M E M O R A N D U M


							November 22, 2011


To:	Members of the Board of Trustees 	

From:	Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor 

Subject:  Appointment of Distinguished Librarian 


Action Requested

      The proposed resolution appoints Ms. Constantia Constantinou to the rank of Distinguished Librarian at Maritime College.

Resolution
	
	I recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the following resolution:

Whereas the State University of New York Board of Trustees has proudly established a historic tradition of acknowledging and honoring extraordinary faculty achievement through appointment to Distinguished Faculty Rank; and

Whereas the appointment to Distinguished Faculty Rank at the state-operated campuses is both a system-wide distinction and a promotion in rank; and

Whereas the SUNY Board of Trustees has the authority to bestow system-wide distinctions; now, therefore, be it,

Resolved that the faculty member listed be, and hereby is, promoted to the rank of Distinguished Librarian at the state-operated campus indicated, effective November 22, 2011: 

      Ms. Constantia Constantinou, Maritime College


Background

      The Distinguished Librarian is a prestigious tenured University rank that is awarded to librarians whose contributions have been transformational in creating a new information environment by providing access to information, sharing or networking information resources, and fostering information literacy.  In extending its Distinguished ranks to the library faculty, the State University of New York recognizes the accomplishments of all its faculty; it also assumes national leadership within the academy by becoming the first university system to so encourage and foster the full potential of the faculty status of librarians.  
The Distinguished Librarian rank honors and promotes the achievement of personal excellence, groundbreaking professional progress, and wide-ranging benefit to the academic community.  At this time, the Distinguished Librarian rank is open to state-operated campuses of the State University.

      To be eligible for nomination, a faculty member must have completed at least five years of full-time service at the rank of Librarian on the campus that recommends the appointment and at least ten years of service within the State University of New York.  Nominees should generally have had a longer career in librarianship than indicated by the minimum requirement.  The following encapsulates Ms. Constantinou’s accomplishments:
      
Constantia Constantinou – Ms. Constantinou has been the Director of the Stephen B. Luce Library at the Maritime College since 2001.  She has served on the SUNY Council of Library Directors (SCLD) and represented SCLD on the CUNY Council of Chief Librarians and to the New York State Higher Education Initiative.  As a Fulbright Scholar (2011) and as a Fulbright Senior Specialist (2005), in the country of Cyprus, she has accomplished what no other scholar or librarian has been able to do since 1974 by bringing the Greek?Cypriot and Turkish?Cypriot academic communities closer through overcoming ethnic and political conflicts.  To achieve this, Ms. Constantinou established collaborations among institutions, lectured and trained librarians in information literacy, enabled the membership of the University of Cyprus into OCLC global bibliographic network, and promoted the establishment of the Cyprus National Library Consortium.  Ms. Constantinou’s scholarly work and presentations in Croatia, Greece, Turkey, China, Korea, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States have enhanced the principles of information literacy by setting exemplary standards within worldwide maritime universities. 

      It is my pleasure to present Ms. Constantinou to the Board for its approval.  A copy of the President’s letter of support is attached.  The letter highlights her major career achievements, and provides the campus rationale for recommending her appointment.  The full dossier is available in the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
      

Attachments



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Board Resolution                                                                    November 22, 2011