Colleagues,
Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week. As you gathered from yesterday’s campus-wide announcement, there’s a lot going on, and a lot of changes to come. Here is the latest in the Libraries:
- Chris Vidas, Nick Baldwin and Anne Marie Rodgers Leaving: I wanted to take a second and honor the work of Chris Vidas, Nick Baldwin, and Anne Marie Rodgers, all of whom have had a great impact on Clemson Libraries.
- Chris Vidas just celebrated his seven-year anniversary with the Libraries. Chris transformed our collections areas through the development of assessment protocols, new workflows, and transformative agreements. He built relationships in the region which served us well in vendor and consortia deals, saving the Libraries and university money. He dealt with staff shortages for most of his career here, but he remained consistently positive and in good humor despite these challenges. His direct reports will tell you he is compassionate and collaborative leader who genuinely cares and advocates for his team. I wish him the best in his new leadership role at Ohio University.
- Nick Baldwin has worked at Clemson Libraries since he was a student employee in Stacks Maintenance. In 2017, he transitioned to a full-time position on the Security Team. I noted him at that desk when I first started, and his potential led him to the Library Services desk. Over the years, Nick played a key role in re-envisioning or establishing key services, including Technology Lending and what was formerly known as the Scholars’ Lab. During his time in the lab, he supervised student assistants and initiated a valuable partnership with the Graduate School. Nick is leaving for sunnier climes in California. We’ll miss seeing him greet us at the desk but know he will grow and excel in his next role.
- Anne Marie Rodgers will be leaving the Watt Family Innovation Center on January 2, 2026. Anne Marie started her role as Research Associate-Education Systems in August of 2023, but she has been a Clemson University employee since October of 2016. Anne Marie has made significant contributions to the Watt Center, and she has championed learning technologies throughout her time here at Clemson University. Congrats on your new position in Florida!
- Library Budget and Positions: We have developed a list of open positions and better understand the resources we have to fill them.
- Search for Chris Vidas’ replacement: Considering the importance of this position in the negotiation, assessment, licensing, activation, and troubleshooting of all library collections, we will be moving forward with the search for a replacement. We have requested permission to conduct this search from the Recommendation Committee.
- Nick Baldwin’s position: We have decided to hold on filling this position at this time. Considering all the other needs we have and the lack of funds we have to fill them, we’re taking a semester to run some pilots, including having student assistants close the building. With Nick’s loss, we have fewer people to cover the Library Services desk, meaning we have no choice but to reduce hours for the semester. After we get through spring semester, we will evaluate where we are and determine how we will move forward in covering the desk.
- Future planning: This spring, you will be engaged in a process to determine what our current capabilities are (what we are currently doing, where we want to go, what we should stop doing), prioritize what we do, and then analyze our talent to see what expertise we have in house and what we need to hire for. The process will be led by Latoya Daniels in HR. More on this after the break.
- Cooper Library Spring Hours Reduction: Due to the staffing shortage in Library Services, we’ll be closing Cooper Library at midnight instead of 2am Sunday – Thursday in spring semester. This is a reduction in hours of 10 hours a week. Gate counts show a significant drop in traffic after midnight, supporting this decision and minimizing the impact to students. We’ll be communicating this to campus shortly and providing you with talking points in case you get questions.
- Associate Dean Reviews: Clemson’s Faculty Manual stipulates that administrative faculty reporting to a dean are to undergo review at least once every five years. Our three associate deans fall into this category. The evaluation is carried out by a committee comprised of both appointed and elected faculty and staff. These reviews will be conducted over the next two years, one AD review per semester. The review process will include documentation from each AD about their accomplishments, a vision for their divisions, and a plan for personal growth. All Libraries employees will be given the opportunity to provide feedback utilizing a survey instrument that is part of the Faculty Manual. As dean, it’s my job to kick off this review process, and I do so with this announcement.
- Faculty Advancement Move: I was approached by Associate Vice Provost Amy Lawton-Rauh about 6 months ago regarding a potential move of the Office of Faculty Advancement from Vickery Hall to Cooper Library. They are being evicted from their space and saw the library as a possibility. We already work with the office a lot, offering collaborative programs to faculty under their umbrella. They only need one office, which will be used by Faculty Fellows who oversee the program. In return, they will be hosting all their programs and outreach out of Cooper, bringing faculty into the building. I have invited them to move into Cooper 202 early next semester. We’ll write up an MOU documenting each of our expectations. Overall, this is a good move and will increase our traffic from and impact on Clemson faculty.
- Excellence in Academic Libraries Award Application: We have submitted our application for the Excellence in Academic Libraries Award (see attachments). I think we have a good shot. We’ll know more in March/April. Thanks to everyone who helped to put this together, including the ADs, Mark K. Otis, Angela, Chuhao, Alison and especially Drew, who copyedited everything. Thanks to all of you for your contributions in making us an excellent library, whether we win the award or not.
- Grant Applications: You all have been busy applying for grants. Great work! In fact, six grant applications have been submitted in the last few months:
- Anne Grant is the co-PI on a grant application to the US Department of Education that focuses on foundational AI literacy for M.Ed. level courses in educator preparation
- Chuhao Wu is the co-PI on a Spencer grant to conceptualize, design, and evaluate family-centered approaches to cultivating and assessing children’s AI literacy
- Chuhao Wu is also part of an NSF grant proposal to study AI-empowered adaptive scaffolding for undergraduate soft robotics education
- Karen Burton is co-PI for an NSF grant proposal to examine insect specimens to understand how predatory bugs respond to shifts in insecticide regimes
- Chris Vinson, Kelly Riddle and Jessica Serrao are on two grant proposals with Susanna Ashton in English, from the American Council of Learned Societies and ACLS Digital Development, to digitize South Carolina property deeds to enrich historical and genealogical research resources on enslaved people throughout the state.
- OPAL Professional Learning Day: Save the date! Our next OPAL Professional Learning Day will be May 12, 2026, from 8:30am – 12:30PM at Anderson County Public Library. I’ll be in touch in the new year with information about how to register.
That’s it! Thanks so much for your contributions this year. I look forward to seeing you all at the Holiday Party next week.
Sincerely,
Chris
ExcellenceinAcademicLibrariesApplication
Letters of Support Clemson University Libraries