Trailblazing Pathways Across the Digital Divide

In this webinar, participants will learn about a collaborative partnership between an academic library and offices within Student Affairs and campus IT to identify and fund long-term (full academic year) laptops to students most in need of this critical technology. Presenters will provide a case study of how a small pilot program quickly gained popularity and became a paramount service in meeting the needs of at-risk students while building meaningful cross-institutional relationships. Presenters will demonstrate how to develop campus partnerships to implement long-term technology lending programs and meet the technology needs of at-risk students to promote their overall success in an equitable and scalable manner. Attendees will gain insight (including powerful impact data) on how to make the case for similar programs at their higher education institutions, and they will take away an understanding of how to operationalize such a service, leveraging lessons learned from pitfalls experienced in the pilot program.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the session, attendees will be able to:

• Understand the need for such a program at their institutions;
• Identify potential academic partners at their institutions and make the case for the need and achievability of this program;
• Operationalize the program on a scalable and equitable level; and
• Leverage data to demonstrate value and grow their programs.

Who Should Attend: Academic, community college, and school library deans and directors; heads of public services units; outreach/student success librarians; IT librarians and professionals.

Presenter:

Andrew See has spent his entire career focusing on creating exceptional experiences for end-users in every aspect of systems and services an academic library can provide. With a broad and holistic understanding of library values and operations, Andrew leverages a design thinking approach to making data driven decisions in creating user centered services. Andrew received his B.A. at Northern Arizona University where he also began his career in librarianship. He received his MLS from the University of Arizona and worked at the UA Libraries, where he developed his vision for leadership in academic libraries. In 2015, he returned to where his career began as Head, User Services and Experience at the Northern Arizona University Cline Library. Andrew is a published author and national/regional presenter on such topics as Organizational and Operational Effectiveness, User Experience, and Data Driven decision making.