Leadership and Innovation in the iSchool
Leadership and innovation within the iSchool are expressed in diverse ways, reflecting the variety of styles and cultures that are represented by our faculty and staff. The iSchool has a culture of distributed leadership, setting an expectation of leadership and innovation for all faculty and staff and delegating defined leadership responsibilities to designated roles. Leaders in the iSchool motivate and inspire others, articulate and help establish vision, and accept responsibility for achieving the goals and objectives we have set for our School. As innovators, iSchool faculty and staff demonstrate their commitment to the vision and mission of the School by leveraging existing resources in new ways and acting on creative ideas in order to make a positive difference. They successfully use initiative, imagination and determination to solve problems including those which may appear risky or impossible. They substantially influence the discourse of their discipline or professional field, and are the agents of useful and beneficial change.
Emergent Leaders
In the iSchool there is an expectation that all faculty and staff will emerge as leaders. These "emergent leaders" will step up where they see an opportunity to apply their special expertise or talents, speak up when they identify opportunities or concerns, and lead by taking actions that exemplify the iSchool's core values.
Designated Leaders
Certain individuals in the iSchool have specific areas of responsibility for which they are accountable in guiding the School (and in some cases, groups of other faculty/staff) toward achieving our shared goals and objectives. All of these "designated leaders" participate in strategic planning and assessment; facilitate communication between different units of the School; engage faculty, staff, and students in creative problem-solving; and foster a culture of openness, engagement, and mutual respect within the School. They are:
The Dean, Harry Bruce, establishes, articulates and leads the iSchool’s vision and mission; planning for the School's future development; accountable to the UW Provost for all matters relating to educational, budgetary, personnel and administrative matters of the iSchool.
The Assistant Dean for Planning and Administration, Mary Clark, oversees financial, human resources and facilities management operations; guides the overall administration of the School and the development and implementation of strategic and resource allocation plans.
The Associate Dean for Academics, Matthew Saxton, is responsible for the administration, program development, and quality assurance of academic programs, and reports to the Dean regarding the state of the School's academic enterprise in terms of needs, strengths, and achievements. Represents the School's academic programs in communication both internally and externally.
The Associate Dean for Research, Robert Mason, is responsible for the administration, program development, and quality assurance of iSchool research programs, and reports to the Dean regarding the state of the School’s research enterprise in terms of needs, strengths, and achievements. Represents the School's research programs in communication both internally and externally.
The Chair of the Informatics Program, Scott Barker, guides the School's undergraduate program, including development of curriculum, recruitment and marketing, and employer engagement.
The Chair of the Master of Library and Information Science Program, Stuart Sutton, guides the development of the MLIS program (both online and residential), including curriculum, recruitment and marketing, directed field work, and employer engagement.
The Chair of the Master of Science in Information Managment Program, Michael Crandall, guides the development of the MSIM program, including curriculum, recruitment, marketing, and growth, promoting the program in the broader community through engagement with industry, government, academic and non-profit partners.
The Chair of the Doctoral Program, Allyson Carlyle, guides the School's doctoral program, including developing curriculum, providing direction for recruitment and admissions, and managing faculty and student issues and concerns.
The Chair of the Elected Faculty Council, Eliza Dresang, is elected by the Council from its membership and provides leadership in carrying out the priorities of the faculty established at the beginning of each academic year; brings recommendations to the EFC and to the Faculty on pertinent policy and procedure statements and revisions; oversees recommendations on merit reviews; recommends membership for iSchool committees; contributes to iSchool and UW leadership decisions; works with UW and iSchool administration, faculty and staff committees, and individuals as appropriate; plans agendas for and chairs faculty meetings and fall faculty retreat.
The Director of Information Technology, Scott Barker, establishes vision and direction for the Information School IT unit, determines service offerings, manages operations, coordinates activities with other IT units on campus, and allocates IT resources to meet the administrative, teaching, and research needs of the School.
The Director of Research Services, Alpha Delap, provides oversight and overall direction of pre-award research services within the iSchool, administering an infrastructure to facilitate research and training proposal submissions, human subjects compliance, and effective technology transfer. Serves as primary liaison with the University's central research administrative offices, develops policies and procedures related to research administration; and works with others to cultivate the iSchool’s funding portfolio.
The Director for Academic Services, Cris Mesling, provides oversight and coordination of the iSchool's four academic programs and manages the curricular planning and teaching assignment processes, serves on the Academic Council, supervises time schedule coordination; oversees effective use of the Graduate Assistant Crew, and maintains the academic policies and procedures of the School.
The Director for Advancement, Michele Norris, leads the iSchool in fundraising efforts, alumni relations, external relations, marketing and media outreach.
The Director of Student Services, Wendie Phillips, provides leadership in the area of student services, including recruitment and admissions, academic advising, student retention and programming, and career services.
The Finance Manager, Ty Ngo, ensures that financial resources are received, allocated and expended effectively and efficiently in compliance with federal, state and University of Washington regulations, policies and procedures and the mission of the iSchool, coordinates the budget planning process and oversees financial management of research funds.
The Human Resources Manager, Alisha LaPlante, manages all payroll and personnel functions for the School: payment, records, actions; primary liaison with the University's central Human Resources, Academic Human Resources and Payroll offices; interpreting and implementing all University HR and Payroll policies and procedures; advising and giving recommendations regarding HR issues and actions.
Councils and Boards
The Academics Council deliberates and implements actions to nurture, improve, plan, and maintain the intellectual rigor and professional relevancy of the curriculum and learning experiences across all academic programs. This group informs and engages the faculty in discussion relating to course content, pedagogy, and program planning. The Academics Council is comprised of the Program Chairs, the Director for Academic Services, and a student representative, and is convened by the Associate Dean for Academics.
The Elected Faculty Council (EFC) advises the Dean on matters of policy regarding faculty promotion and tenure, and on academic policy in general, including priorities, resource and salary allocation, and budgets (Sec. 23-45B). The EFC provides governance for the faculty of the Information School and is concerned with all domains of authority and duties of the iSchool faculty and the professional and personnel issues affecting the faculty. The EFC may act on behalf of iSchool faculty and is directly accountable to the faculty as a whole, from which it is elected. The EFC provides for: (1) oversight, coordination, and support of the activities of all Information School standing committees, and (2) election of the chair and members of the Elected Faculty Council and the chairs of the standing committees.
The Founding Board fosters closer ties between the University of Washington Information School and industry. Founding Board members are a select group of business and community leaders with high capacity who are committed to promoting the academic and research enterprise of the iSchool. The Board offers strategic advice to the Dean with a focus on building awareness and attracting resources to the School. The Founding Board leads fundraising initiatives on behalf of the School.
The Leadership Cabinet (LC) is comprised of the leaders of the various operational units of the School, our program chairs, EFC chair and Deans. This group has two primary functions related to the implementation of the strategic plan and advancing the mission of the School: advising, problem-solving and decision making; and leadership support, development, and mentoring. The LC engages in discussions related to the challenges and rewards of leadership and the effective co-ordination of the various functions of the iSchool.
The MLIS Advisory Board fosters closer ties among the University of Washington Information School, its MLIS alumni, the community and industry. Advisory board members are a select group of individuals representing public librarianship, school librarianship, academic librarianship, governmental librarianship, corporate librarianship and law librarianship. Given their areas of expertise, they advise the MLIS program Chair on matters vital to the relevance and growth of the MLIS program.
The MSIM and Informatics Advisory Board fosters closer ties among the University of Washington Information School, its MSIM and Informatics alumni, the community and industry. Advisory board members are a select group of individuals, representing the high tech, business, social networking, media, government and non-profit sectors. Given their areas of expertise, they advise the MSIM and Informatics program Chairs on matters vital to the relevance and growth of the MSIM and Informatics programs.
The Student Leadership Council (SLC) serves as an advisory council to the Dean and other iSchool administration. It is comprised of two representatives from each of the Information School’s degree program student organizations (AIMS, ALIS, DSA and IUGA). In addition to providing input to the Dean, the council oversees the process of assigning student representatives to iSchool committees as well as a small budget to allocate to clubs planning all iSchool activities. As needed, the council may ask other iSchool students to participate in meetings and discussions in order to get additional input.