Fall 2007 Changes

As part of a general reorganization of DTLT, several changes to individuals' roles and responsibilities will go into effect during the Fall 2007 semester.

The change that will affect the most numbers of departments and faculty is that the instructional technology specialist positions have been slightly recast. Starting in Fall 2007, DTLT will have three ITSs, each with a disciplinary focus that aligns with the Library's current disciplinary groupings. Jim Groom will serve as the arts and humanities ITS; Patrick Gosetti-Murrayjohn will become the sciences ITS; the responsibilities of the social sciences ITS position will be covered by Jerry Slezak until that vacancy can be filled.

At the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, as our e-Learning specialist, Lisa Ames will support CGPS's instructional technology needs with a particular focus on faculty and course development for online and blended learning.

After nine years of service as an instructional technology specialist, Andy Rush will move into the brand-new position of new media specialist. Andy will oversee new media research, development, production, and management within DTLT, and he will work closely with other instructional technology staff to determine appropriate new media approaches for supporting technology-enhanced and online learning at UMW.

Martha Burtis and Jerry Slezak will be moving into the roles of director and assistant director of DTLT, respectively. In addition to continuing to collaborate on projects with DTLT colleagues and faculty, Martha and Jerry will oversee administrative duties for the division, including setting divisional priorities for research and projects, managing DTLT's involvement in Student and Faculty Academies, administering DTLT's role in academic software and equipment purchasing, and serving as DTLT's liaisons to University departments, divisions, and committees.

We anticipate increased and even more fruitful collaboration with our library partners to develop out of this reorganization. Not only will the ITSs work even more closely with their subject librarian cohorts, on the Stafford campus Lisa and the CGPS librarians will also be exploring new opportunities for collaboration, and Jerry and Martha will be increasingly involved with the Library administration in setting goals for collaboration and partnership

Most importantly, we want to emphasize to the campus community that DTLT's work continues to be increasingly collaborative. For any given project or initiative, we always seek to find ways to play to our strengths as individuals and as a team.

We're very excited about the work ahead of us this this year, and we look forward to continuing to partner with faculty as we seek new ways to augment the culture of teaching and learning at the University of Mary Washington.