Introduction
Preparation of this Report
This program presentation has been developed by a faculty/staff subcommittee (The iSchool COA Subcommittee) of the SIS Council with the input and support of the iSchool’s administration and the faculty of the Library and Information Science Program. The COA Subcommittee has been tasked with addressing each of the COA Standards, gathering evidence to support the School’s efforts to meet the Standards, and analyzing the School’s successes in doing so.
This report has been developed while the iSchool is facing a period of great challenges. In the last three years, three faculty members have passed away, two have taken positions at other universities, and one has been on an extended personal leave. The LIS program is benefitting greatly from three outstanding faculty hires in 2012. Sheila Corrall holds the position of Professor with expertise in academic libraries, strategic management, and organization and professional development. She also serves as the Chair of the Library and Information Science Program. She brings experience from leading the Information School at the University of Sheffield to become the first iSchool in the UK. Brian Beaton is an Assistant Professor who has research expertise in Science & Technology Studies and who will teach primarily in the Archives area. Stephen Griffin joined the faculty as a Visiting Professor and the Mellon Cyberscholar, charged with expanding the School’s expertise in this critical area. Under Sheila Corrall’s leadership, the MLIS program will be strategically enhanced to better address challenges in the field, to better prepare students for careers in an ever-changing digital landscape, and to position the iSchool for growth. The first two endeavors undertaken the LIS faculty and its new leader were the preparation of this Program Presentation and embarking upon a comprehensive review of the curriculum for the MLIS Program.
The Process
In March 2012, the Dean formed a Subcommittee of the School of Information Sciences Council to provide oversight for the development of the Program Presentation for the COA site visit and all efforts associated with the School’s continued accreditation by the American Library Association. The members of the COA Subcommittee are as follows:
Chairs:
Martin B. H. Weiss, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (until August 2012)
Sheila Corrall, Professor and Chair of the Library and Information Science Program (from August 2012 on)
Members:
Leanne Bowler, Assistant Professor and Lead Faculty for the Specialization in Resources & Services: Children & Youth
Richard Cox, Professor and Lead Faculty for the Specialization in Archives, Preservation, and Records Management
Brian Cumer, PhD Candidate
James “Kip” Currier, Assistant Professor and MLIS Alumnus
Debbie Day, iSchool Program Administrator and MLIS Alumna
Ellen Detlefsen, Associate Professor and Lead Faculty for the Specialization in Resources & Services: Health
Daqing He, Associate Professor, Lead Faculty for the Specializations in Digital Libraries and Information Technology, and Chair of SIS Council
Eleanor Mattern, PhD Student
Kelly I. Shaffer, Director of External Relations
The COA Subcommittee has met on a weekly basis to prepare materials and evidences for this COA Program Presentation. The LIS faculty held a retreat on September 19, 2012 to initiate the drafting of the program presentation. The Subcommittee then presented progress reports to the LIS faculty as a whole at the monthly faculty meetings. Specific meeting times were set aside for in-depth consideration of discrete standards to ensure that all LIS program faculty had the opportunity to review and comment on the entire program presentation.
At the September, October and November meetings of the SIS Council, time was devoted to discussions and review of materials prepared for this presentation. This permitted the COA Subcommittee to gather the input of faculty, staff and students from across the School on a regular basis and to incorporate their feedback into the preliminary version. A final version of the Program Presentation was made available to the SIS Council for comment and consideration. The COA Subcommittee had planned to present an earlier draft of this presentation to the Board of Visitors during their annual meeting scheduled for October 31-November 1, 2012. Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy necessitated postponing the meetings until April 2013.
The initial draft of this Program Presentation was also informed by feedback gathered from meeting with alumni at the Pennsylvania Library Association’s Annual Conference held in October 2012 in Gettysburg, PA. The LIS Program Chair and the Director of Constituent Relations hosted an alumni reception on the evening of the grand opening of the conference, with more than 20 alumni in attendance. These graduates of the program, representing both recent graduates and those with 20+ years of professional experience, were asked for issues and challenges to address in the proposed comprehensive curriculum review and the COA Program Review. In addition, the Program Chair and the Director of External Relations staffed a booth in the exhibit hall for the duration of the conference, chatting informally with more than 65 alumni of the MLIS Program. See appendix ALU 1 for more information. Ongoing interactions with alumni through alumni events, guest lectures and other meetings have continued to inform successive drafts of this Program Presentation.
Input to this report was gathered from the School’s top administrators including the Dean, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Director of Administration. In addition, a final version was sent for review by Patricia E. Beeson (Provost), Juan Manfredi (Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and iSchool liaison to the Provost) and to Alberta Sbragia (Vice Provost for Graduate Studies).
Organization of this Report
The program presentation is offered in the order in which the COA Standards are presented. Each Chapter represents one of the Standards, fully discussing each sub-Standard. The Chapters are as follows:
Chapter 1 – Mission and Goals
Chapter 2 – Curriculum
Chapter 3 – Faculty
Chapter 4 – Students
Chapter 5 – Finance and Administration
Chapter 6 – Facilities and Resources
At the end of this report, appendices which include several subsections dealing with evidence and documentation in the following categories
University – denoted by the prefix UNI
School – denoted by the prefix SCH
Program – denoted by the prefix PRO
Curriculum & Courses – denoted by the prefix CUR
Faculty – denoted by the prefix FAC
Students – denoted by the prefix STU
Alumni – denoted by the prefix ALU
Financial & Administrative – denoted by the prefix FIN
Each item within the individual categories will then have a discrete number, referred to in the narrative, for ease in finding.