Stephen Miller - 2012 FAC Representative

E-mail: smiller@umuc.edu
Division: Graduate Adelphi
Category: Collegiate
Program: Information and Library Services/UCSP

Autobiography

I am Associate Provost for Information and Library Services at UMUC, and hold the faculty rank of Librarian III. In the Associate Provost role I lead the activities of the UMUC Library, overseeing a diverse group of 19 professional librarians and 9 staff members, managing the Library’s annual budget, conducting strategic planning and assessment, managing the library faculty evaluation, promotion, and permanent status process, and promoting the continuous improvement of library resources and services. I have taken care to align the library’s mission and strategic goals and objectives with those of the university, and have ensured that the library is managed according to the Association of College and Research Libraries standards and best practices.

I also hold the rank of Associate Professor in The Graduate School and teach online sections of UCSP 611, Graduate Library Research Skills. I have been teaching on a regular basis since 2007.

I have fifteen years of progressively responsible professional experience as an academic librarian and administrator, and started at UMUC in 2002 as Assistant Director for Electronic Services, progressing in rank to become Associate Provost in 2008. Prior to coming to UMUC I was Director of the Digital Library of Georgia at the University of Georgia Libraries, and before that an archivist and project manager at Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. I hold a Master’s of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky School of Library and Information Science and a Master’s of Business Administration from UMUC.

Nomination Essay

As a UMUC faculty member, serving as both Librarian III and as Associate Professor in The Graduate School, and having the responsibility of overseeing the library faculty promotion and review process, I strongly uphold the principles of shared governance embodied in the Faculty Advisory Council. The FAC represents a critical component of UMUC, providing critical connections between faculty and university administration, and participating in setting the strategic direction of the institution.

The UMUC faculty librarians have a unique role to play within FAC and the university, since librarians provide services to all areas of the university and are well positioned to observe trends across all divisions and to maintain a big picture perspective. Important input that I can provide for the areas of authority of FAC include solid experience in the importance of appropriate appointment, rank, and promotion terms of faculty, input on curriculum and course content issues from a perspective of the “neutral ground” between The Undergraduate School and The Graduate School, a perspective on the research goals of the institution from being directly involved in developing research repositories and following developments in scholarly publishing, and a perspective on trends and developments in the field of higher education overall.

Because the Library is not part of The Undergraduate School or The Graduate School, it is critically important that the Library faculty be represented on FAC to ensure that the faculty librarians have a voice within the UMUC community. This enables the Library to continue to effectively collaborate with other UMUC faculty in providing high-quality education and services to UMUC’s student population. I look forward to working with my fellow UMUC faculty members in the process of furthering shared governance of UMUC in FAC by fostering the continued communication and input of the UMUC faculty in the operations of the university.