Series: DLIS Alumni in Higher Education Administration

Romeo Sanchez, a graduate of the St. John’s DLIS program in 2005 is the current Assistant Director for Operations here at St. John’s. Sitting for an interview in a warm basement room on a sunny spring day, Romeo described his path to LIS and what skills he has taken from the program that he applies to his current job at the university.

Romeo earned his undergraduate degree in computer science at St. John’s, just like many other DLIS alumni in higher education administration at St. John’s. He began his work for the university during his senior year in IT while contemplating his route to higher educational goals. Quickly ruling out a Master’s degree in business, Romeo searched for an educational opportunity that would allow his to further his knowledge of information.

“St. John’s acted as a feeder for St. John’s in my case,” Romeo states. In his search for the right Master’s program Romeo spoke to DLIS alumni employed at the university and otherwise. By talking to program alumni he concluded those graduating from this program made use of their degree in three main ways: cataloging, researching and reference work, and information management. Most interested in information management, with a background in computer science, Romeo applied and entered the DLIS program.

Today, as Assistant Director for Operations Romeo handles information about all queries from interested undergraduate and graduate applicants about the university. He organizes, manages and sorts these inquiries through the creation of codes for contacts and the interactions with these contacts, creating a searchable catalog for use by his coworkers without LIS backgrounds.

Romeo is grateful for many LIS skills he utilizes in his everyday career. The organizational skills refined in studying librarianship have helped his development of catalogs that optimize searchability and retrievability for future use. Having to collaborate for group projects and study groups prepared him for collaboration on a mass scale: currently working with the St. John’s offices of Student Affairs, Residential Village, Undergraduate Admissions – virtually any office on campus that contributes to what Romeo called, “the student experience.”

 When asked if he would ever consider a career change, Romeo said it was unlikely and plans to stay in this current industry. In considering a library position, Romeo found it would be difficult for him to restart as a librarian unless in a high stress environment, like at a law firm or business.