Twelve faculty members and staff from the School of Library and Information Science at San José State University (SJSU) are recipients of the 2014 Faculty and Staff Awards, honoring their service, scholarship, and teaching excellence: Dr. Debra Hansen, Outstanding Professor; Dr. Anthony Bernier and Dr. Susan Maret, Distinguished Scholars; Beth Wrenn-Estes, Distinguished Service (Faculty); Kristina Luna and Vicki Robison, Distinguished Service (Staff); Suzanne Harris, Distinguished Service (Special/Other); Dr. Mary Ann Harlan, Outstanding Lecturer; Melba Tomeo, Outstanding Teacher; Dr. Lili Luo, Outreach and Collaboration; and Marci Hunsaker and Dora Ozawa, Special Recognition.

Dr. Debra Hansen, recipient of the Outstanding Professor Award, has been a member of the faculty at SJSU since 1989 and is honored for her teaching excellence and scholarly activities. Hansen holds both an MLIS degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. She brings together her love of history and library and information science in her numerous publications and in the SLIS classes she teaches on topics ranging from the history of books to archives and records management and the history of librarianship as a profession. Among other notable achievements, Hansen received the award for Outreach and Collaboration in 2009 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2013.

Dr. Anthony Bernier and Dr. Susan Maret are both recipients of the Distinguished Scholar Award for 2014. Bernier’s scholarship focuses on youth librarianship and public space equity. In addition to myriad publications on topics relating to youth services, he is also the recipient of two National Leadership grants totaling over $500,000, has chaired national committees and task forces and serves on the editorial board of two LIS journals. Maret is being recognized for her scholarship and publications focusing on the very timely issues of information secrecy, censorship, and the right to information. 

The SJSU School of Library and Information Science honors both faculty and staff for their service to the school and its graduate students. Beth Wrenn-Estes, the 2014 faculty member receiving the Distinguished Service Award, has been teaching at SJSU since 2006. Wrenn-Estes’ background in school librarianship and youth and children’s services prepared her well for the related courses she teaches to SLIS students.  Her leadership at the school and her service to its mission and students also includes serving as an academic advisor, an e-portfolio advisor, and a member of the SLIS Diversity Committee.

The School of Library and Information Science has three different staff members receiving awards for Distinguished Service this year. Kristina Luna is the SLIS administrative services manager and is being recognized for her service as the person responsible for all financial transactions relating to the school. Luna first started working for SJSU in 1998 and joined SLIS in 2011. 2014 marks the second time Vicki Robison has won the Distinguished Service Award for a staff member, first receiving the award in 2011. Robison of the SLIS student services team performs a variety of essential services to the program including answering admissions questions, tracking applications, assigning advisors, assisting faculty with grading issues, answering student questions about graduation requirements, transcripts, and numerous other administrative issues. Suzanne Harris, the SLIS administrative coordinator, is receiving the Distinguished Service Award for Special/Other staff and has been working for the school since 2006. Harris is being honored for her work maintaining hiring and payroll forms for both faculty and student assistants, as well as managing other confidential employment forms and files.

Dr. Mary Ann Harlan, the 2014 Outstanding Lecturer, brings her experience in California public schools and her deep interest in youth education and pedagogy to the SLIS courses she teaches on instructional strategies, youth librarianship, and related topics. Outstanding Teacher Melba Tomeo is recognized for her excellence teaching SLIS students about the history of youth literature. Tomeo’s research interests also include web usability and emerging technologies. Dr. Lili Luo, the SLIS honoree for Outreach and Collaboration, is honored for her work promoting the school to the professional community and developing collaborative partnerships. Her research interests include, among other topics, information access and services in the digital age and the impact of new technologies. Luo was also honored in 2012 with the Distinguished Scholar Award.

Marci Hunsaker, the King Library liaison to SLIS, and Dora Ozawa of the Registrar’s office are both recipients of Special Recognition Awards this year. Hunsaker is recognized for her efforts assisting SLIS degree program. Ozawa is honored for her work as the systems analyst at the Registrar’s office who works closely with SLIS. 

Candidates are nominated by their fellow faculty and staff members and by self-nomination. This year’s Faculty and Staff Awards reception will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2014, from 5-7 p.m. at the San José State University campus in Clark Hall. Congratulations to all the 2014 award recipients!