Graduating Seniors: Vote for Teacher of the Year

Vote for a faculty member whose teaching has inspired you!
(Posted on behalf of our colleagues in the CTLE.)

The graduating senior class is invited to vote for the 2023 Teacher of the Year Award. Beginning Monday, April 17, please vote for the full-time faculty member who you believe best exhibits the following characteristics:

  • Maintains the highest standards of academic excellence and fairness.
  • Inspires interest in their discipline through personal enthusiasm and dedication.
  • Is consistently effective in communication.
  • Is available outside of the classroom.

How to Vote: The electronic ballot can be accessed at: www.scranton.edu/toy

When to Vote: 9:00am on Monday, April 17 through 4:00pm on Friday, April 21

The award will be presented during Class Night on Friday, May 19, 2023.

Apply Now for the Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize

The Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize

Are you working on a research project this semester? Did you use the library’s resources, services, collections, or spaces in order to complete your research? Then the Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize is for you!

The Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize recognizes excellence in research projects that show evidence of significant knowledge in the methods of research and the information gathering process and use of library resources, tools, and services.

New this year: The selection criteria have been updated and refreshed in 2022-2023 to better recognize the diversity of projects on campus. Visit the Selection Criteria and Judging information on the prize website to learn more.  

Three prizes of $500.00 each will be awarded to the winning individual student or group in the following categories: Undergraduate Foundational (100-level courses), Undergraduate Upper-level (200- to 400-level courses), and Graduate. If won by a group, the award will be split equally among the group members. All you need to do is write a 500- to 700-word essay describing your research process and how you used the Library in completing the project. Check out our Tips web page for updated advice on how to craft the best 500- to 700-word essay you can about your research. 

The application deadline for projects completed during Intersession or Spring 2023 is Monday, May 1, 2023 at 4:00 pm.

A statement of faculty support from the instructor who assigned the research project is also required for each submission.

For additional information on how to apply, what to include in a completed application, and to access the application, visit the Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize page: www.scranton.edu/libraryresearchprize

Environmental Art Show presents an Artist Talk with Stéphanie Williams

On Friday April 14th, in conjunction with the opening of the Environmental Art Show, Artist Stéphanie Williams, a designer, beekeeper, and educator, will be leading an interactive presentation at 4:30 pm in the Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room. 

Stéphanie works in mixed mediums, incorporating nature, people, creatures, environments, sounds, and energies that we share into her art. She will discuss the relationship of bees to her art, her experiences as a beekeeper, and will address some of the environmental challenges facing bees and the American beekeeping community today. There will also be an opportunity to participate in a public art piece. We invite you to join us, meet Stéphanie and help to contribute to Stéphanie’s work.

The 2023 Environmental Art Show will be held in the Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room on the 5th floor of the Weinberg Memorial Library from April 14-25 with a virtual exhibit debuting online on April 14.

All guests must follow the University of Scranton Health and Safety Protocols. If you have questions about this event, please contact Marleen Cloutier at marleen.cloutier@scranton.edu

Volunteers and Donations for the Weinberg Memorial Library’s Annual Book Sale

The University of Scranton’s Weinberg Memorial Library is accepting book, DVD, and CD donations for its annual book sale occurring on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30. A special preview sale will be held on Friday, April 28 for current (2022-2023) Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library members, current Schemel Forum members, and current University of Scranton students.

The Weinberg Memorial Library will be accepting paperback and hardcover books in good condition, such as children’s books, young adult books, cookbooks, fiction, and non-fiction books. The Weinberg Memorial Library is also accepting unscratched DVDs and CDs. Donation appointments are needed. In addition, the Library is seeking volunteers to help work the book sale. Volunteer shifts for the book sale are flexible.

To schedule an appointment to donate books and DVDs/CDs, obtain clarification on accepted items, or to volunteer, please reach out to Melisa Gallo at melisa.gallo@scranton.edu or (570) 941-6195. To check the status of your Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library and Schemel Forum memberships, please contact Kym Fetsko at kym.fetsko@scranton.edu or (570) 941-7816.

Library to Host Arab American Film Series

The Weinberg Memorial Library is proud to host an Arab American Film Series this April!



The films will be accompanied by a brief introduction by Badoor Albuloushi, Fulbright Teaching Assistant.

The films are Free and Open to the Public in the Pearn Auditorium (Brennan Hall 228). Complimentary popcorn, snacks, and refreshments will be served! To register or share the movie information with others, please share the link www.scranton.edu/library/events. 

The Film Series is made possible by funding from the Office of Equity and Diversity.

2023 Environmental Art Show – Last Call for Submissions!

The deadline for all submissions is set for Friday, March 31st, 2023.

The Weinberg Memorial Library is seeking submissions for our annual exhibit of Environmental Art.

The art show will be held in the Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room on the 5th floor of the Weinberg Memorial Library from April 14-25, 2023. In addition to the physical exhibit, we will be offering the option to also exhibit virtually. The virtual exhibit will debut online on April 14, 2023.

Submissions are open to all and we encourage submissions by University of Scranton students, staff, faculty, and alumni.

Environmental Art promotes the natural beauty of our environment and the ideal practice of sustainable living through artworks of all types, including painting, photography, repurposed goods, sculpture, video and more.

Welcome to My World is the theme for 2023. We encourage artists to consider developing artwork around this year’s theme. Share your vision of how you see the world, how the state of the environment affects you and others, how you interact with the environment, or how you incorporate sustainable living and care for our common home in your daily life.

All physical works of art can be dropped off at the Library Services Desk on the 1st floor of the Library. All artwork is returned after the art show ends.

If you are submitting digital artwork, you can submit your artwork at the following link:

https://form.jotform.com/wml_admin/environmental-art-show

You can view our 2022 virtual exhibit and photos of some of our previous in-person exhibits at:

https://digitalprojects.scranton.edu/s/environmental-art-exhibit/page/exhibit-home

If you would like to submit but have questions or need assistance with your submission, please contact Marleen Cloutier at marleen.cloutier@scranton.edu.

Applications Open – Affordable Learning Implementation Grants for Faculty

The Weinberg Memorial Library is pleased to offer $1,000 Affordable Learning Implementation Grants to successful faculty applicants.

What is Affordable Learning?

Affordable Learning aims to reduce the financial burden on students by replacing expensive for-cost textbooks and course materials with no-cost or low-cost educational resources. For the Affordable Learning Implementation Grants, faculty may opt to use existing open educational resources (OER), open-source software, open access e-books or journals, or appropriately licensed Library materials to replace all, or some, for-cost course materials.

Accepted applications can also use an additional fund (up to $200) to purchase library materials not currently owned. If you are interested in purchasing new material, please contact Sylvia Orner (sylvia.orner@scranton.edu) prior to submitting your application to ensure that appropriate licensing options are available.

If you are interested in learning more about OER, please visit the Library’s OER Research Guide.  For more information about the Affordable Learning Implementation grants, including reports from previous recipients, please visit the Library’s webpage.

To apply…

Fill out the Application Form.

Awards

The library will award up to four $1,000 Affordable Learning Implementation Grants for Fall/Intersession courses. The Implementation Grants do not need to fund purchasing course materials. The grants are faculty incentive stipends that are subject to taxes. For joint applicants, the stipend will be divided.

A group of Library faculty and teaching faculty representatives will review all applications. The multidisciplinary judging panel will use a rubric that can be found on the OER Research Guide.

Upon completion of the course, recipients must submit a report documenting the impact that the Affordable Learning Implementation Grant had on their section(s) and whether they will continue to use Affordable Learning or OER materials for future classes. Final reports must be submitted to the Dean of the Library and will be published on the Library’s website.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please consult with the librarian liaison to your department to help you prepare your proposal. For more information, contact the Committee at affordablelearning@scranton.edu.

Application Deadline: Friday, April 28, 2023

Library to Host Alumna Author

Liz Alterman Author Event Poster

The Library is proud to host, in cooperation with the Department of English and Theatre, Alumna Author Liz Alterman. Since graduating from The University of Scranton with a B.A. in English, Liz has published three well-received books.

On March 30th, at 5:00 pm in the Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room (Library 5th Floor), Liz will deliver a reading from one of her works and answer questions. Liz will also discuss her time working as a journalist and freelance writer. We hope you can join us!

The event is open to the community, and light refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP here: Alumna Author Liz Alterman

Join Us for Coffee and Conversation on Affordable Learning During Open Education Week

 

Please join us during Open Education Week for Coffee and Conversations on Affordable Learning.  The OER Committee will be hosting drop-in sessions on Thursday, March 9 (1pm-3pm)  and Friday, March 10 (11:30 am-12:30pm) on the 2nd floor of the Weinberg Memorial Library (WML 202).  Coffee and cookies will be served.

Feel free to stop in any time during those hours to ask questions or to learn more about the Library’s Affordable Learning initiatives including Affordable Learning Implementation grants and our new open access publishing agreements with Cambridge University Press and the American Chemical Society.

We are also pleased to announce that applications for Affordable Learning Implementation grants are now being accepted for courses to be taught in the Fall 2023 or Intersession 2024 semesters.  All faculty members are welcome to apply, and applications will be accepted until Friday, April 28th.    Please see the Library’s website for more information or click here to apply.

Sunday, Feb. 26, 2:00-3:00pm: Planned Outage for Virtual Desktop Environment

On Sunday, February 26 from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, Information Technology will be performing maintenance on the Virtual Desktop environment. During this time, thin clients in campus labs and the Library will be unavailable, and connections to https://remote.scranton.edu will also be unavailable.

Labs with regular computers will be unaffected.

This maintenance should address the recent campus-wide issue requiring users to log in multiple times.

We will provide an update after the scheduled maintenance period.