It is now a month since our time together at the 2023 Mortenson Associates Program ended and by now we are all back home carrying on with our lives both personal and professional.
I am so glad I got to meet everyone…I won’t forget our time together so no I wasn’t taking pics but I have treasured memories and thanks for all the pics made available.
Now that I have resumed at work I reflect on and appreciate even more the three and a half weeks of being away, being a student again, getting up to get to classes at least on time if not early. Just being concerned with learning from the presenters and the sharing from each other, anticipating the visits to the various libraries and learning facilities and the experiences gained from such visits. I remember too getting awake very early for those out of town trips and how we ensured we were all up to make the departure. I thank those who always ensured the messages and updates about meeting etc. got passed on to me as I was not part of the social media groups.
I am still fascinated by the concept of an entire town that is a university campus as I share this experience with others here at home. I enjoyed the University’s physical place/space very much, its expanse, beauty, ease of movement – (even though realizing the relative ‘down-time’ of the summer meant the numbers of persons encountered was greatly reduced) – the out of town and state trips, sightseeing trips, worshipping at University Baptist Church each Sunday (thanks Peggy for introducing me) and the time for personal reflection.
How will all we experienced impact our professional lives?
In as different and varied ways as we ourselves are, but I have no doubt we all will become change leaders in our spheres of influence now and in years to come.
Our library had its annual librarians’ retreat on July 13. I was asked to lead a session in which librarians would reflect on our current strategic plan and speak about their vision for realizing both personal and professional goals in the upcoming academic year.
I decided to do a brief presentation on assessing a strategic plan for strategic impact before engaging my colleagues for their personal reflection responses. For this I spoke about and shared from the interview conducted with Jen-chien Yu, Director of Library Assessment University of Illinois @Urbana-Champaign (thanks again for Jen’s generous sharing and Clara’s guidance and encouragement to persevere and get this assignment done). It was insightful and timely as it addressed the process, challenges and areas of focus for development by the Library for the next 5-10 years much of which we too can engage in realizing our strategic plan.
As I bring this reflection to a close… I so enjoyed my time with you all and wish you well, I learnt a lot, shared as best as I could and came home inspired.
Blessings and best wishes…until…
Terri