Miranda Novak

Assistant Director for Instructional Technology,
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University

Speaker Bio:

Miranda Novak is the Assistant Director for Instructional Technology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. Miranda is a data nerd at heart who loves nothing more than a messy dataset that needs normalizing. She has worn many hats in her 22 years at CSB and SJU. She began her career as a web developer, and even before moving into a management role people would seek her out to for help removing barriers to their success. Diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder as an adult she wasn’t sure she should ever be a leader, but the library director saw something in her and gave her an opportunity to show that an anxiety disorder doesn’t have to stand in the way of a position in leadership. She became the Technology Services Manager in the Libraries before rising to her current dual-report role serving both the Libraries and IT Services.

Throughout her time at CSB and SJU, she’s led many system investigations and implementations, including the development of a new department focused on supporting faculty and students’ technology needs in the classroom and in their curriculum. Her team has won awards for curriculum integration and supported award-winning student-produced videos. Her single greatest challenge was the COVID pivot online which moved a traditional in-person and hands-on educational experience online from March – May 2020, then hybrid for the 2020/2021 academic year to keep classes in-session during an unprecedented time. Her team designed and installed equipment in classrooms, then trained faculty one-by-one to prepare them for a totally new way to teach. She is a known problem solver and good listener who is deeply invested in people. She has learned to appreciate her diagnosis for the active listening and emotional intelligence superpowers it gives her.