This year’s Convocation & Homecoming Ceremonies were held at the Shores Building on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 and celebrated the accomplishments of the alumni, students, faculty, and staff of the FSU College of Information. Highlights of the event included:

Dean Lawrence C. Dennis presented the 2007 Srygley Lecture “Traditions: Foundations for the Future” in which he proposed that the traditional code of ethics, best practices, and experiences of information providers should impact future generations of librarians and information technologists. Dean Dennis was previously an FSU Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and the director of its Office for Distributed and Distance Learning (ODDL). In his role as director of ODDL he gained extensive experience developing online degree programs and applying technology to instruction. He has won two State of Florida Teaching Incentive Program Awards and an FSU University Teaching Award for his role as a physics teacher at FSU since 1979. He was acting director of the FSU Supercomputer Computations Research Institutes from 2000-2002.

Charles E. Parker, executive director of the Tampa Bay Library Consortium accepted an award as our 2007 Distinguished Alumnus. “Charlie” is known as a tireless leader, advocate, and lobbyist for libraries. While working as a consultant at the State Library and Archives of Florida he provided information and guidance to library directors that helped secure increases to the State Aid to Libraries Programs in the 1990’s. He has guided the Florida Library Association (FLA) in advocating and lobbying for funding and legislation and has participated in efforts to get legislation proposed to rectify State Aid Formula inequities. He served as an inspirational president of the FLA-disseminating information about the status of property tax legislation, developing the Campaign to Convince Floridians of the Value of Public Libraries to prevent funding cuts, and coordinating FLA legislative activities with the Secretary of State and State Librarian.