Academic librarian for over 30 years. Currently Liaison Librarian for Engineering, Computing, Mathematics, and Statistics at Grand Valley State University.
Debbie Morrow currently serves as Liaison Librarian to the School of Engineering and the other un... more Debbie Morrow currently serves as Liaison Librarian to the School of Engineering and the other units within the Padnos College of Engineering & Computing at Grand Valley State University, and to the Mathematics and Statistics departments at GVSU. In that position her primary role is to support students in courses in her liaison areas both in and outside of their classrooms. Helping students make connections between information literacy skills and the ”life long learning” skills ABET seeks to see in engineering program graduates is an ongoing challenge. Prior to becoming a Liaison Librarian, Debbie served as Systems Librarian at GVSU and at Michigan Technological University for 25 years. She earned her MLIS at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1983.
The mandatory three semester co-op work experience in the engineering programs at Grand Valley St... more The mandatory three semester co-op work experience in the engineering programs at Grand Valley State University allows students to apply their education to real engineering situations. As part of the regular assessment of the co-op work experiences, site visits are held between faculty, students, and the employers. It has very often been noted by employer supervisors that students perform well technically but still lack polish communicating in a professional setting. To address this, a project was launched to incorporate online writing instruction as academic content associated with the Co-op II semester, with a technical proposal writing assignment as the major product. Finding balance has been a recurring challenge throughout this curriculum design project. Constant attention to balance in designing and revising the course has attempted to best meet the needs of students, faculty, disciplinary and overall institutional curriculum, and industry partners.
What is “ba”? I am not a Japanese-speaker; I’m not deeply acquainted with Japanese culture. But i... more What is “ba”? I am not a Japanese-speaker; I’m not deeply acquainted with Japanese culture. But in reading about ba and “learning organizations” and knowledge creation, it’s been very easy for me to discern seeds of ba at Grand Valley. In the effort underway for several years now to allow each discipline to define its own benchmarks and best practices, to develop its own specific guidelines for progress toward tenure and promotion, I see elements of ba. In support systems such as the Pew Faculty Teaching & Learning Center and its programs, I perceive ba. And most significantly, in the effort to establish a common basic teaching load, and to negotiate annually with each individual faculty member how he or she will focus for the year ahead on professional excellence, professional scholarship and achievement, and professional service, I see great potential for ba. But I’m getting ahead of myself … Originally published in Grand Valley Review, Volume XXXIV, Fall 2008
The narrative of higher education frequently declares the library to be the “academic heart of th... more The narrative of higher education frequently declares the library to be the “academic heart of the institution.” It’s not entirely clear in the lore whether the library purportedly at the heart of things academic refers only to a building and the portion of human knowledge contained within, or if it is generally recognized that there is a distinct heartbeat emanating from the activities of the professionals who curate, organize, and promote resources, and teach the ways of information-finding. I contend that to be an effective academic librarian is to be embedded in the life of one’s institution.
Debbie Morrow currently serves as Liaison Librarian to the School of Engineering and the other un... more Debbie Morrow currently serves as Liaison Librarian to the School of Engineering and the other units within the Padnos College of Engineering & Computing at Grand Valley State University, and to the Mathematics and Statistics departments at GVSU. In that position her primary role is to support students in courses in her liaison areas both in and outside of their classrooms. Helping students make connections between information literacy skills and the ”life long learning” skills ABET seeks to see in engineering program graduates is an ongoing challenge. Prior to becoming a Liaison Librarian, Debbie served as Systems Librarian at GVSU and at Michigan Technological University for 25 years. She earned her MLIS at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1983.
The mandatory three semester co-op work experience in the engineering programs at Grand Valley St... more The mandatory three semester co-op work experience in the engineering programs at Grand Valley State University allows students to apply their education to real engineering situations. As part of the regular assessment of the co-op work experiences, site visits are held between faculty, students, and the employers. It has very often been noted by employer supervisors that students perform well technically but still lack polish communicating in a professional setting. To address this, a project was launched to incorporate online writing instruction as academic content associated with the Co-op II semester, with a technical proposal writing assignment as the major product. Finding balance has been a recurring challenge throughout this curriculum design project. Constant attention to balance in designing and revising the course has attempted to best meet the needs of students, faculty, disciplinary and overall institutional curriculum, and industry partners.
What is “ba”? I am not a Japanese-speaker; I’m not deeply acquainted with Japanese culture. But i... more What is “ba”? I am not a Japanese-speaker; I’m not deeply acquainted with Japanese culture. But in reading about ba and “learning organizations” and knowledge creation, it’s been very easy for me to discern seeds of ba at Grand Valley. In the effort underway for several years now to allow each discipline to define its own benchmarks and best practices, to develop its own specific guidelines for progress toward tenure and promotion, I see elements of ba. In support systems such as the Pew Faculty Teaching & Learning Center and its programs, I perceive ba. And most significantly, in the effort to establish a common basic teaching load, and to negotiate annually with each individual faculty member how he or she will focus for the year ahead on professional excellence, professional scholarship and achievement, and professional service, I see great potential for ba. But I’m getting ahead of myself … Originally published in Grand Valley Review, Volume XXXIV, Fall 2008
The narrative of higher education frequently declares the library to be the “academic heart of th... more The narrative of higher education frequently declares the library to be the “academic heart of the institution.” It’s not entirely clear in the lore whether the library purportedly at the heart of things academic refers only to a building and the portion of human knowledge contained within, or if it is generally recognized that there is a distinct heartbeat emanating from the activities of the professionals who curate, organize, and promote resources, and teach the ways of information-finding. I contend that to be an effective academic librarian is to be embedded in the life of one’s institution.
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