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Donna Ziegenfuss
Associate Librarian, Faculty Services at University of Utah
Professional Background
Dr. Donna Harp Ziegenfuss is a distinguished Associate Librarian specializing in Faculty Services at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. With a robust career spanning over a decade in academic libraries, she has developed a rich tapestry of expertise in educational leadership, instructional design, and faculty development. Dr. Ziegenfuss has contributed significantly to the field through a multidimensional approach to teaching, learning, and the integration of technology in academic settings.
Her journey in education is complemented by her extensive teaching experience, having taught in various formats, including traditional, hybrid, and online courses for 12 years. Throughout this time, she has dedicated herself to illuminating the path for both faculty and students, ensuring that learning is not merely a transmission of information but a transformative experience. Dr. Ziegenfuss has dedicated her career to enhancing student learning and teaching engagement within the dynamic frameworks of academic libraries.
Transitioning Focus
Since joining the University of Utah in the fall of 2011, Dr. Ziegenfuss has redefined her research and service interests. Initially, her work centered on theoretical faculty development, but she has shifted towards a greater emphasis on how innovative instructional practices can enrich student engagement and learning outcomes. By adopting a qualitative research lens, she investigates critical topics such as how students’ dispositions impact their academic success. Furthermore, she explores conceptual change theory, helping educators, including librarians, cultivate more reflective teaching practices.
Education and Achievements
Dr. Ziegenfuss's educational journey is marked by her commitment to academic excellence and professional growth. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a focus on Medical Technology from Millersville University. Eager to further her expertise in educational leadership and instructional design, she pursued a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree at Widener University. Additionally, she holds a Master of Science (MS) in Applied Technology and Instructional Design from Chestnut Hill College.
Her academic achievements are a testament to her dedication to improving educational frameworks. These broad educational credentials enable Dr. Ziegenfuss to effectively bridge gaps between library services, instructional technology, and impactful faculty development strategies.
Notable Positions
Dr. Ziegenfuss’s extensive career includes a range of influential roles at various institutions:
- Associate Librarian, Faculty Services at the University of Utah, where she plays a key role in integrating library resources to enhance faculty and student engagement.
- Assistant Director at the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) at the University of Utah, expanding her footprint in faculty development and educational technology.
- Director of the Office of Faculty Development at Widener University, where she led initiatives aimed at fostering academic culture and enhancing the teaching skills of faculty members.
- Adjunct Professor roles at both Widener University and Chestnut Hill College, engaging with students in hands-on learning experiences while sharing her expertise in instructional design.
- Head of the Faculty Technology Center and Instructional Design Specialist at Widener University, focusing on developing digital learning resources to support faculty in their teaching efforts.
- Instructional Technology Specialist positions at Ursinus College and Arcadia University, showcasing her versatile abilities in developing technology-based educational solutions.
- Dr. Ziegenfuss also has a rich background in graphic design, coupled with clinical and research laboratory experience, highlighting her multifaceted skill set.
Research Interests and Contributions
Dr. Ziegenfuss’s research interests are deeply rooted in understanding the intersection of library services, teaching techniques, and student learning environments. Her acute focus on active and inquiry-based learning aligns with contemporary trends in education that advocate for deeper student engagement. She also emphasizes the study of diverse student populations while considering the implications of technology on learning outcomes.
The importance of assessment and accountability within educational settings continues to shape her research agenda. Dr. Ziegenfuss believes that evolving learning environments provide exciting opportunities not only to study new course design models but also to implement them effectively. Her goal is to transcend traditional boundaries, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration that leads to more integrative and engaging learning experiences for all students.
Dr. Ziegenfuss emphasizes the value of relationship building and partnerships, recognizing that expansive educational connections often lead to enriched student experiences. By crossing disciplinary lines, she seeks to create educational frameworks that are innovative and adapted to the needs of an increasingly diverse student body and ever-changing technological landscape.
Achievements
Some key achievements of Dr. Ziegenfuss’s career include:
- Development of strategies enhancing collaboration between library services and classroom instruction.
- Contributions to qualitative research that informs best practices in higher education pedagogies.
- Implementation of innovative teaching frameworks that embrace technology and inclusive pedagogy.
- Successful mentorship and support offered to faculty, enhancing their instructional capabilities and engagement with students.
In summary, Dr. Donna Harp Ziegenfuss is a dedicated professional whose expansive background in academic libraries, teaching, and instructional design reflects her passion for fostering student success and enhancing faculty development. With her deep commitment to education, a keen interest in how instructional technologies can engage diverse student populations, and a steadfast belief in the power of collaborative learning, Dr. Ziegenfuss continues to make significant strides in shaping the landscape of academic library services and higher education. Her work not only impacts the immediate community at the University of Utah but also contributes to broader conversations around educational innovation in academia.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.