We’re hiring in LIS! :D

We’re hiring! Please distribute widely.

Assistant or Associate Professor – Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) – Req.#12F01

Job Description:

St. Catherine University in St. Paul/Minneapolis is a comprehensive Catholic university with the nation’s largest college for women at its center. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1905, the University integrates liberal arts and professional education within the Catholic traditions of intellectual inquiry and social teaching. Committed to excellence and opportunity, St. Catherine enrolls over 5,200 students in associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral programs in both traditional day and weekend formats. Associate and Graduate programs enroll both women and men.

The Master of Library and Information Science Program is seeking an experienced, dynamic, visionary candidate to join our learning community as Assistant or Associate Professor. We seek applicants who have research and teaching expertise in web information systems.

Responsibilities: Teaching required and elective courses; conducting research; meeting service and scholarship expectations for tenure and promotion; providing vision and advocacy for the program’s IT infrastructure needs; student advising/mentoring.

Qualifications:

Earned doctorate in library or information science, computer science, information technology, or other related fields; expertise in several of the following areas: information architecture, web development, database management, universal design and accessibility; effective teaching and scholarship in the broad area of information science; ability to design and deliver courses in a variety of formats, including online and hybrid modalities; strong commitment to interdisciplinary research and cultural diversity.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience with the information technology infrastructure used in libraries and information centers; demonstrated potential for multidisciplinary research funding; knowledge of mobile technology applications and internet multimedia technologies; new program development and progressively responsible administrative and leadership experience.

The MLIS Program’s primary goal is to empower students to become future leaders in the complex and ever-changing information environment. The Program has over 180 master’s students and over 750 alumnae. Learning takes place in modern classrooms using up-to-date technology. The MLIS degree provides diverse programs of study in librarianship, with increasing emphasis on digital and web services. The Program offers a school media specialist licensure in collaboration with the Education Department. It also offers a joint post-master’s certificate in organizational leadership with the University’s Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MAOL) Program and offers information technology courses that support the MAOL master’s program

St. Catherine University seeks creative, adaptable faculty who enjoy working in a university climate that promotes cultural diversity and multicultural understanding. Consistent with the university’s Catholic identity, its commitment to women, diversity and social justice, preference will be given to candidates who manifest these themes in their teaching, research and service.

Send résumé & cover letter to:

Application: Submit an application letter, CV, evidence of excellence in teaching, academic transcripts, and the names and contact information of three references to Human Resources Req. #12F01, St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Ave, F-17, St. Paul, MN 55105 or fax to 651-690-6871, or email to hr@stkate.edu Official transcripts will be required for hire. For more information, contact the MLIS Search Committee (Joyce Yukawa and Sarah Park, Co-Chairs), at

jyukawa@stkate.edu Position will remain open until filled. Review of applications begins March 1, 2012.

St. Catherine University
2004 Randolph Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105
EEO/Drug Free Workplace Employer
Tobacco-Free Campuses
Our university is a proud member of the Upper Midwest HERC and is committed to recruiting and retaining outstanding and diverse faculty and staff and assisting dual career couples. For more information and to find other higher education jobs in the Upper Midwest region, visit: www.uppermidwestherc.org

How to Prepare Your Academic Dossier

My dossier binder

During a recent chat with some friends, I realized that it may be helpful for junior faculty to have some guidance in the gargantuan project of preparing a dossier for an academic review. Putting together a dossier can be a stressful exercise, but it’s also very rewarding. My dossier preparation process was intellectually enlightening, and I really valued the opportunity for reflection. I also valued the opportunity to articulate my goals for future research, teaching, and service. And now, in writing this blog entry, I am enjoying reflecting on my own process. How very meta. Metaspark*.

Keep in mind that I am an assistant professor at a private, liberal arts, teaching university; you must consider your institution, department, etc., as you compose your own dossier. I also am in the middle of my review. I don’t yet know the outcome, but am humbled to have received positive feedback so far. I’m sure as I progress through this review, I will come up with more ways to improve the process for my next review, but I wanted to get this out while it was still fresh. In the spirit of collegiality, I hope my advice is useful and reduces your stress so that you can focus your energy on putting together a great dossier. Here we go:

In Preparation

• Study your Faculty Evaluation Manual (FEM). Takes notes.
• Study your university, college, school and departmental mission statements, norms and expectations documents, etc. Take notes.
• Attend academic review info sessions and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Take notes.
• Ask a senior colleague if you can read their narrative self-assessment. Take notes.
• Serve as someone’s peer reviewer during an earlier semester. Take notes.
• Make a calendar of deadlines: When is your dossier due to your peer reviewers? To your dean? To the Faculty Personnel Committee (FPC)? When will you receive the administration’s decision?
• Make a checklist. What do your peer reviewers need? What does your dean need? What does the FPC need? (My peer reviewers and dean get my full dossier; the FPC receives only some of the documents).

Your Narrative Self-Assessment

• If your review is conducted during the fall semester, start writing your narrative self-assessment during the summer. If you’re not teaching, or are teaching fewer courses in the summer, you will likely have more time to write.
• My FEM required me to write about my teaching, scholarship, and service. Within teaching, there were 4 areas I needed to address. I’ve observed that successful reviews are written in a variety of ways. Don’t get bogged down by formatting, headings, etc. just yet; just write it, and organize it however you think best.
• Cite your Faculty Evaluation Manual (FEM) and Departmental Norms document in your narrative. State specifically how your activities meet and/or exceed the expectations of your university and department.
• If your FEC sets a page limit, stick to it. You don’t want to annoy your reviewers.
• Have several different people proofread your narrative: a peer (not your peer reviewer), your colleague at a different institution, your boyfriend/best friend/father. Each person will be able to give you different kinds of feedback. For example, I asked my colleague from my doctoral program to proofread because she knows me as an academic, she knows my research, my teaching and writing style, etc. I asked my BF to read for clarity, grammar, punctuation, etc. Both gave great feedback.

Make a Tenure & Promotion Folder in Your Filing Cabinet

• Print out every document that is evidence of your effectiveness in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service. Make as many copies as you need (I had to make 3). This will save you time later because you won’t be scrambling to find these items and then trying to print and collate them all at the last minute. Evidence may include:
• job cover letter (to demonstrate that you’ve accomplished some of the goals you set forth in your cover letter)
• articles (published or in the review pipeline)
• book proposals (accepted or in the pipeline)
• grant applications
• all syllabi and representative assignment rubrics
• all course and instructor evaluations
• programs of conferences/workshops/events you organized
• letters of appointment to leadership positions in relevant associations
• requests to keynote a conference or guest lecture for a course
• thank you letters for participation or lecture
• thank you notes and other meaningful correspondence from students
• meaningful correspondence with practitioners
• letters of advocacy you’ve written to politicians
• articles/news segments in which you were featured as an expert
• Keep a table of contents of above evidence.
• Annotate above evidence. These annotations will comprise the first draft of your narrative self-assessment. It could be something as simple as putting a post-it on the document indicating why this is important.

On Teaching

• Keep a teaching journal. Reflect upon what works and what doesn’t work, and why. Do this after as many class sessions as necessary, and after you receive your teaching evaluations. Write about student conflicts and how you resolved them.
• Take your teaching evaluations seriously. Some students may be liberal in their criticism, but try not to get debilitated by those; rather, look for themes and recurring comments. Focus on addressing recurring criticisms and maintaining your strengths, and then write about these in your narrative.
• Get a calculator and some scratch paper. In your narrative, talk about how overall your averages improved each semester, and/or how you improved steadily on one particular area of weakness (for example, “clearer grading policies” or “creating a safe and comfortable classroom environment.”) If you know the departmental averages for these areas, see how you compare to them. You may not be able to address everything in your narrative. In mine, I wrote “In this section, I will discuss representative areas that demonstrate how I have worked to improve my teaching” or something to that effect.
• I have a printed agenda for each class; during class I take notes on what I can improve for the next time I teach this particular unit, or assign that particular assignment – and why I need to make that change. Related, when you make other changes to your syllabi from one semester to another, take notes on why (for example, “Students indicated on my teaching evaluations that I need to provide clearer assignment descriptions.”) These notes will help you when you explain, in your narrative, how you are responsive to students, and the steps you are taking to improve your teaching.
• Continually work on improving your pedagogical practices through workshops, reading scholarship, attending conferences, etc. In the teaching portion of your narrative, cite scholarship that supports your teaching philosophy.

Your Binder

• Earlier I mentioned that you should keep a table of contents of your materials. For each section of my binder, I have a table of contents that lists the items that follow that page. This will help guide your reviewers through your materials.
• I color-coded my dossier binder. In the photo above, you see that I have orange, pink, green, etc. binder tabs. Within each section, I have the same color sheets separating each document. For example, in the orange section (narrative self-assessment and CV), I have an orange sheet of paper between my narrative and CV. In my pink syllabi section, I have a pink sheet of paper between each syllabus. I know, I know: those poor trees. Sorry, but it truly makes it easier for your peer reviewers.

Your CV

• Update your CV every time you do something meaningful. Some people don’t update their CV until something like this comes along, and then they scramble to remember which conferences they attended, the titles of their papers, all the committees they chair, etc. Don’t be that person.

And the most important thing is this: be a good professor, colleague, and researcher. If you are a good professor, colleague, and researcher, it will clearly show through all of the above.

There’s a lot more to say about professional/university service, setting goals, doing and publishing research, etc., but that’s another entry for another time. Or, at least for publishing, you can read Phil Nel’s excellent “How to Publish Your Article.”

Good luck!

Dr. Christine Jenkins at St. Kate’s

ON BEYOND STONEWALL: Young Adult Literature with LGBTQ Content

Throughout its history young adult literature has offered too little representation of diversity in terms of its characters, setting, plot, and other narrative elements. The U.S. population has become more diverse by the day, yet white, middle-class, suburban-dwelling heterosexuals have continued to dominate all genres of YA literature. In her germinal work Shadow and Substance (NCTE) Rudine Sims Bishop was among the first to document the changing representations of African American characters in literature for youth. Since then – thanks in large part to the appearance of the ‘new realism’ in young adult fiction in the late 1960’s — other non-mainstream groups have slowly begun to appear in YA fiction.

The first young adult novel with LGBT content was published in 1969, the same year that the Stonewall riots marked the birth of the gay liberation movement. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) people have come a long way since 1969, but depictions of LGBTQ people in literature for teen readers have moved at a glacial pace, going from invisibility to stereotypes to (finally) realistic characters portrayed with some degree of frequency, authenticity, and art.

Jenkins’ presentation will trace the roots of the literature, describe early work in the newly realistic world of 1960’s -‘70’s literature and examine the genre’s evolution through the 1980’s and ‘90’s. She will describe broad themes in this literature and highlight some milestone works and exemplars (both positive and negative) among individual titles published during this period.

During her presentation, Dr. Jenkins will

• trace the roots of the literature
• describe early work in the newly realistic world of 1960’s -‘70’s literature
• examine the genre’s evolution through the 1980’s and ‘90’s
• describe broad themes in this literature
• highlight milestone works and exemplars (both positive and negative).

Q&A and reception to follow.

Highlights & Handouts

• YALSA brochures and posters
• LGBTQ book display
• YA reading lists
• Networking opportunities

 Dr. Christine Jenkins is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research includes:

• YA literature with LGBTQ content
• Representations of the “other” in YA literature
• Censorship and intellectual freedom

October 3, 2011 • 6.30-8.00 PM
St. Catherine University Recital Hall

2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105
(#24 on the campus map • enter gate #3 • parking free after 5p)

Contact Dr. Sarah Park | spark@stkate.edu | 651.690.8791

Download the official SCU YALSA flyer

The event is free and open to the public.

SCU MLIS YALSA Road Trip: Christine Jenkins

SAVE THE DATE October 3, 2011: Dr. Christine Jenkins, associate professor of LIS at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will give a special talk on LGBTQ literature and services for teens.

• October 3, 2011 from 6.30-8.00 PM
• St. Catherine University Recital Hall, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105
• Contact: Dr. Sarah Park | spark@stkate.edu | 651.690.8791

LIS7210 Library Materials for Children Reading List

They always ask, so here it is! Specific readings for the first day of class, and a list of readings for the rest of the semester. Happy reading!

Course Overview

Selection, evaluation and use of media for children in elementary schools and public libraries. Materials in curricular areas are studied along with an examination of the relationships of materials to developmental characteristics and individual differences of the child, to curriculum and recreation, to the exceptional child and to a multicultural society. 3 credits.

We will engage in a variety of teaching/learning methods to cover the course material, including but not limited to: lecture, small/large group discussions, independent and group projects, written and oral presentations.

Student Learning Outcomes

• To understand of the history of children’s literature;
• To be familiar with a range of authors, works, genres and media;
• To discuss, evaluate and promote children’s literature/resources;
• To learn strategies for connecting young people with literature;
• To identify and discuss literary and societal trends and issues (war, refugee, migration, class, gender, etc) affecting materials and work with youth in libraries and schools.

Week 1 | Sept 10 | Introduction, Picture Books and Publishing

Readings 

• Bang, Molly. Picture This! How Pictures Work.
• Atkins, Laura.  “White Privilege and Children’s Publishing: A Web 2.0 Case Study” in Write4Children Vol 1 Issue 2. Winchester University Press, 2010. http://www.winchester.ac.uk/academicdepartments/EnglishCreativeWritingandAmericanStudies/publications/write4children/Documents/w4cissue2cApr.pdf
• Elliot, Zetta. “Something like an open letter to the children’s publishing industry” [http://zettaelliott.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/something-like-an-open-letter-to-the-children%E2%80%99s-publishing-industry/]
• Nodelman, Perry. 1992. The Other: Orientalism, Colonialism, and Children’s Literature. In Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 17: 29-35. (e-reserve)

Novels

• White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web
• Montgomery. L.M.  Anne of Green Gables

Picture Books

• Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are
• Burton, Virginia Lee. The Little House.
• Carle, Eric. Any picture book.

Assignments 

• Bring in one of your favorite picture books and children’s novels from your childhood.  Be prepared to talk about why the books meant something to you or why you still remember them years later.  Pick books that are not on the syllabus.

For the remainder of the semester, in alphabetical order:

Textbook

• Horning, Kathleen T. From Cover to Cover. Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books

Novels

• Barrie, J.M.  Peter Pan  (read, watch, or listen to any version of Peter Pan/ Peter and Wendy)
• Cleary, Beverly. Ramona and Her Father
• Creech, Sharon. Love That Dog
• Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963
• Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House
• Freedman, Russell. Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Han, Jenny. Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream
• Harris, Robie. It’s Perfectly Normal: A Book About Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health
• Jimenez, Francisco. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
• Kent, Rose. Kimchi & Calamari
• Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 1
• Kurtz, Jane. The Storyteller’s Beads
• Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things
• Lovelace, Maud Hart. Betsy-Tacy
• Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars
• Rowling, J.K.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Light in the Attic, OR Falling Up
• Sterling, Shirley. My Name is Seepeetza
• Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey to Topaz
• Vanderpool, Clare. Moon Over Manifest.
• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie
• Wiles, Deborah. Countdown: A Novel.
• Williams-Garcia, Rita . One Crazy Summer.

Picture Books

• Alarcon, Francisco X. Poems to Dream Together/Poemas Para Sonar Juntos
• Cha, Dia. Dia’s Story Cloth
• Dr. Seuss. Green Eggs and Ham
• González, Lucia. The Storyteller’s Candle
• Herron, Carolivia. Nappy Hair
• Levine, Arthur. Monday is One Day
• Myers, Walter Dean. Jazz
• Newman, Leslea. Heather Has Two Mommies
• Pak, Soyung. Dear Juno
• Richardson, Justin. And Tango Makes Three
• Sáenz, Benjamin Alire. A Gift for Papá Diego
• Say, Allen. Grandfather’s Journey
• Scieszka, Jon and Lane Smith. The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
• Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Jingle Dancer
• Stead, Philip. A Sick Day for Amos McGee
• Swanson, Susan Marie. The House In the Night
• Willems, Mo. Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! and Can I Play Too?
• Young, Ed. Lon Po Po