As part of the CNI Project Briefing Series, Ellen Carroll and Tracy Bergstrom will explore new findings from Ithaka S+R’s US Library Survey. The 2025 survey cycle examined leaders’ perspectives on the library’s core role, governance, and key dimensions of strategy and operations while expanding the scope of inquiry to include emerging areas of influence, including generative artificial intelligence (AI), developments in the scholarly communication ecosystem, and change management.
Past Events
Catharine Bond Hill, John B. King, Jr. and David Brooks at the ATI Presidential Summit
Improving Accessibility and Disability Services in Higher Education in Prison
At the Correctional Education Association National Conference, Tammy Ortiz will join a panel with Jen Montag (National Center for College Students with Disabilities) Ben Wright (The Community), Dominic Winter (Washington State Department of Corrections), Dan McGloin (University of Maine Prison Education Program) on improving accessibility and disability services in higher education in prison. This panel will include experts within the community who will share their insights on the current landscape of disability services for incarcerated students, and will provide participants…
Different Contexts, Same Challenge
Building Momentum for Holistic Credit Mobility
This session at the SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference will draw on the work of the national Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort, a year-long community of practice developed in partnership between Ithaka S+R and Complete College America with support from Ascendium Education Group, to examine what it actually takes to move from fragmentation to momentum at scale. Grounded in the Holistic Credit Mobility Framework first published by Ithaka S+R in 2022 and advanced through a 2025 case study report…
From Strategy to Scale
Leading AI Transformation in Online Higher Education
At the Summit for Online Leadership and Administration Conference, Claire Baytas will speak as part of a panel on AI’s impact across the student lifecycle—from enrollment to student success, instructional design, and instructional operations—and strategic choices senior leaders should be making to position their institutions well with regard to AI.
Digging into the Data
Ithaka S+R’s 2025 US Library Directors Survey
In November 2025, Ithaka S+R fielded the most recent version of the US Library Survey. In an event hosted by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), Lauren Pressley, Dean of ZSR Library at Wake Forest University, will moderate a conversation with Tracy Bergstrom (Senior Program Manager) and Ellen Carroll (Senior Analyst) on the results of the survey. Join to hear about the important lessons gained from this survey, with time for questions and answers.
Supporting Basic Needs Through Library Partnerships
Join Ithaka S+R for a webinar highlighting key findings from the Maximizing Public-Academic Library Partnerships project. We will explore how community college and public library partnerships can support basic needs initiatives and share lessons from our national research, case studies, policy analysis, and partnership framework. Attendees will gain insights into how community college and public libraries are supporting basic needs initiatives, what partnership models are being used across the country, and what lessons emerged from Ithaka S+R multi-year research.
Who Owns AI Literacy?
Building a Whole-Campus Approach
Ruby MacDougall will share a presentation on building a whole-campus approach to AI literacy at the AI Literacy + Learning for Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LAMs) Summit at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The in-person convening is scheduled to take place on July 21-22, 2026.
Sick of Credit Mobility Systems That Don’t Talk? Join a Movement in the Making!
This interactive session with the Credit Mobility Technology Collaboration and Interoperability Partnership—which includes members such as AACRAO, NASH, Arizona State University, ITHAKA Transfer Explorer, and the AI Transfer and Articulation Infrastructure Network—will explore and co-develop solutions for interoperability and data standards. The session is scheduled for July 19 in Arlington, Virginia.
Improving Legal Information Services for Incarcerated Patrons
Shifting institutional policies, communication restrictions, and shrinking budgets continue to limit access to legal information for incarcerated individuals and create confusion for those providing services from the outside. What does meaningful access look like in today’s carceral settings, and what legal information is most needed? How can law librarians navigate these constraints to deliver effective services? This panel at the AALL 2026 Conference will explore the current state of legal information services to incarcerated patrons and how law libraries…
Financing Program Sustainability and Scale
A Conversation with CUNY ASAP Replication Partners
At the Student Financial Aid Research Network 2026 Conference, Bethany Lewis and Ioana Hulbert will highlight findings from a forthcoming playbook on financing student success program sustainability and scaling, featuring case studies with both ASAP and non-ASAP programs. Diana Strumbos will then moderate a panel with leaders from three ASAP replication sites to discuss the opportunities and challenges they have faced in their pursuit of on-going funding and how systems and states may strategically design programs to maximize possible funding…
Understanding How Academic Libraries in the United States Navigate Uncertain Times
Results from Ithaka S+R’s 2025 US Library Deans and Directors Survey
At the Association of European Research Libraries annual conference, Ithaka S+R’s Tracy Bergstrom and Ellen Carroll will share key findings from Ithaka S+R’s 2025 US Library Deans and Directors Survey, with a particular focus on evolving perceptions of the core values that underpin academic libraries and the changing nature of library work. Since its inception in 2010, this triennial online survey has provided foundational data on both longstanding and emerging priorities for library leaders. Each cycle offers longitudinal insights…
Bridging the Legal Information Gap in Prisons
A Dialogue Between Librarians and Jailhouse Lawyers
For individuals who are incarcerated, accessing legal documents and information is often difficult, if not impossible. While law libraries located in facilities and tablets that provide access to Westlaw and LexisNexis are typically the first stop, these resources are limited. When materials are unavailable—or when navigating them requires additional expertise—individuals who are incarcerated often turn to law librarians in state, academic, and county libraries for assistance. Providing this support, however, is far from straightforward. Correctional policies and security restrictions often…
Adequate Access
The Role of the Law Library in Serving System Impacted Communities
At the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, Tammy Ortiz will present a poster on an Ithaka S+R project focusing on the role of the law library for system impacted communities. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. For individuals impacted by the legal system, access to the law is of critical importance. A series of Supreme Court rulings, notably Bounds vs. Smith (1977) and Lewis vs. Casey (1996), established a limited…
Exploring Online Enrollment Trends in the Era of State Authorization Reciprocity
At the Midwestern Higher Education Compact M-SARA Annual Meeting, Ini Umosen will present findings from Ithaka S+R’s recent reports related to State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA), “Exploring Online Enrollment Trends in the Era of State Authorization Reciprocity” and “Examining Employers’ Perceptions of Online Credentials: A Discrete Choice Experiment.” The session is scheduled for June 25, 2026.
Research Communities
The Role of the Research Enterprise in Student Success and Society
At the ConnectUR 2026 Annual Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Chelsea McCracken will present on current and past projects that relate to undergraduate research, including a workshop on sustaining open source software in the research enterprise, a recent researcher survey, and a project on open source program offices on university campuses. The session will include time for a Q&A session on topics attendees think would be most helpful to the undergraduate research community.
Research Communities: The Role of the Research Enterprise in Student Success and Society
This session at the ConnectUR 2026 conference proposes a novel framework, Research Communities, for conceptualizing learning and student success in higher ed, and summarizes progress towards developing Ithaka S+R’s Research Communities portfolio, a set of completed and prospective research projects centered on studying three topics fundamental to the continued functioning of higher ed: the researcher pipeline (how people become and remain researchers), democratizing research (how researchers relate to society), and community organization (how researchers work together). Learn more about…
The Future of Anthropology Departments
Enrollment, AI & Building Sustainability
On June 16 at 2:00pm ET, Ithaka S+R’s Chelsea McCracken and Claire Baytas will participate in a webinar for members of the American Anthropology Association, sharing findings and insights from their recent report on The Academic Humanities Today: Findings from Conversations with Department Chairs. Learn more about the webinar.
“I just wanted to take a different path”
On the Cultural Assets that Sustain First-Generations in Higher Education and the Workplace
Behind every data point about first-generation student success is a story of resilience, negotiation, and aspiration. This session at the NASPA Conference on Student Success in Higher Education will bring those stories to the forefront through findings from a qualitative study of graduate, first-generation, BIPOC library professionals. Grounded in Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, we will invite attendees to rethink first-generation identity through an intersectional, strengths-based lens and explore how these insights can inform more inclusive programs, services, and support…
Designing Access Together
Aligning Partnerships, Programs, and Student Voice
What does it take for basic needs programs and partnerships to work together more effectively? As institutions increasingly rely on partnerships to address student basic needs, many programs and partnerships are often built in isolation. This interactive session at the NSAP Conference on Student Success in Higher Education will introduce a new Partnership Development Framework designed to align programs, partnerships, and student voice. Join this session to identify structural gaps in access and leave with practical strategies for more coordinated,…
From Detecting to Mentoring
Teaching for Trust and Learning in the Age of AI
False accusations of cheating based on unreliable AI-detection tools can erode trust, undermining constructive faculty-student relationships. Caution regarding GenAI’s impact on learning integrity is warranted, but a policing mindset contributes to student anxiety and negates the emotional dimensions of learning. Drawing on student experiences that highlight faculty’s central role in shaping students’ AI-adoption, this presentation for the University of Central Florida’s Teaching and Learning with AI Conference proposes a mentoring mindset as a human-centric approach to academic integrity. Mentoring…