UAA Strategic Plan 2027 – Consortium Library

The library's plan in response to the UAA Strategic Plan 2027 is in italics.

Mission

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) transforms lives through teaching, research, community engagement and creative expression in a diverse and inclusive environment.

Serving students, the state, and the communities of Southcentral Alaska, UAA is a comprehensive, open access, public university established on the ancestral lands of the Dena’ina, Ahtna, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, and Eyak/dAXunhyuu Peoples.

The mission of the Consortium Library is to provide and maintain collections and resources that support the educational and research programs of the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University. The library provides information services for the benefit of the university and research communities and the residents of the state of Alaska. The Consortium Library evaluates, acquires, organizes, disseminates, and preserves knowledge and information. The Library emphasizes access to information and instruction on the knowledgeable use of information resources.

Vision

We are known as a university of distinction, transforming lives and communities.

The Consortium Library is the focal point of learning and discovery on campus and online, transforming lives, engaging communities, and contributing to UAA’s reputation as a university of distinction.

Aspirations and Strategies

We put students first

Strategies

UAA becomes a student-centered institution
Equity gaps in student learning and achievement are narrowed
Students are retained, persist, and graduate at increasing rates
Students develop and achieve UAA's Core Learning Competencies

The Consortium Library is a student-centered organization emphasizing access to information and instruction on the knowledgeable use of information resources. Increasing student success is a task with many dimensions, ranging from the assistance to under-prepared students to the opportunities for academic distinction. According to recent studies, use of library services can increase GPA and student success. ¹

Tactic: Directly connect (in person or online) with students by providing responsive reference and library services.
Metrics: Conduct assessment surveys and peer institution comparison.; Measure student contacts: gate counts, checkouts, database use, reference transactions, research consultations, instruction sessions, use of archives, laptops, and number of WolfCards issued.; Since the cost of higher education can be a barrier to student retention and graduation, the library promotes the use of affordable course materials and Open Educational Resources (OER). This priority complements the library’s ongoing collection development efforts of acquiring and licensing materials while participating in cooperative resource sharing programs (i.e. Interlibrary loan, Alaska Library Catalog, courier service). The library also discontinued assessing overdue fines eliminating another possible economic barrier to student retention.
Tactic: Complete the Alaska Open Education Initiative grant which promotes the use of OER. Continue the Library Affordable Course Materials Award Program in recognizing faculty members who have reduced the cost of course materials to their students. Promote the use of course reserves. Sponsor a textbook affordability/OER certificate program.
Metrics: Number of faculty with Library Affordable Course Materials Awards. In 2020, 17 faculty members were recognized. By 2027, the goal is to recognize 50 or more faculty members.; Use of course reserves, number of checkouts, number of courses/faculty.; Cost savings for students per semester.; Number of faculty who complete textbook affordability/OER certificate program.

We create a culture of equity and inclusion by embracing our diversity.

Strategies

Increase student, faculty and staff diversity
Address and strive to eliminate systemic racism from our policies and practices
Create a sense of belonging and community for marginalized groups
Strengthen existing and develop new meaningful partnerships with Alaska Native tribes, corporations, and organizations
Focus and align priorities within Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan with these strategies

The library provides access to its collections sharing cultural perspectives across diverse groups of library users on and off campus, in the local community, at extended sites and through distance education programs. The library strives to be a place where active collaborative learning occurs by providing a welcoming environment for individual and group learning. It is a destination for discovery for turning ignorance into curiosity and curiosity into understanding. The Consortium Library can serve as a powerful force in the educational, cultural, social and economic life of our communities.

Tactic: The library supports a culture of equity and inclusion through its collection development and instructional activities.; Complete the Alaska Open Education Initiative grant with its focus on Alaska Native students, recruitment and retention.
Metrics: Number and use of LibGuides, onsite/online displays, exhibits, and booths.; Number of items held and used in the Alaskana collection.; Assessment survey. Do library users feel welcome?; Examine cataloging terms and descriptions for systemic racism.
Tactic
Metrics

We embrace our role as a trusted and respected community partner

Strategies

Demonstrate value and meaningful progress on UAA 2027 aspirations
Align and communicate UAA capacity to meet community needs
Deepen and expand community engagement beyond current level

The library serves as the intellectual crossroads for its communities combining traditional library collections with digital library services in partnership with community libraries and information providers. Based upon strategic partnerships the library is a trusted repository where information and knowledge in various formats are evaluated, acquired, organized, shared and preserved. It provides open access to information, encouraging collaboration and community engagement.

Tactic: Continue to support and expand strategic partnerships including the Alaska Medical Library, Alaska Library Catalog, Alaska’s Digital Archives, Alaska Digital Library, Alaska Resources Library & Information Services (ARLIS), Alaska State Library, UA libraries, and Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association.
Metrics: The value of the partnerships as measured by usage and support.
Tactic: Continue to support access for community members to the building, library materials, resources, and computers.
Metrics: Use of reference and research services including Archives and Alaska Medical Library.; Number of items shipped, checked out and/or placed on hold by community members and Alaska Library Catalog libraries.

We positively impact communities and the world through innovation

Strategies

Strengthen interdisciplinary initiatives
Enhance scholarship, service, and teaching related to the Arctic, aligned with UAA's mission
Increase external sponsorship of research, scholarship, and creative activities, expanding student opportunity where possible

A commitment to research and scholarship is central to the mission of the university and the library. Discovery of the unknown is the essence of serious intellectual life. Supported by the library, university research creates and distributes knowledge, the means by which UAA as a public university fulfills its obligation of service to the state and society.

Tactic

Improve the coverage of the library’s collections and resources in support of UAA’s research activities to increase the success rate for securing external grant funding.

Metrics: Survey—satisfaction with collections and resources.; Use of ScholarWorks, Archives, Alaska’s Digital Archives, ARLIS, and Arctic Health Website.
Tactic: Support undergraduate research as a high impact educational practice that contributes to student success.
Metrics: Number of Consortium Library Research Awards and student publications added to ScholarWorks.; Number and use of library guides integrated in Blackboard.

We accelerate excellence through continuous improvement

Strategies

Reduce barriers and redundancies in administrative processes
Enhance revenue and financial sustainability through increased enrollment, external support, fundraising, and fee-for-service entrepreneurial activities
Strengthen UAA's environmental sustainability practices
Students develop and achieve UAA's Core Learning Competencies

With the decline of state funding, the Consortium Library seeks financial sustainability through enhanced revenues, external support, fundraising and fee-for-service activities. However in taking this approach, the Consortium Library will avoid increasing the cost of education for students.

Tactic
Metrics: Total revenues from services: Alaska Medical Library, Archives, Alaska Library Catalog, Alaska’s Digital Archives and Interlibrary Loan.; Total funding from Grants: ARLIS, Partnerships with other UAA Departments.; Total revenue from fundraising efforts: Library Giving Day and UA Giving Day.

Footnote

UNC Charlotte has research data that demonstrates that use of library services increases GPA. https://www.libraryassessment.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/19-Croxton-QuantifyingtheValue.pdf

Deborah Goodall and David Pattern, “Academic Library Non/Low Use and Undergraduate Student Achievement: A Preliminary Report of Research in Progress,” Library Management 111, no. 32 (2011): 159– 170;

Krista M. Soria, “Factors Predicting the Importance of Libraries and Research Activities for Undergraduates,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 39, no. 6 (2013): 464–470; Krista M. Soria, Jan Fransen, and Shane Nackerud, “Library Use and Undergraduate Student Outcomes: New Evidence for Students' Retention and Academic Success,” Portal: Libraries & The Academy 13 (2013): 147–164;

Krista M. Soria, Jan Fransen, and Shane Nackerud, “Stacks, Serials, Search Engines, and Students' Success: First-Year Undergraduate Students' Library Use, Academic Achievement, and Retention,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 40 (2014): 84–91;

Krista M. Soria, Jan Fransen, and Shane Nackerud, “Beyond Books: The Extended Academic Benefits of Library Use for First-Year College Students,” College of Research Libraries 78 (2017): 8–22;

Krista M. Soria, Jan Fransen, and Shane Nackerud, “The Impact of Academic Library Resources on Undergraduates' Degree Completion,” College & Research Libraries 78 (2017): 812–823.