NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 28 number 2 - Winter 2007

Michael Hyman Named 2007 Faculty Award Winner

By Suzanne Weiner, Library Advancement

Michael R. Hyman, associate professor and director of graduate programs in NC State's Department of Microbiology, is the recipient of the nineteenth annual NCSU Libraries Faculty Award. This award is presented to an NC State University faculty member in recognition of outstanding contributions that support the Libraries' mission and its role within the university. The award was presented to Hyman at the Friends of the Library's Fall Luncheon on November 12, 2007.

Hyman came to NC State in 1998 and shortly thereafter was appointed to the University Library Committee (ULC). This committee is charged with advising the provost and the director of libraries on library policy, the collections budget, allocation of library space, and library services. He served on the ULC for six years, three as chair, and was on the original advisory committee creating the Hill of Beans coffee shop that opened its doors in 2002 to provide a convenient and safe place for students and faculty to meet or find coffee late at night. The ULC studied traffic patterns in the Libraries and surveyed student, staff, and faculty preferences for products and services to develop a proposal for University Dining for such a facility.

During the three years of Hyman's tenure as chair, the Libraries faced a number of major challenges. Under his leadership, the ULC, working in collaboration with library administration, enabled the Libraries to continue to serve the university at the level students, faculty, and staff have come to expect. In 2003, when the NCSU Libraries joined other university libraries in tough negotiations with the large scholarly publisher Reed Elsevier over its bundling and billing practices, Hyman played a leadership role in promoting an understanding of the issues among his colleagues in the Faculty Senate and across campus and in drafting a resolution supporting the library administration’s strategy. This approach gained international recognition, and the resolution served as a model for other universities across the country in their negotiations.

Hyman's informed involvement was again critical during the 2005-2006 academic year when the library faced a significant cut in overhead funding. Such a loss in funding would have severely eroded the collections budget. Hyman worked closely with ULC members and librarians to determine the effects on research and scholarship, and he led the committee in making the case to university administration for maintaining the collections budget. His efforts in bringing the needs and concerns of the scholarly community to the administration resulted in more than 50 percent of the proposed cuts being reinstated and, to a large degree, averted the funding crisis.

His steadfast support and distinguished service to the Libraries over his years at NC State have been recognized by his colleagues in the faculty and are echoed in this statement made by one of the nominators:

"Over years of formal association with and support for the Libraries, Dr. Hyman has taken on various roles in which his insight, his commitment, his humor, and his diplomacy have all contributed to the standing of the NC State University Libraries among research libraries around the world. His efforts and successes in supporting the Libraries make him an obvious choice for this important award."