The second week of the Mortenson Center Associates Program began with a wonderful visit to Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Monticello. Dr Clara told us the story of the park and how it was donated to the University of Illinois. It was a mesmerizing visit while passing through the Peony Garden and looking at the different astonishing types and colors of peonies. We also passed by other types of flowers, the Chinese “Maze” Garden, the beautiful pond of cod fish, and finally reaching the lake which was truly fascinating and breathtaking. This connection with nature was much needed in a world full of hectic and long working days.
The first day of this week also included learning how to develop an individual professional profile and a full professional development plan; this helps a lot in aligning our work actions with our professional goals in a reasonable timeline.
On the next day, we had the pleasure of visiting and touring the “Grainger Engineering Library” where we saw the innovative IDEA lab with a 3D printing studio, loanable technology, computers, and workrooms. We also visited the iSchool (School of Information Sciences) where we learnt about the different programs and services offered. The day ended with a presentation on “G.R.E.A.T” customer service guidelines and tips on applying them with our patrons and users.
This was followed by a one-and-a-half days discussing “Everything DiSC Workplace”. We talked about workplace profiling, 4 different leadership styles, collaboration models, effective communication, as well as adaptation and coping with workplace change. Each one of us had the opportunity to complete the online DiSC assessment and get a detailed report on his/her style with tips on how to communicate effectively with other styles and personalities. Shirley explained that there is no one best style/profile, each style has strengths and weaknesses, and advised to use observation rather than judgment to identify someone else’s style. This was a fascinating experience that helped me understand not only my own individual profile and what stresses and motivates me but also others’ styles and how to work effectively with each style and form a coherent successful team achieving the best results.
The week ended with 2 important and unique visits to the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) and Siebel Center for Design (SCD). At CITL, we saw the instructor studio and media hub and learned about the different resources, services, and technologies that CITL provides to support faculty members and students for better learning experiences. We also learned about the process of designing flexible classrooms and learning spaces at the University of Illinois. This is a great example of a successful collaborative project between different stakeholders which positively influenced students’ engagement and increased their success rates. We were also lucky to visit the innovation studio where we had a hands-on session on using 3D printing, laser cutting and Virtual Reality and other emerging technologies. I had the opportunity to design my own 3D customized box, keychain, and button.
In SCD, we were introduced to the “Human Centered Design (HCD)” approach which focuses on empathy and connection to people as well as iteration and learning. This was eye-opening for me on how we forget sometimes about this connection to people in our research and design. We then had the opportunity to work in groups and apply this HCD approach while designing our “dream” library space. I was also fascinated with the “Coalescing Currents, an innovative, augmented reality-enhanced mural depicting well over a century of deep collaboration between disciplines at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign”.
The day ended with a rich discussion about the development of in-house e-text at UIUC, the open community Fab lab makerspace as well as some preliminary results of the student-focused spaces task force that will play a crucial role in redesigning the library’s spaces.
