Libraries Receive Recognition
On May 15, the UW-Madison Libraries received a Division of Student Life Partnership Award. This award honors an individual, unit or campus organization that has significantly aided one of Student Life’s departments in the advancement of their mission, programs and services. The Libraries were recognized for their collaboration with the Center for the First-Year Experience.
On hand to receive the award were Carrie Kruse, director of College Library, Steve Frye, the library’s assistant director, and Dave Luke, Technlogy Services Coordinator for the General Library System. In her speech before the presentation, Carren Martin, the director of CFYE, noted:
Many of you are aware of the challenges CFYE has had over the years securing enough high-quality space to conduct academic advising at the SOAR program … We elevated the need to the broader campus, hoping to find a partner or partners who would be able to help us identify suitable space. Campus libraries went far and beyond answering the intitial call for physical space by always showing a genuine desire to not just get by, but to substantially improve the SOAR experience for new students. Always discussing win-win opportunities, College Library staff exemplify the mindset of creatively developing new options rather than limiting possibilities. While SOAR advising might be the most recent and noticeable collaboration with campus libraries, their staff has partnered annually with CFYE on many other initiatives to improve the first-year experience here at UW-Madison. From providing instructors for the Wisconsin Experience Seminar, to hosting the #StudyStrong Resource Fair, libraries are committed to helping us support new student academic engagement. Regardless of the initiative or project, library staff view their work from an inclusion lens, and it shows in the care that they provide in even the smallest details of their work. It is heartening to observe partners on campus who provide student advocacy in every space they are in and we are honored to call them true collaborators in our work.
Library staff were honored to receive this award and look forward to many years of collaboration with the Division of Student Life, the Center for the First-Year Experience and SOAR advising staff.
