Pamela McLaughlin
(315) 443-9788
Lesley Pease and Brandi Porter have been appointed to leadership positions in Syracuse University Library‘s new Learning Commons (LC). Pease will serve as director and Porter as associate director of the new facility.
Pease oversees the operation, located on the lower three floors of E.S. Bird Library, and will lead the development of LC programming and services. She is responsible for developing partnerships with related campus services and departments that are committed to undergraduate success.
Pease was most recently head of the library’s social sciences and area studies department. Her previous positions included head of the maps and government information department; electronic reference services librarian; and subject specialist for women’s studies, social work, gerontology, child and family studies, and marriage and family therapy. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the SUNY College at Oswego and an M.L.S. degree from SU’s School of Information Studies and an M.S. degree from SU’s School of Education. She is a member of the Pi Lambda Sigma Chapter of Beta Phi Mu, a national honor society of information professionals.
Porter manages the staffing and daily operations of the Learning Commons. She came to SU Library in 2005 as head of the professional programs and general reference services department. She was previously director of library services at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pa. In that capacity, Porter was responsible for all library operations at the college’s main library and two extension libraries. Porter received an M.L.I.S. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in information science at Nova Southeastern University.
The Learning Commons is a new library organizational unit that focuses primarily on undergraduate student services. The three-floor facility is an active and open environment that provides services and resources to support undergraduates’ academic performance, research and scholarship, and helps prepare them to enter the workforce. Services include research assistance, information literacy skills training, multimedia hardware and software, general software user support, laptop and media equipment loans, and access services (circulation, reserves, collection maintenance).
Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology in the Maxwell School, was quoted in The Washington Post story “People with disabilities desperately need the vaccine. But states disagree on when they’ll get it.” Landes, an expert on the sociology of disability,…
Roy Gutterman, associate professor of magazine, news and digital journalism in the Newhouse School and director of the Tully Center for Free Speech, was interviewed for the WAER story “SU Professor says President’s Closed Social Media Accounts Fall Under Big…
Roy Gutterman, associate professor of magazine, news and digital journalism in the Newhouse School and director of the Tully Center for Free Speech, was quoted in the CNN story “First Amendment doesn’t guarantee you the rights you think it does.”…
Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, was interviewed for the Time Magazine story “Big Tech’s Crackdown on Donald Trump and Parler Won’t Fix the Real Problem With Social Media.”…
Danielle Smith, professor of African American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, wrote an op-ed for History News Network titled “Images of the Capitol Riot Reflect a National Crisis.”…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
