Benefits of Membership

By joining the NITLE Network, liberal arts colleges and universities can access resources that help them develop strategic approaches to technology and take action to advance their institutional missions. NITLE helps liberal arts campuses define problems, answer questions, create opportunities, and develop solutions relevant to their needs. Focused specifically on liberal arts institutions, NITLE welcomes all campuses interested in joining its Network for an annual membership fee of $3000.

NITLE Consulting

NITLE consults with liberal arts campuses, responding to needs identified by individual institutions as well as groups of institutions. Our focus in consulting is on helping institutions leverage technology for mission-centered strategic gain. Our areas of practice include strategic analysis and planning, shared academics, data analytics, futures and scenario modeling, learning spaces design, and inter-institutional projects and services. Beyond consulting, NITLE also shares its expertise via talks and publications about a range of strategically relevant topics.

NITLE Labs

Promoting innovation while maintaining current practices is challenging. NITLE Labs provides colleges with a “safe zone” for exploration, experimentation, and innovation.Through NITLE Labs, campuses and consortia that want to move beyond incremental improvements into the space of breakthrough innovation can test concepts and take risks without disrupting (or being held back by) the existing operational requirements of running a college, division, or department. In providing space for innovation, NITLE Labs minimizes the overhead costs of experimentation and makes it easier to learn by doing. It also brings expertise in managing projects and collaborations, defining requirements, finding pedagogically appropriate solutions, and helping campuses design models and processes that work for liberal education.

NITLE Summit

NITLE’s annual summit for senior leaders in the NITLE Network provides a highly interactive venue for collegial exchange across campuses and roles. Leaders from key non-profit organizations, foundations, government offices, and corporations, and influential thought leaders from inside and outside academe also attend. Participants explore issues strategically important to liberal education, building relationships, gaining new perspectives, and challenging assumptions along the way. A revitalized, growing event, the summit gives leaders the opportunity to define specific outcomes that will advance liberal education in concrete ways.

NITLE Symposium

A new event scheduled for spring 2012, the symposium offers an open, cross-professional, national venue for exchange between faculty, technologists, librarians, and administrators at liberal arts institutions. Planned with extensive input from the community, this event creates a space for staff and faculty to interact across traditional roles and boundaries, bringing diverse expertise to bear on challenges shared across liberal arts campuses. Aspiring leaders may submit presentation proposals, which will substantively shape the program. Proposals that emphasize productive inter-institutional collaboration and/or outcomes extensible to other campuses are heavily favored.

NITLE Innovative Perspectives Series

Campuses can attend lectures delivered by nationally recognized, award-winning thinkers. Leading-edge lecturers present their insights about trends and opportunities relevant to liberal education, stimulating dialogue on the local level. In January 2011, the series’ pilot lecture featured author and journalist Anya Kamenetz. NITLE uses high-definition videoconferencing (telepresence) to broadcast lectures, eliminating travel costs and allowing campuses to maximize local participation.

College Libraries

College and university libraries are key players in many strategic areas, including the digital humanities, digital scholarship, and other cross-disciplinary, inter-departmental efforts at liberal arts colleges. In order to support libraries’ strategic impact, NITLE has hired a new program officer focused specifically on libraries and scholarly communication: Fred Moody, former editor of Rice University Press, joined the staff this past summer. Mr. Moody, MLIS, brings to NITLE nearly 35 years of experience in the publishing industry, including editing, book production, writing, reporting, and research.

Strategic Partnerships

NITLE’s strategic partnerships create opportunities for liberal arts campuses. The collective strength of the Network attracts partners such as The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, the Council on Library and Information Resources (including its Digital Library Federation program), CDW-G, and Teachers Without Borders. These partnerships create direct benefits for NITLE member colleges, ranging from access to key national conversations, opportunities to engage in grant activity, and discounted rates for technologies. NITLE is currently exploring the possibility of leveraging the NITLE Network to provide campuses with access to Chinese-language library databases.

Other projects in development include:

• Quantitative analysis of undergraduate library collection data across the NITLE Network. (Partner: Council on Libraries and Information Resources)
• Online seminars for departments of education at member campuses. Seminars will engage students and faculty interested in learning globally and helping locally. (Partner: Teachers Without Borders)
• Summer internships for students and faculty from the NITLE Network with interests in the health sciences, medical research, and nanotechnology. (Partner: The Methodist Hospital Research Institute)
• Ongoing exploration for opportunities to leverage the collective strength of the NITLE Network for members’ benefit.

If your institution is interested in joining the NITLE Network or renewing its membership, please contact Dr. Paul Henley, Membership Director, at phenley@nitle.org or 512.417.8480.