Quarterly Business Review
Recap

Dear colleagues,

This time last year, the Miami University Libraries were forming our strategic goals and initiatives based on feedback from our entire community. And we did it in a completely new and tricky remote setting. I’m proud of all that we have accomplished together.

As we approach the end of this academic year, this email is meant to celebrate the work that each individual has contributed and walk you through our progress.

First, I want to express my gratitude to all the team members who have committed their time and strengths to move our organization forward. More than half of our library system is currently engaged in a working group.

Many thanks to all the sponsors, facilitators, and working group members.

Professional Development: Alea Henle, Donna Richardson & Rachel Makarowski

Ginny Boehme, Stephanie Hilles, Jennie Holan, John Williams, Lissa Martin, Gabe Neff, Cody Sprunger, Jerry Yarnetsky, Tiffany Dogan & Jacyln Spraetz

Adaptability: Elias Tzoc, Jody Perkins & Kim Hoffman

Senta Sellers, Pam Hopkins, Cara Calabrese, Shawn Vanness & Meng Qu

Virtual Spaces and Services: Stan Brown, Ken Irwin & Alia Levar Wegner

Michael Bomholt, Anna Liss Jacobsen, Dani Owens, Andy Revelle, Sarah Nagle & Justina Kaiser

Communicating Services: Kevin Messner, Nick Kneer & Nate Floyd

Nela Ahmed & Shawn Vanness

Meaningful Partnerships: Bill Modrow, Carla Myers & Katie Gibson

Jacky Johnson, Masha Stepanova & John Williams

Top Take-Aways:

1. Our goals and initiatives were well-chosen and align with university-wide priorities.

2. We’ve laid a strong foundation for important work to come. As we move into the next cycle, we need to capitalize on this energy and continue to commit to these initiatives.

3. Across the Libraries, we’ve prioritized the strategic plan. When facilitators asked for input and participation, they found enthusiastic collaborators who drove projects forward in real, actionable ways. Every group you volunteer for, every survey you fill out, every meeting you attend – is valuable.

4. It’s time to share and celebrate the work we’ve done — watch for an invitation in the coming weeks to a virtual meeting where we’ll showcase the accomplishments of each initiative and set the stage for the next academic year.

Why business review meetings?

These quarterly sessions give us an opportunity to continually align with our vision and values and meet our current needs.

Yesterday, on April 20, we held the last of three business review meetings with the senior leadership team and strategic plan sponsors and facilitators. The slides from the meeting and the strategic plan progress dashboard can be found on our internal Catalyst LibGuide.

Reflection

After hearing updates from working groups we went into breakout sessions to tackle these areas:

What is working and what’s not.
Feedback around the works that’s been done.
Looking ahead: Recommendations on what action plans will transition, what work will wrap up with this year’s plan, and recommendations on what work could continue into the next academic year strategic plan.

From these reflections, we concluded:

So much of the work we’ve done comes at a time when the university and community are grappling with some of the same priorities. Our initiatives are now more pressing than ever, the work and recommendations coming out of the strategic plan put us at the table, instead of on the menu. We must continue to demonstrate leadership in this way.

See the slides to learn more about key learnings and top victories from all the groups.

What’s next

Strategic initiative sponsors and facilitators will meet to review the outcomes. Then, they’ll set plans and make any changes ahead of wrapping up their action plan items between now and summer.
Department heads and senior leadership will meet towards the end of May to set goals and priorities for the AY21-22 strategic plan.
Look for a virtual meeting invite to hear more about the work done in Catalyst, and the work still to come.
Updates will be shared monthly in Connections.

Our mission is clear, our vision is set, and our values will hold us accountable as we forge into the second year for the libraries’ strategic plan.

Peace,

Jerome

See the plan

Quarterly Business ReviewRecap

Reflection

See the slides to learn more about key learnings and top victories from all the groups.

What’s next

Our mission is clear, our vision is set, and our values will hold us accountable as we forge into the second year for the libraries’ strategic plan.

Quarterly Business Review
Recap