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From the Director

A Welcome from Dr. Natalie Taylor

"Welcome everyone to the 2024-2025 academic year!

I am very please to begin my term as the Director of the School of Information this August and look forward to touching base with alumni, current students, prospective students, and friends of the school this fall as I get adjusted to the new role.

For those of you who don't know me, I have served as a faculty member in the School of Information since 2016 and the Program Director for the Master in Library and Information (MLIS) program since 2019. I teach several courses in the MLIS program, including Collections Development, Youth Services and the Politics of Information. I serve as an Editor of the journal Library Quarterly, one of the oldest journals in the LIS field and my research focuses on information access, information literacy, and the politics of information. I also participate in committees and other service roles in the information profession through the Florida Library Association (FLA), the American Library Association (ALA), and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Most recently, I attended the ALA annual conference in San DIego to present our program as part of our regular cycle of reaccreditation. In July, we learned that the program was granted reaccreditation for the next seven years, extending a designation the degree has enjoyed for over fifty years. 

The School is indebted to the leadership of Dr. Randy Borum over the past three years. During a time of tremendous growth for the School and the 最新天美传媒 more generally, Dr. Borum not only maintained the School鈥檚 commitment to excellence in research and education, he also oversaw the expansion of the undergraduate program to more than 650 students currently enrolled. His mentorship to several new faculty members, the expansion of the School of Information to the Sarasota-Manatee campus, and the establishment of the first endowed chair professorship for the School were all highlights of his tenure.

My own goals for the School are in direct alignment with the path Dr. Borum (and before him, Dr. Andrews) set us on. I look forward to working with faculty on new grant opportunities, potential partnerships with the new College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing at USF, the expansion of health information offerings within our undergraduate and graduate programs, and growing our collaboration with USF鈥檚 other campuses, particularly Sarasota, where Dr. Jim Andrews will preside as the new William W. & Judith A. Gaunt Professor in Library and Information Science.

The School is fortunate to have continued leadership in our undergraduate degree program with the program directorship of Dr. John Sullivan. Dr. Steve Gary will temporarily oversee M.S. Intelligence Studies and M.S. in Cyber Intelligence and Information Security while Dr. Borum takes a much deserved professional development sabbatical. Dr. Denise Shereff will take over as the Program Director for the Library and Information Science program, a natural fit given her excellent leadership of the assessment required by that program and its external accreditation."