On February 15, 2019, the Penguin Random House First-Year Reading Advisory Board convened for their annual summit the day before The First-Year Experience® Conference exhibit and sessions commenced. The Board members, representing a variety of public and private higher education institutions of varying sizes, came together to exchange ideas, and provide feedback and guidance.
Our five attending board members, along with staff from PRH Education and the PRH Speakers Bureau, participated in a half-day summit. We received valuable information about the opportunities and needs of common reading programs, as well as feedback on specific titles ideal for the academic space.
We discussed the value of themed common experience programs, the potential for alumni participation in the common reading, digital possibilities for shared reading, the importance of author speaker visits and overall faculty engagement with their school’s programs.
2018 PRH First-Year Reading Advisory Board (in alphabetical order):
- Janet Casey, Skidmore College
- Edwin Mayes, Case Western Reserve University (not pictured)
- La’Tonya Rease Miles, University of California Los Angeles
- Erika K. Nielson Vargas, Texas State University
- Bernie Savarese, New York University
- Shelia Stoeckel, University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Jonathan Wynn, UMASS Amherst (not pictured)
As always, we are appreciative to those who have come before, and have helped lay the foundation for the Board:
PRH First-Year Reading Advisory Board Emeritus:
- Rebecca Campbell, Northern Arizona University
- Tara Coleman, Kansas State University Libraries
- Liz Gales, Northern Iowa Area Community College
- Steven Girardot, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Jennifer Latino, Campbell University, Ellucian
- Marjorie Litchford, Smith College
- Abby Nobili, University of Central Florida, Valencia College
- Daphne Rankin, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Jared Tippets, Purdue University, Southern Utah State University
