The Webster University Library Advisory Board is comprised of individuals within and outside of libraries who help us envision and plan for the future of our library in the rapidly changing world of higher education, academic libraries, and information access. The Library has long had a culture of assessment, including periodic satisfaction surveys, collections reviews, and instructional outcomes assessment. Our board's work complements our internal assessment efforts and helps us envision a bold future in which the library continues and strengthens its role as a key partner in the University’s academic endeavors.
Tony A. BenningfieldMy name is Tony A. Benningfield and I'm the Executive Director at the Jefferson County Library District. We have a 3 (soon to be 4) branch system and serve 136,000 people. Previously, I was Director of a small municipal library in De Soto, Missouri but I got my start in libraries at the Jefferson College Library while completing my AA and BA degrees in History and Political Science. The latter from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. I received my MLIS from the University of North Texas. Married 6 years with 2 boys (13 & 5), 2 dogs (Kaylee and Thor), and a cat (Charli).
Tracy ByerlyTracy Rochow Byerly has worked for Amigos Library Services since July 2012, when the Missouri Library Network Corporation (MLNC) merged into Amigos Library Services. She served as Executive Director of MLNC since December 2003 and played a key role in the merger of the two organizations.
In her current position, Ms. Byerly provides vision and creative, strategic leadership for Amigos, works closely with the Board of Directors concerning policy and planning, and engages libraries for innovation, collaboration, and partnerships. Prior to assuming her role as Executive Director at MLNC, she taught many workshops in her role as User Services Manager. Her library career began at St. Louis County Library, MO, where she worked in both public and technical services. Known for her knowledge of consortial management, enthusiasm and positive outlook, Tracy is a popular speaker at library meetings.
Lisa Camp is a seasoned marketing professional with over a decade of experience, now leading her company, LRC Social, to provide a vast range of social media and marketing services. A proud alumna of her university, she earned her BA in Media Communication in 2018 and her MBA in 2020. As she joins the library advisory board, Lisa aims to use her strategic insight and passion for community engagement to bolster the university's educational and outreach endeavors.
Sarah FancherSarah E. Fancher is currently the Director of Content Classification at SSRN, a preprint repository devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of research. She previously spent many years in academic libraries, serving as Library Director at a community college and as a research and instruction librarian at a private, doctoral-granting university.
Shanise JohnsonShanise Johnson is the Director of Career & Workforce Readiness at Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, where she directs programming for the St. Louis Internship Program. Shanise is a proud product of the St. Louis Internship Program, where the goal is to provide hope and opportunity for high school students in financial need through paid summer internships, intensive employability training, and year-round college and career planning, in partnership with businesses and community organizations, and to build the St. Louis community by developing motivated, well-trained, and talented future employees. She is responsible for overall management and fiscal oversight, managing community partnerships, designing student programming, and directing evaluation and reporting.
Shanise holds a B.S. in business administration from St. Louis University, an M.B.A. from Webster University, an M.A. in teaching from Lindenwood University, and Business/Career Education Professional Certification for teaching at the secondary level. In 2016, she received a Diverse Business Leader award from the St. Louis Business Journal. When Shanise is not engaging with the students of SLIP, she is providing educational support, career counseling or event coordination to a number of organizations. Through her many endeavors, Shanise is committed to ensuring that every student she serves graduates from high school fully prepared for college and careers.
Monique C. McKinneyMonique C. McKinney is a Human Resource & Recruiting leader with over nineteen years of extensive management and leadership experience. As the CEO/Principle leader of her own HR Consulting group, she is responsible for driving the mission of partnering with organizations to provide forward-thinking talent and resource-management solutions. Delivering high level HR consulting strategies to growing companies in the areas of: Human Resource Management, Talent Acquisition & Management, Workforce Development, Career Transition, Training & Development and Corporate Compliance. She effectively guides clients through organizational change and fostering a culture of progressive employee relations and inclusion. Her career history includes being an effective change agent and collaborating and uniting cross-functional business lines within fast paced environments. Prior to joining Laclede Groves in 2016, she served as Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist at BJC Shared Services and as Human Resource Manager at Aesculap, Conifer Health Solutions (formerly known as Tenet Patient Financial Services), and The Home Depot. She is a member of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the National Human Resource Association (NHRA).
Ms. McKinney holds a B.A. in Human Resource Management from Lindenwood University and is pursuing her MBA. She serves the community as a volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club of St. Louis, a member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and a discussion leader for the Grace Hill Women's Business Center. She is an active supporter of The Black Rep, Diversity Awareness Partnership (DAP), NAACP, and the Contemporary Art Museum.
Blain McVey works at the University of Missouri - St. Louis as the Coordinator of New Student Experience within the Office of Student Involvement. In this role, Blain plans a variety of social, informational, and other orientation-style events to welcome new students to the university. He also serves as an advisor to several academic honor societies, consulting scholar-leaders in managing their student organizations.
Blain is a recent alumnus of Webster University, graduating in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics and a Minor in Philosophy. During his time as a student, Blain was involved in several student organizations, notably the Student Government Association. One of his proudest achievements while serving on SGA was working alongside the Webster University library staff and administration to eliminate library fees for students.
Madison Morris is passionate about libraries and has served as the Director of the Webster Groves Public Library since February, 2023. Madison started her career as a manager at Scenic Regional Library, which serves Franklin, Warren, and Gasconade counties, before going to St. Charles City-County Library District, where she managed the Corporate Parkway Branch. She received her MLIS from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Dr. Lam D. NguyenDr. Lam D. Nguyen is a tenured Professor of Management and International Business and Director of the Global Business Institute (GBI) in the Zeigler College of Business at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He is also a Research Fellow at the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. He earned his Doctorate degree in Management and his MBA degree with an emphasis in International Business from Webster University. He has been on the editorial board of several refereed journals and served as a Guest Editor of a Special Issue in the International Journal of Business and Globalisation. He also served as a Visiting Professor at Webster University Thailand and at the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Dr. Nguyen possesses a solid practitioner experience including various managerial and leadership positions he held in Vietnam and in the U.S. Dr. Nguyen has published numerous articles in high quality refereed journals and proceedings, including Leadership & Organization Development Journal, International Journal of Public Administration, Journal of Management Development, Journal of Asia Business Studies, SAM Advanced Management Journal, and others. He is a recipient of multiple prestigious awards such as Emerald Best International Symposium Award and Best Reviewer Award from the Academy of Management and Provost's Award for Excellence in Research/Scholarly Activity from Bloomsburg University. His areas of interest are job satisfaction, leadership, strategic management, ethics, entrepreneurship, and cross cultural management.
Dr. Nguyen has served as the faculty advisor of several student organizations including Global Business Association, Beta Gamma Sigma, and Society for Advancement of Management-BU Chapter and has been awarded the 2018 Student Organization Advisor of the Year by Bloomsburg University and the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Advisor by the Society for Advancement of Management. The Beta Gamma Sigma-BU Chapter received the Outstanding Chapter Award-Honorable Mention in 2015 in addition to multiple Highest Honors and Exemplary Chapter Awards since 2013.
Karen RobinsonKaren Robinson retired after serving sixteen years in a joint appointment as Assistant Teaching Professor in the iSchool at the University of Missouri and Reference/Instruction Librarian at UM-St. Louis. She currently serves as an adjunct professor in the iSchool at the University of Missouri. Originally from the Washington, DC metro area, Karen has been a librarian in Oklahoma, Kansas, Virginia and Missouri. At Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA, Ms. Robinson served as Head of Reference for four years, as Head of Special Collections & Archives for six years, and taught in the Library Science program for the Catholic University of American (Washington, DC).
The Library would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our former board members. We are grateful for their service!
