Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol Named Inaugural Doris Keller Hosler Endowed Professor

Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol, undergraduate research and instruction library, has been named Millersville University's inaugural Doris Keller Hosler Endowed Professor. She leads the McNairy Library Research Fellows program, co-edits the "Engage for Change Journal" and "Made in Millersville Journal" and co-directs the undergraduate internship program that supports both publications.

The Doris Keller Hosler Endowed Professorship is awarded annually to a tenured faculty member in the Library Department whose work demonstrates a commitment to student learning, academic excellence and effective use of library resources. It was created to encourage, develop and educate students in the use of Millersville University's library facilities and resources, while supporting professional development activities that enhance library instruction and student engagement. The Professorship provides a stipend to support a plan of action that advances these objectives. Funding may be used for professional development, program development, instructional initiatives or other activities that align with the mission of the professorship.

Pashkova-Balkenhol's project this academic year will address the realities of declining budgets and the rapidly changing higher education environments that compel librarians to pursue strategic partnerships across campus units to support student learning in holistic and sustainable ways. Her goal is to further integrate the library's research support into the Honors College thesis-writing process and to lay the foundation for a participatory collaboration between the Ask a Librarian and the Writing Center.

"As an undergraduate research and instruction librarian, I have been invested in interweaving and making explicit connections between research and writing in my professional practices through library instruction sessions, research consultations, learning objects and my involvement with two university publications," she says. "The need is particularly urgent in the age of AI, where research and writing as two interdependent competencies must be intentionally strengthened throughout college students' academic careers. Both research and writing are recursive, iterative and interconnected processes, prompting students to engage in inquiry, discovery and meaning making about their learning, themselves and the world around them."