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Buying the house, easing into Baylor


The weekend before going to Waco, we made an offer on a home.  After a few counter offers, we accepted the seller’s last offer.  The timing was perfect in that we arrived on a Thursday and saw the house for the first time.  I could tell that Abigail was relieved finally seeing the home in person.  The home inspection was Friday and detailed a number of major issues.  Abigail was there for the inspections, which would not have been the case if we saved the house hunting for our trip. We asked that the seller address the roof, electrical, and HVAC deficiencies, which they accepted.  Abigail is hard-core was clear that we would pull out of the deal if they were not going to address the roof and electric.  Saturday, Cornelius, Amber, and little Neil came down to stay the night.  We all went to our first Baylor athletic event, the Lady Bears (basketball) won the game as well and the Big 12title.  They are ranked number 2 in the US.  After breakfast, Cristy Nicols, our fantastic realtor, met us to see the house again with them.  It was clear that they really liked the home, which in turn made Abigail even more happy.

With an offer in place, my side of the home hunting trip turned into a day and a half of meetings with new colleagues at Baylor University, both in the Libraries and across campus.  Most of the meetings were one on one with the exception of a cross organizational meeting with leaders in what I think of as User Services.  The other group meeting was with the three-person marketing and communications team.  They went over a timeline for introducing me to “campus,” a little surreal but I know comes with this type of role.  Overall, I found everyone receptive, especially the staff in the Dean’s Office who did not participate in the interview process.  Following the advice of one my colleagues, I made sure to have individual meetings with each of them. 

During my meeting with the Provost, I noticed a book on her shelf that is in my Amazon cart, “The first 90 days.”  She noted that someone had passed it on to her and that I should take it along with me.   I will enjoy working with her. 

With three months before I start, I need to start focusing on what will be early priorities.  The summer will filled with establishing relationships with attention to both the Libraries and the broader campus.  The main library website is being updated/redesigned.  A project group has already been formed and has begun their work.  As it is the most important virtual asset, I have been asked to be kept up to date.  My biggest concern is that it wouldn’t emphasize what are the areas of the library that are most important in today’s setting with an eye towards the future.  There may be some areas that are de-emphasized as well, which will be tricky to navigate.

Broader issues already surfaced in the meetings that I had, vacancies that need filling, interim assignments, staff/faculty librarian relations, staff vs faculty positions.   They are already ramping up the Digital Scholarship activities and experiential labs (the maker space and media studios are amazing).  A few areas stand out of possible foci, OERs, open access, author rights, etc…

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Location: Waco, TX, USA

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