Building relationships with other departments on campus

Lycoming College, in its third century of existence, has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students and employs hundreds of FTE across all its departments. As a staff member at this small institution, the opportunity for collaboration is present every day.

One of my professional goals when I started at Lycoming five-and-a-half years ago was to reach outside my comfort zone to make new relationships. I knew I wanted to branch out and do more beyond my regular job duties. When the opportunity to be part of a newly formed Wellness Committee became available, I immediately indicated my interest. Topics of health and wellness have always been of interest to me, so the chance to be part of this new initiative was exciting.

The committee was comprised of faculty and staff, with sub-committees formed to come up with and execute physical health and wellness challenges. Our institution was offering health savings account reimbursement incentives at the time, so participants could get points and then monetary incentives by participating in the events. Faculty and staff that I initially worked with over five years ago, I am still friendly with today.

While my institution no longer offers the program, the committee still meets once a month and offers several events per year for employees. Soon, I hope to bring the committee on board to collaborate with the library and offer wellness kits, which will be circulated to faculty and staff.

Currently, I am in my sixth semester of being an advisor for one of the sororities on campus. While not familiar with fraternity and sorority life in general, I knew taking on this role would be a good opportunity to learn more about student life and meet staff who work in those areas.

The experience has been beneficial in many ways. My connections through FSL allowed me to be a helping hand to students that needed an advocate on campus – somebody who could lead them in the right direction and help mend conflict. Since my main role in the library is training and managing student employees, I’ve also gotten the chance through FSL life to lead sessions on study habits, time management and organization.

Most recently, I put together my first lesson plan which focused on a basic overview of how to search in our library’s online catalog for academic reserves and items from our general collection.

I’ve also volunteered for other various events that allow me to meet prospective students and families to promote the library and its services. If I lead a group of any kind, I will talk about the library and how great it is!

How do you collaborate with others on campus? I’d love to hear what you’ve done!