Connection Center

Interview with Bob Cotter, Associate Vice President, Information Resources

Q. How much, and in what ways, will students benefit from the Connection Center?

A. The Connection Center will be the operational hub for the Conaton Learning Commons and a primary resource for students, featuring an integrated service point for technological and informational support. Reference and circulation librarians, technical help technicians and instructional technologists will be accessible throughout the day and night to support the academic needs of all students, including undergraduates, graduates and non-traditionals.

The center will feature collaborative study spaces and group study rooms located close to the service desk for convenience and safety. The Digital Media Lab in the Connection Center will be a new production resource for students, dedicated to the development of digital literacy across the curriculum. The lab will feature enhanced computer workstations, digital media software applications and sophisticated data storage and access technologies, providing students with the opportunity to design and produce digital videos for assignments, research, capstone projects, and personal portfolios.

Q. How distinctive among colleges and universities are the blended services being offered here?

A. In the last decade, many colleges and universities have created information/learning commons within or adjacent to their campus libraries. Most of these projects created attractive study spaces but failed to address the fundamental shift in student behavior regarding their use of library and technological resources for scholarship, and their preferences for learning outside of the classroom. Students want round-the-clock access to reference and technological resources and have little patience for the restrictions that departmental or hierarchical silos put in their way.

The service mission of the Connection Center is based on a significant reorganization of Xavier's academic support units, blending the skills and expertise of librarians and technology professionals to provide a seamless, one-stop service location for the campus community.

The Connection Center service point, and service philosophy that supports it, was initially developed in Xavier's learning commons prototype and has since been recognized in the higher education community as an unique and progressive model of informational and technological support.

Q. In what ways, or to what degree, will the Connection Center provide Xavier, and Xavier students, a competitive advantage?

A. The Connection Center will afford students the opportunity to develop advanced informational and technological skills as they pursue their degrees, skill sets that will complement their knowledge of their chosen discipline and enhance their employment prospects after graduation.

In the same way that Xavier's core curriculum provides students with sophisticated critical thinking and communication competencies, the Conaton Learning Commons, and the Connection Center in particular, will provide students with opportunities to develop the research and digital literacy skills that will enrich both their professional and personal lives.