Building a Virtual Resource Room: A Team Effort Stacy L. Dean Anita Morgan Jennifer Gruening

Fast Facts Total Enrollment 5,678 By Gender Male 1,469 (25.9%) Female 4,209 (74.1%) By Campus Chicago 4,169 Orland Park 868 Off Campus 641 Six-year enrollment growth: 15% By Level Undergraduate3,288 (78% full-time) Graduate 2,390

Why an Information Resources Team (IRT)? Steering Committee Criterion One Criterion Two Criterion Three Criterion Four Criterion Five

IRT Membership Web Development Library Research, Planning, and Assessment Academic Affairs Business and Finance

Role and Responsibilities Coordinate information requests Suggest resources Create a self-study Web site and virtual resource room Organize the physical resource room Provide hospitality

Coordinate Information Requests Gather requested data Schedule interviews Disseminate information Avoid duplicate requests

Suggest Resources Used by other institutions Commonly used assessments Attended HLC annual meeting Stay a step ahead

Create a Self-Study Web Site Blackboard used at first Dual purpose –Communication during process –Host report and resources Components: –Accreditation information –Self-study information –Feedback opportunity –Drafts and resources

Virtual Resource Room Maintenance –Independent from SXU Web site Integrity –Portable Document Format (PDF) –Snapshot of Web sources –Scanning of hard-copies Linkage –Report citations linked to sources

Physical Resource Room Collect, organize, and index all physical documents cited in self-study report Display documents with style Prepare uniform look of documents –Black pressboard covers numbered and titled –Color-coordinated chapter indexes –Color-coordinated chapter file folders/carts Arrange room strategically for an optimum work environment

Provide Hospitality Escort visiting team to their meetings/appointments Provide a welcoming presence Answer questions

Keys to Success Membership from key divisions Early formation and continual participation Frequent and direct communication with co-chairs and report editor

Continuous Participation Formed from the beginning –Familiar with process –Communication channels established –Key areas represented Organized for resource room preparation No late night horror stories

Frequent Communication Meet weekly with co-chairs to discuss goals and objectives and assign tasks Co-chairs can provide leverage in securing university-wide documents Work with report editor on proper citation of resources

Lessons Learned and Recommendations Coordinate information requests Assign IRT liaison to each criterion team Stress proper document citation to chapter authors Provide guidelines on integrity of citations and corresponding resources Collect and organize final chapter- cited documents for digitization to Web site

Conclusion IRT served a key role: –Integrated other committees –Fostered communication –Provided and organized information –Allowed committees to focus on writing the report

Contact Information Stacy L. Dean Director of Web Development Anita Morgan Technical Services Librarian Jennifer Gruening Research Associate for Analytic Studies