wired and wireless infrastructure in key research-intensive buildings and other campus facilities; and providing a network security overlay infrastructure that protects the campus network from external security threats.
5. Cybersecurity
LTS will champion information security as a core priority for the university. We will mature Lehigh’s cybersecurity infrastructure, promote administrative and technical safeguards, infuse security within our cyberinfrastructure, and continually reassess our risk exposures. As data custodians, we will partner with leadership and data stewards to identify sensitive data, reduce our overall exposure by reducing our data footprint, and provide greater security in access controls, storage, and exchanges of data. LTS will provide user security education, training, and awareness and clearly communicate security policies and processes.
6. Next Generation Library and Administrative Systems
LTS, in conjunction with the Information Systems Steering Committee and University administration, will continually assess and optimize the systems we use to conduct the business of the university. This initiative will include assessing the future of our administration systems including cloud-based services. LTS will also continue to work collaboratively with the Open Library Environment (OLE) open source consortial partnership to further develop and extend the capabilities of this next generation library information system.
7. Alignment of Resources and Staff to Support Lehigh Initiatives
LTS will continually evaluate its allocation of budget and staff resources in order to support new university initiatives such as Mountaintop, DataX, the Mellon-funded Digital Humanities program, and new online teaching programs, while also maintaining appropriate support for existing university programs. To successfully support all these areas we will require additional staff and funding.
8. Diversity and Inclusion
LTS will ensure that all of our interactions with faculty, students, staff, and visitors are professional, inclusive, respectful, and courteous. This initiative, guided by the LTS Diversity and Inclusion Committee, will create diversity training and mentorship opportunities for staff and student employees, offer Inclusive Teaching and Mentorship workshops for faculty and graduate students, and continually reaffirm our organization’s commitment to Lehigh’s “Principles of Our Equitable Community.”
9. Organizational Assessment, Improvement, and Communication
In order to track and communicate our progress toward our goals, LTS will formalize our annual goal setting process and commit to sharing our goals and accomplishments both internally and externally, in print and on the web. In order to develop staff skills and ensure continuity of business, LTS will also commit to staff professional development and succession planning.
10. Partnerships and Support
For these initiatives to be successful, they must be funded. Some funding will come from internal allocations and budget requests, but LTS will also collaborate with faculty in the four colleges, Advancement, and the Office of Research to identify, cultivate, and leverage partnerships with foundations, corporations, philanthropic organizations, federal agencies, and alumni.