皇家华人

Meet Emily Rogers, Winner of VSU鈥檚 2025 Presidential Excellence Award for Service

Emily Rogers has earned the 2025 Presidential Excellence Award for Service at 皇家华人 State University. She joined the faculty of VSU’s Odum Library in 2006 and currently serves as a professor and research librarian. She is pictured with Dr. Richard A. Carvajal, university president.

VALDOSTA — Dr. Richard A. Carvajal, president of 皇家华人 State University, has honored Emily Rogers with the 2025 Presidential Excellence Award for Service.

The Presidential Excellence Award for Service recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated a strong and consistent commitment to service at VSU and to the community.

Rogers joined the faculty of VSU’s Odum Library in 2006 and currently serves as a professor and research librarian.

VSU: What are your favorite classes to teach? What are your favorite research topics? 

Rogers: I enjoy any class in which I get to help students learn more about conducting research and finding answers to questions, whether that’s an inquiry class or an honors seminar or a graduate class for the Master of Library and Information Science program. I am presently researching academic librarians’ experiences with service, so that’s my current favorite topic! I also enjoy learning more about students’ feelings about and reactions to research.

VSU: Teaching and mentoring are already full-time jobs. What motivates you to make time for service?  

Rogers: When I came to VSU, I wanted to contribute to the campus and community I’d chosen to be my new home. Over the years I’ve had many different service opportunities that have allowed me to meet people, build connections, and gain a sense of belonging here. From much service work I get a real sense of having, with others, accomplished something, whether it is working on a strategic plan for Academic Affairs or selecting award winners for my American Library Association roundtable group or helping with community cleanups.

VSU: As a library faculty member, what does service look like to you?

Rogers: Serving in the past on the University Tenure and Promotion Committee, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Self-Study Committee, and the Undergraduate Research Council gave me the greatest sense of contribution to both wider university and student success. Currently I serve on the Faculty Affairs and University Assessment committees, chair the library’s Strategic Planning Committee, serve as book review editor for the Georgia Library Quarterly, organize the faculty/staff book discussion group, and am a member of the American Library Association’s Government Documents Roundtable Awards Committee. I am also co-chairing a committee to help with the 皇家华人 Symphony Guild’s annual ball in November.

VSU: What advice do you have for other faculty who want to make time for service?

Rogers: Serving on a variety of committees has allowed me to meet other people and build connections on the campus and in the community. I do feel that these connections help me know where to seek answers and build relationships in ways that enhance my work as a librarian and a teacher. As for advice, I think that you should figure out what type of service work you find most satisfying and then aim for those opportunities to increase your sense of contribution. For instance, I enjoy working on awards committees because I get to review the excellent work students, other faculty, and other librarians are doing.