A: The faculty and staff directory on the College of Education website is a valuable resource, both internally and externally. Each entry of the directory, found at http://ed.psu.edu/directory, contains the person's photo, name, Penn State email address, office phone number and office address. When someone clicks on an entry, it opens up to an expanded listing, which includes the person's title, department and other information, based on input from the individual. Faculty entries also include the option to upload a CV.
When a directory entry is created for a faculty or staff member, only the basic information is included. It is up to individuals to add additional information. This can be done by clicking on your own directory entry and logging into the website using the link on the bottom left side of the webpage.
Once logged in, faculty and staff can click checkboxes to affiliate themselves with different programs and centers. There also are text areas for individuals to add biography information, activities and honors, and other information.
Not all fields are editable. If a change needs to be made to a locked field, such as name or title, click the "Request a change" button to the left of the entry.
Among other things, this customizable information is used to facilitate advanced searches of the directory. To do an advanced search, go to the directory and click on "Advanced Search" in the left-hand column. Searches can be done for expertise, departments or centers, with the search results based on the information included in each individual's directory entry. For example, if a "center" search is done for CEDAR Clinic, only those directory entries that have CEDAR Clinic checked will be included.
For more information about making directory entries more robust, email questions to edrelations@psu.edu.
If you have a question for the glad you asked column, send it, along with your name and office phone number, via email to edrelations@psu.edu. For publication purposes, Connections will use the initials of the individuals sending the questions and their department, depending on the nature of the question. Submissions must include a contact name and telephone number so that Connections can verify the source. Requests for anonymity will be honored.