Welcome Our Newest Librarian!

The NSU Libraries, Broken Arrow Campus, is pleased to welcome their newest faculty member, Tamara Kharabora.  Tamara is filling the position of Information Services Librarian/Resource Coordinator to the College of Business and Technology.

Tamara has been a member of the NSU Broken Arrow library staff in multiple capacities — as a student, as a capstone intern, as a staff Technician III, and now as a faculty member.  Tamara completed and received her MLIS from the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa just last December. Tamara has lived in Washington, Missouri and Tennessee prior to moving to Oklahoma; she attended State Fair Community College (Sedalia, MO), Cleveland State Community College (Cleveland, TN) where she received her Associate of Arts degree, and NSU where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in English with a minor in Business.

Tamara speaks Russian/Ukrainian and has her ESL certificate (English as a Second Language).

Welcome aboard Tamara!

Posted by Tom R.

Digital Learning Report Card — How does Oklahoma Fare?

It is said that education is our nation’s great equalizer. Ensuring the next generation of Americans has an equal opportunity to achieve success is a fundamental principle of our educational system. There are many who feel that digital learning has the potential to accomplish this important task.  Digital Learning Now! is one of those entities that espouse this philosophy.

Digital Learning Now! is a national campaign under ExcelinEd with the goal of advancing state policies that will create a high-quality digital learning environment to better equip all students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in this 21st-century economy. The policy framework stems from the belief that access to high-quality, customized learning experiences should be available to all students, unbounded by geography or artificial policy constraints.

Digital Learning Now! recently released the 2012 Digital Learning Report Card, which measures each of the nation’s 50 states against the 10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning as it relates to K-12 education.

Highlights of the report indicate that states are:

• Advancing student-centric reforms
• Reducing barriers to blended learning
• Encouraging the use of technology
• Offering a more personalized college- and career-ready education

How does Oklahoma fare?  It doesn’t look good folks! Read on for more information: This work produced a consensus around the 10 elements of high quality digital learning that identified specific issue and polices states need to address in order to support emerging next general models of learning.

Where does Oklahoma stand, you may be wondering?  Well, the state’s overall score is a 69% — that’s a D+ when combining all ten digital learning element scores.

One of the most encouraging findings from Digital Learning Now’s research is that more than 700 bills involving digital learning were considered in 2012, with over 150 signed into law.  Along with DLN, it is encouraging to know that leaders in nearly every state proposed or enacted policies to advance digital learning since the release of DLN’s first state report cards in 2011.  Examples from Oklahoma include SB 1816 signed on June 8, 2012 that created the statewide Virtual Charter School Board, and SB 169.  It establishes that a virtual education provider that offers full-time virtual education to students who are not residents of the school district with which the provider is contracted shall be considered a site within each school district and subject to the state’s accountability system.

To learn more, check out the report.  Also, check out the Digital Learning Now Report Card website which features an interactive map, a tool to compare state scores and downloadable state profiles for more details on where Oklahoma stands when it comes to providing high quality digital learning.

Posted by Pamela Louderback

Welcome Karl Siewert!

The NSU Libraries, Broken Arrow Campus, is pleased to welcome their newest faculty member, Karl Siewert.  Karl is filling the position of Instruction Librarian/Resource Coordinator to the College of Education.

Karl comes to NSU from the Tulsa City-County Library, where he has been a reference librarian for 11 years. Since 2007 he has worked with teens, but prior to that, he was focused on business reference. Karl received his MLIS from Dominican University, taking his courses through the College of St. Catherine (now St. Catherine University) in St. Paul, Minnesota. He grew up in Kansas and attended Fort Hays State University for his BS in English Education.

Karl’s reading interests include horror, fantasy, teen fiction, comics (DC more than Marvel), history and art. He considers himself a “maker,” building new things from old materials. His greatest accomplishment in that arena is a ukulele he made from an old candy tin, which he’s teaching himself to play. He also worked during library school as a professional yo-yo performer.

Welcome aboard Karl!

Posted by Tom R.

The Results Are In!

And Dr. Pamela Louderback has been elected to the Vice-President position of KIPA (the Knowledge and Information Professionals Association).  In addition, Dr. Louderback has also been appointed to the Information Outlook Advisory Council of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) as well as elected to the President-Elect position of the Oklahoma Chapter of SLA!

Congratulations Dr. Louderback!

Posted by Tom R.

“My EBSCOhost” Changes!

EBSCOhost has recently instituted some changes that we have discovered impact TCC (Tulsa Community College) students and their “My EBSCOhost” accounts/folders.

There was a time when TCC students could access their “My EBSCOhost” from either TCC or NSU (Northeastern State University) sites.  Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.   If the student’s original account was set up through TCC, their user ID will only be associated with TCC (they will not be able to access their TCC account through the NSU website).

If you are a TCC student who has transitioned to NSU during the summer, any articles or searches you may have saved since July will not be available (if done through the NSU site).  
 
If you have set up your account as an NSU user and are accessing “My EBSCOhost” through NSU, then nothing has changed.
 
New option for TCC students: set up a new “My EBSCOhost” account through NSU’s site (which will require a new username).
 
EBSCO advises that you can share folders between the two accounts (most likely TCC and NSU for us).  The link below explains how to share the folder.  The tech person also pointed out that the resources would have to be the same for each institution.  For example, if TCC did not have access to PsychINFO, any articles from NSU’s PsychINFO would not be able to be shared with the TCC account.  We were not given a technical reason why this change occurred.  Sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused our TCC students.

http://support.epnet.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?topic=996&id=3749&page=1 

Posted by Tom R.

NSU Mission, Vision & Values

In a recent blog post, NSU Provost Martin Tadlock offered guidance to University employees on how to stay focused and how to better determine what’s important in the current era of information overload and rapid change.

Something he suggested in bold letters (giving clue as to import) was for all employees to read NSU’s mission, vision, and values. I’ve included them below for the convenience of those to whom he was speaking, as well as to those who might be interested in learning about how large institutions full of highly educated individuals create cohesion and unity of purpose.

If you work at an institution that has a similar document, you should seriously consider reviewing it. It’s important to know where you are, in order to better determine where you are going.

NSU Mission Statement

Founded on the rich educational heritage of the Cherokee Nation, the campuses of Northeastern State University provide our diverse communities a broad array of lifelong learning, undergraduate, graduate, and professional doctoral degree programs. Through quality teaching, research and scholarly activities, service to local and professional communities, and high expectations, our dedicated faculty and staff provide a friendly learning environment where students are prepared to achieve socially responsible career and personal goals for success in a challenging global society.

Focused Mission Statement

We empower individuals to become socially responsible global citizens by creating and sustaining a culture of learning and discovery.

Vision Statement

We will be the educational partner of choice in eastern Oklahoma, embracing the challenges and opportunities of a global society.

Values Statements

Integrity

We model ethical and intellectual development by advancing honesty, human dignity, and accountability.

Collaboration

We build partnerships to create learning opportunities and promote educational and economic success.

Creativity

We advance knowledge by exploring new possibilities through critical inquiry and intellectual freedom.

Leadership

We have a compelling commitment to serve, inspiring and preparing others to do the same.

Excellence

We pursue continuous improvement individually and as a community.

Posted by Linda Summers

Who is using new technology to teach?

According to the latest National Survey of Student Engagement,

[W]omen faculty are more likely than men to use course management tools such as posting announcements, grades, and lecture notes, and associate professors are less likely than instructors/lecturers to use the same types of tools. Interestingly, older students (at least age 25) used interactive technologies significantly more often than traditional aged students…This may be partially explained by the fact that older students take more classes online.

Differences by discipline were another interesting finding. Students majoring in business, education, and professional fields other than engineering used course management and interactive technologies most often..However, education faculty used interactive tools significantly more often than their counterparts in other disciplines.

Posted by Linda Summers

New Dean @ the BA Campus!

Dean Christee Jenlink

It’s official, the search is over and Dr. Christee Jenlink has been named the new Dean at the Broken Arrow Campus.  Congratulations Dr. Jenlink!

Check out the full story/press release here.

Thank You, Tulsa Voters

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For passing the largest school bond in Oklahoma history.

Thank you for showing the students and teachers of Tulsa Public Schools that you believe in them and will do all you can to ensure their success.

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Or as TPS Superintendent Keith Ballard so eloquently stated after hearing the good news,

To the citizens of Tulsa: On behalf of 42,000 kids who are going to ride those buses or walk to schools tomorrow, thank you …We have a sacred trust with the citizens and children of Tulsa … we understand what a sacred trust means, and we will live up to our promises” (quoted in Tulsa World).

*Image © University of Oklahoma

Posted by Linda Summers

Congratulations Dr. Louderback!

It’s official!  Dr. Louderback has been promoted to Assistant Professor, AND has been transitioned to a tenure-track position.  Congratulations Dr. Louderback.  Let’s start building that faculty file immediately!