Down the Memory Lane II- Save the Date Activity

Members of the Library Committee 2012-13

     On December 13, 2013 the English Department celebrated the activity Save the Date.  This day colleagues of our faculty shared the achievements obtained during the semester by the different committees.
    The strategy used to present the achievements is through a SWOT chart.  This chart divides the accomplishments and the pending tasks in the areas of strength, weakness, opportunities and threats.
     The Library Committee presented their SWOT chart in this activity. The following is a summary of what was discussed in this meeting:

• Strength- our committee has the support of the ADCO (Administración de Colección) professors of UPRH.  Also the committee members Dr. Aida Cáceres' as well as Prof. Artemio Peñalbert's compromise have always made possible the success of this committee.

Also another strength has been the completion of the surveys given to students and faculty members.  The information obtained from these surveys will be used in decision making in improving the services needed by our BA students.

•   Weakness- the Library Committee as a dynamic entity is in constant change and evolution which not only strengthens as time passes by, but encounters weaknesses that must be overcome.  Last semester this committee underwent some challenges that caused several weakness that the goal is to overcome them this semester.

Both weakness had to do with the chair who is in the research stage of her graduate studies.  The demands of this stage caused that the blog posts diminished considerably.  Only one post appeared up the last weeks of the semester.  At that moment the blog was almost nonexistent.

Also this caused that the meetings were mainly done by emails which still kept the members of the committee up to date with the situations related with the tasks, but it lacked a face to face communication.

•  Opportunities- the weakness caused by the lack of posts has been transformed into opportunities.  Now, the blog will continue weekly posts and will integrate the "Down the Memory Lane" to update readers with the posts that were not published last semester.

Also the committee is working on a more structured process in data gathering so the data is obtained within the deadlines established.  Another related opportunity is that the committee plans to incorporate studies conducted by the members as part of the yearly tasks.

• Threat-  as I expressed in the meeting held last semester, the only threat perceived is related with the chair of the committee.  As the chair of the committee I have started to make the adjustments to be able to balance these responsibilities, my courses and the research of my graduate studies.  If this is accomplished, the committee will have no situation of great concern, just the everyday challenges that all committees face.

This exercise of looking at the committee's achievements and pending tasks through the eyes of the SWOT chart has been beneficial for the Library Committee.  As the presentation is being prepared, there is opportunity to reflect upon our academic journey as we continue the path of the goals set.

Dr. Nilsa Lugo's initiative to have this Save the Date activity and the inclusion of the SWOT analysis has helped faculty members share and learn about the accomplishments of our different committees in a dynamic form.