I am taking a poll (and writing a paper) so please help me out and leave your answers in the comment box above:
If you work in the area of language learning technology, or know someone who does, please tell me what your/that person’s title is. We all know that it sometimes feels like it is the “language learning educational technologist center director teaching position library liaison lecturer server dude,” but what does the institution actually call it?
If you have a dedicated space for language technology/learning/teaching, how does your institution refer to it?
And when you have left your comments, please turn up your speakers and sing along with this 1965 classic:
Okay I’ll start:
I work in the “Cooper International Learning Center” (The CILC…)
My title is Director and Language Technology Specialist. The other full time staff person is the Educational Technology Specialist.
So many specialists…
Barbara,
We really don;t have any one specifically dealing with the language lab at UMW, but I believe that is different at UR. The way it worked with the language lab is instructional technology kind of helped manage the language/media lab, but that was mainly because we are broke, and have a kind of misplaced legacy that needs to straightened out. And while I haven;t helped you at all with this comment, I did want to leave one
My title is Director, which is a title here for continuing, non-tenure-track faculty.
I am responsible for the “Multimedia Language Laboratory,” but the name will change sometime before August 2010 to the “Global Studio.”
sgs
I’m in a small institution, so my title is Instructional Technologist.I support all faculty, not just those in languages, though a lot of my work is with the language faculty.
Add me to the list of Directors (which was tough to get established originally, as that title was reserved for faculty Directors of formally established research Centers).
Our facility evolved from the Language Lab to the Humanities Instructional Resource Center when no one would give us money to buy computers “just for languages”. Whereas we serve all Humanities disciplines, we focus on supporting the specialized needs of the language departments.
I’m a brand-new Foreign Language Instructional Technologist – a title that absolutely no one can remember! This is a newly created position. For now, I work in the Language Lab, but I’m trying to drum up support for a change to Language Resource Center in the near future.
Oh, and this is my first comment, although I’ve been reading since I started in October. So hi, and thanks for all the great work!
We’re the Language Resource Center (aka “the LRC”) and I’m the “Director”.
Here at Phillips Academy, its pretty simple,
I’m the “Manager of the Language Learning Center”
and the lab is just the Language Learning Center
Language Program Administrator (this title is entirely my own fault)
The group is Academic Technology Services. The group doesn’t have a defined space at the moment. We do have the “Arthur Vining Davis Language Classroom”
Here’s a mouthful for you: I’m the Foreign Language Technologist / AV Services Coordinator for Letters & Science Learning Support Services (L&S LSS) at UW-Madison.
My title is Director of the Language Center. Two questions answered in one. Even though my title does not reflect it, I also teach in addition to running the Center, which is really a multimedia lab.
My official internal title here at the University of Connecticut is ‘Program Specialist II’ (great, huh?) but my position was advertised as ‘Director of’ and so that is what I go by. We do still have a dedicated physical locale called the Multimedia Language Center.
1. Coordinator, Language Labs
2. Lone Star College-CyFair Language Labs
The KU (University of Kansas) Language Lab was renamed the Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center in 1987 … and now serves all humanities departments rather than just foreign languages. My title is Director.
My official title is “Language Lab Coordinator” which has caused me no end of grief. When the HR dept reviews my position, they compare it to other jobs with the word “lab” in it, so I end up compared to biology lab managers instead of instructional, technical, media production, or learner support positions. In fact, I provide all of these services, but get almost no recognition for any of them outside of my department.
The center is called the Language Acquisition and Resource Center (LARC). I’d prefer to call it just the LRC, and drop the A, but that’s a Krashen-Language Acquisition debate. ;- )
Title: Coordinator
Place: Language Learning Center
(and, my student workers’ titles are Language Media Specialists and Lead Language Media Specialist)
I am the Director of the Foreign Language Resource Center.
Most people and my business card says “Language Lab Director”
My title is Language Learning Lab Director (I know, a mouthful, but it used to be Language Learning Technology Center Coordinator) and our facility is called the Language Learning Technology (LLT) Center.
My official title is something like Assistant Education Specialist, but I am variously also titled as the “Web Manager” “Technology Instructor” and “Duchess of Database”. Our lang & tech support center is the CLA Language Center.
Barbara, there’s not really a space. WE have a small lab of about 7 computers that is really too new to have a name.
Director Foreign Language Media Center
Purdue doesn’t really have a language technology center or a language lab. Another full time employee and I trouble shoot all the computers and AV equipment in the department. We also run the departmental server.
Hi Barbara,
I am the “Manager of Language Services” because I manage the language resources in a multimedia lab, including software selection and support. Our center is called: The Samuel B. and Marian K. Freedman Digital Library, Language Learning, and Multimedia Services Center. I also serve as instructional designer and video conferencing helper to the language faculty. All other faculty receive support through our ‘Instructional Technology and Academic Computing division.’
Tina
My title is “Language Lab Coordinator”. I manage the “Language Lab” for the “School for World Languages and Cultures”. However, my union sees me as a 720: Level 2 (Career), Instructional Technology Consultant.
Hey Barbara,
Here at the University of Oklahoma, the official title on my paycheck is “Info Tech Specialist 1″ (fun!), but my business card says “Director, Modern Languages Learning Center” (much cooler sounding). I inherited the lab’s ongoing identity crisis when I signed on. For example, the lab here has gone through a list of monikers over the years – Language Resource Center (LRC), Language Learning Center (LLC), etc. – but is usually referred to by word of mouth as just the “language lab”. To top it all off, our website and logo carry the acronym MLLAB (for Modern Language Laboratory).
Take care and good luck on the project!
John
My official title at Yale University is Programmer Analyst. There’s quite a few titles floating around where I work: Director, Foreign Language Resource Specialist, Sr Multimedia Technician, Program Director, Language Study Specialist. Our language center is called the Center for Language Study (CLS).
I’m officially (in university terms) a lecturer, but my “Institution” title is CALL Coordinator. I work in the “MEI Multimedia Center”, or MMC, where MEI stands for Maryland English Institute. My position has been around for awhile, but it has been vacant for a few years because of enrollment.
Our lab was created several years ago, and is showing its age, but the way I look at it, this is gives me the prospect of improving it sometime soon:)
My official title is “Director” and the name of my facility is the “Interactive Language Resource Center”
I am the “Coordinator of Language Instructional Technology” and I manage “Language Media Services”.
After a recent HR reclassification at U Michigan, most of us are called Instructional Learning Intermediate/Senior/Lead (depending on level). This title refers to people more commonly known as Instructional Technologist, Videographer, Audio Specialist. Our center is called the Language Resource Center. We also have staff members with the following titles: Information Services Consultant, Senior Information Resources Assistant, Information and Resource Coordinator. We’d be happy to send more detail if you need it.
Philomena
I’m the “Director” of our “Language Learning Center”. I don’t have any full-time staff, but I do have several student workers called “Student Technology Assistants”. My position is actually housed inside of our languages department– our college-wide academic IT support staff are called “IT Professionals”, with their team lead being the “Technology Coordinator”.
–Chris
My title is Director and I manage the Foreign Language Lab.
At Emory, we have functional titles and then official HR titles. My functional title (and what I have on my business card) is Director of Technology for the Emory College Language Center. My official HR title is Business Analyst II (you can see why I use the former). We would like to be known as the Emory Language Center, but our mission presently only includes the College of Undergraduates. The Center has a faculty director, above me, and another technology staff position – IT Specialist for the Center.
We’re known as the Language Learning Resource Center, or LLRC for short. The Center has a technology staff position, currently named Instructional Technologist/Language Learning. However, we’re about to expand the position to include other multimedia labs, so the new title will be Instructional Technologist/Specialized Labs.
HI Barbara,
We have The Language Center, which is proximal to the Language Center labs (actually maintained by ITS, but houses language learning software).
I am currently just an Academic Technologist, though most people know me has the ‘language person’. (and I work in ITS, not in the Language Center).
For what it’s worth, I used to be the Academic Computing Coordinator for Foreign Languages & Literature.
I hope you’ll share your stuff! Good luck!
Hi Barbara,
My title is Director of the Foreign Language Resource Center. We renamed the center over 10 years ago, but most folks still refer to it as the Language Lab.
Cindy
Our center is called the FLRC (Foreign Language Resource Center). My position is currently changing, I will be non-tenure track, coterminous faculty (assistant professor) and director starting this summer. Until now I was/am academic staff (instructor and language technology specialist).
As with many, my official title has more to do with University administravia and assignment to University pay grades than it does actual duties. My official title is “Coordinator III” and our physical space is called the “Language Resource Center” although we are still referred to as the “language lab” by most…..
Title: Supervisor, Humanities Learning Resource Center
Location: Humanities Technology and Research Support Center (within the College of Humanities.)
Foreign Language Computer Lab Coordinator or the “Boss” to 6 FWSP (Federal Work Study) Lab assistants. They supervise 25-Pentium 3′s- Hey, we have Internet connections and lost FL students who wander in. A position I inherited from RS, yes, he did all the hard work. Actually I defaulted to the position after he went to SUNY-Albany and decided it was time to leave- University of South Florida or U stay forever. I can officially use the term after a recent PhD-final defender, now hired USF faculty, used it in a email to me today, obviously she has accepted her fate!). We miss you RS and phone home!
My new title is “Director of Educational Technology” in the Center for English Language and Orientation Programs at Boston University. We are the intensive English program (IEP) for BU. My title was originally “Multimedia Language Lab Coordinator,” but my duties have vastly outgrown the limitations apparent in that title.
Also at BU we have the Geddes Language Center, which supports foreign language instruction at BU. It is run by a Director and the technical operations are run by the Assistant Director.
Hi Barbara!
Our place is now called the “Language Resource Center”, but 7 years ago, shortly after I was hired, I changed it from “Language Lab.” This may seem like a matter of semantics, but I’ll explain later why I found this to be an important change…
And, my title is Director. I chose this title because the university previously called my position “Supervisor”. I’ve tried to shed the “Supervisor” name mainly because of pay equity issues. Most of us who run full-service Language Resource Centers (with the emphasis on “Resources”) are quite sensitive to how how different our positions are from the many “lab supervisor” positions at large universities. Typically, lab supervisors oversee a general purpose computer lab, of which our campus has many. However, these general purpose campus computer labs DO NOT: manage servers which provide audio and film/video collections, curriculum materials and resources, they DON’T typically provide highly specialized teaching and learning-environment software that allows instructors to conduct interactive synchronous classroom activities (such as Sanako, Sony, DiLL, and many other systems), and they typically DON’T provide instructional design assistance and production services to faculty or students. However, since my university’s Human Resources Dept classifies my position as “Lab Supervisor” this has caused problems in the past when negotiating a new salary (due to increased responsibilities). In the event of salary negotiations, Depts of Human Resources rely on comparable positions within the university, and sometimes comparables at other universities. This approach became a problem because the Human Resources Dept did not distinguish between the many computer “lab supervisor” positions on campus and my position as the campus’ only Language Resource Center director. Sorry for the long-winded diatribe, but I appreciate learning of your study that raises many important issues and questions — but from the surface appears simply to be a matter of semantics. I’d love to talk with you more on this topic! Best regards, David
Title: Foreign Language Instructional Technology Coordinator
Location: Center for Digital Humanities & Center for World Languages (withing the College of Humanities)
To tack on to our developer @Susan, my b-card title is System Administrator and Senior Programmer, my position title is Manager I, and I am employee #76378 (visions of Patrick McGoohan). We’re blissfully large enough that we’ve got people whose titles probably fall outside the domain of your paper, such as us in the nerd room. Old skool Elis, such as yours truly, still occasionally think “Language Lab” since that was the old common name. We still refer to the Constitution as the Articles of Confederation, too.
I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun reading a blog:)
Language Teachers are flying solo at my university.
The dark glass room in the corner is called
FLMC : Foreign Language Media Center
No full time staff- part time work studies checking out movies and rolling scary AV equip around.
Thankfully IT loaded us up with a lab that holds 25 all in one computers (managed by IT dept.)
Barbara: I’m the Director of the Parker Language Resource Center. Until I took my (newly re-authorized) position in 2002, the space was the Parker Language Lab. It took a lot of convincing that the mission I was hired for was really different and that the “resources” of the space were new and greater.
Nearly everyone now refers to our space as the LRC, sometimes as the Resource Center. (Paradoxically, I sometimes now find MYSELF slipping into “the LAB.” I think this reflects whether we’re talking about student self-study at the moment, rather than the “language learning educational technologist center director teaching position library liaison lecturer server dude,†to which you refer.
THAT, by the way, is the perfect title – captures all my duties (except also for liason with Computer and Information Systems).
Hi All,
My official HR title is Business Analyst II. My functional title and what is on my business cards is Director of Technology, Emory College Language Center. There is another tech position in the center – Senior Multimedia Specialist (HR title). His functional title is Language Center Coordinator. The Center is part of Emory University, but we serve mainly the College of Undergraduates, hence The Emory College Language Center. However, I welcome all and don’t turn away non-college requests. My hope is that we will one day officially serve the entire university so I keep my doors as open as possible, though our mission and funding say different. Emory University Language Center has a nicer ring, n’est-ce pas?
Trina:
Welcome to the site! I can commiserate about having a title that no one remembers. Or a center that no one can find in the directory. Unless you know that the Cooper Family gave money for the Center, you would not know to find us under C. So we are also cross listed under L for language lab.
Cheers,
B
I’m catching up on my reading, so pardon the delay.
Want to help people remember your title? FLIT
So how does it feel to be the campus FLIT? Could be much worse, you know.
Laura:
thanks for writing… is there a space just for the language folk? and if so, what is it called?
B
Ha!… yes well when I am feeling particularly spunky I call myself the “Directrix”
Oh I hear you about an identity crisis…. thank you for contributing…I am positively giddy from the variety of responses!
–Barbara
Well, the beauty of asking this kind of a question via a blog is that you all get to see the information as i see it… confusing or comical names and all!
–Barbara
I hear ya. My sister once tried to call my office and had the worst time finding me because no one knew what the heck the CILC was..or is. “Language lab” they knew (if they knew we had one…that’s a whole ‘nuther blogpost there!)
Hi Barbara,
I am the Director of the Foreign Language Multimedia Center here at Auburn. As far as Human Resources is concerned, however, I am an Instructional Technology Specialist II.