Standard IV. Students
IV.5 The school provides an environment that fosters student participation in the definition and determination of the total learning experience. Students are provided with opportunities to form student organizations and to participate in the formulation, modification, and implementation of policies affecting academic and student affairs.
Students are encouraged to join and participate in student organizations, of which there are more than a dozen at the iSchool. The complete list of all student organizations is available here. At orientation, the student organizations host information tables to encourage new students to join. The School also hosts a lunch early in the term to introduce new students to representatives from the various organizations. Information about student organization meetings is disseminated via the list serves, through signage throughout the school, and on the iSchool calendar. Each organization has a named faculty liaison and a staff liaison to ensure continuity and to provide procedural assistance. Several of these organizations are student chapters of the national professional organization such as Special Libraries Association and American Library Association. Students often receive funding to attend the national conferences of such organizations (see STU 3 for more information about travel support for students attending national conferences.)
Students can choose to participate in several different learning opportunities which include Field Experiences, practicums, online courses, WISE courses, and independent study courses.
Field Experience
A field experience (3 credits/150 hours of supervised professional work in an approved information environment) is recommended, especially if students lack professional experience. Placement positions allow students the opportunity to apply their learning to a practical work experience. Placements are available in academic libraries, corporate libraries, legal libraries, medical libraries, public libraries, and archives, as well as other organizations. There are stringent guidelines for this credit-bearing experience which is only available to those who have successfully completed 12 or more credits of coursework. It must involve professional-level experience, be grounded in the theory learned in the MLIS program, be undertaken with the approval of the faculty advisor and under the supervision of a degreed librarian (or holder of an equivalent professional degree), and produce tangible outcomes of learning such as a final project or report. Most importantly, the student must submit a proposal for the experience (outlining his/her goals in undertaking the project) and complete significant reflection essays on the experience.
The SLCP Practicum
As part of the SLCP specialization, students are required to complete a practicum experience in a school library under the supervision of a cooperating teacher librarian working collaboratively with teachers, teaching information literacy skills, providing services to students and teachers, and managing resources.
The Partners Program
The Partners Program provides MLIS students with the opportunity to pursue their education while gaining related work experience in Pittsburgh-area libraries, archives, information centers, and cultural institutions. The Partners Program allows students to experience the work environment of information professionals and to add this learning opportunity to their resume. This is not a credit-bearing experience, although it may provide tuition remission or a limited stipend. This program is administered by the LIS faculty and iSchool staff, most especially the Administrator for the Partners Program. The details of the program are provided in PRO 9 and on the initiatives’ Web site. It should be emphasized that this is not a credit-bearing experience, such as a practicum or field experience course. The intent of the program is the offer students the opportunity to gain hands-on experiences in information centers and libraries, to enhance their resumes, and to network with professionals. The program has seen great success in creating these out-of-the-classroom learning opportunities; however, the recent economic decline has impacted the number of participating institutions and students.
Partner’s Program Statistics
Number of Students Placed |
Number of Participating Partner Institutions |
Number of Salaried Positions |
Number of Stipend Positions |
|
2007-2008 |
34 |
6 |
34 |
0 |
2008-2009 |
63 |
28 |
20 |
6 |
2009-2010 |
81 |
45 |
36 |
13 |
2010-2011 |
76 |
43 |
27 |
14 |
2011-2012 |
66 |
39 |
19 |
19 |
2012-2013 |
45 |
32 |
11 |
18 |
Note: The difference between salaried and stipend are students who received no remuneration.
Web-based Information Science Education (WISE)
Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) is a unique and groundbreaking opportunity for students to take elective online courses from other ALA-accredited programs at institutions that are members of the international WISE consortium. Leading schools have gone outside the classroom to broaden the available online educational opportunities for students. The consortium uses advanced educational technology as a means to enrich students’ education and to foster relationships among students, faculty and universities. See Appendix CUR 6 to view a list of non-Pitt courses taken by iSchool students through the WISE program.
Independent Research
Students may, with the approval and oversight of their academic advisor, undertake an independent research project. The student selects a faculty member to work with, and designs a research proposal and project. The student is required to regularly report on progress and outcomes may include a written report, a tool, or an implemented program at a library or archive.
Students have multiple opportunities to participate in program management. As discussed in Standard V.4, students are elected to serve on the SIS Council, the primary advisory body at the School. Representatives of the doctoral, Master’s and undergraduate student bodies are elected to serve one-year terms on this Council. The Council considers all significant curricular, policy, administrative, and strategic actions undertaken by the School. In addition, PhD students serve on faculty search committees and Master’s students are invited to attend faculty candidate presentations and to provide feedback.
Members of the student body attend and participate in the BOV meetings held annually. As described in Standard V, the Board of Visitors serves as an advisory group to the School, providing comprehensive review and advice about the School’s educational and strategic activities.
After a brief hiatus, the MLIS Student Advisory Group has been revived. This group of current students (12 for 2012-13) meets approximately monthly with the Program Chair, Program Administrator, a Student Services Specialist and other faculty or staff as needed to discuss curricular and administrative issues of particular interest to the students. In the past, this group had provided invaluable insight that resulted in changes to the program of study and iSchool processes. For example, this committee noted a need for more hands-on technology experiences, which was taken up by program faculty, who redesigned LIS 2600 (Introduction to Information Technologies) to incorporate a significant number of lab experiences, which provides students with an opportunity to work with software and hardware that they will use in their professional lives. In 2011, based on suggestions from the student groups, the School incorporated the application for financial support (school-based aid, as compared to federal and university-based aid) into the online admission application system. This resulted in a more efficient process for students to apply for admission and school-based support in one effort. More recently, the Advisory Group has provided valuable feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the orientations for new students offered by both the School and the University, which will be incorporated into plans for Fall 2013. For example, this group recommended that the orientation experience be enhanced by campus tours and visits to other resources across campus (the Hillman Library, for example). Another request under consideration is the inclusion of a face-to-face “Help Desk,” where students gain assistance in setting up their wireless connections, load software, etc.
All iSchool faculty must have their courses evaluated by Pitt’s Office of Measurement and Evaluation of Teaching (OMET). Towards the end of the term, a confidential survey is administered to each student in every class (with more than five students). The results of these surveys are reported to the faculty member and are utilized as part of the annual faculty review, the Peer Review of Teaching process, and the review and revision of courses. For example, an APRM course survey revealed that students felt there was not enough opportunity to take electives of interest, as the prescribed course of study accounted for 33 of the 36 credits. The specialization faculty revised the number of required courses and the schedule of their offering, which now allows archives students to participate in summer electives on a variety of topics. The results of the OMET are supplied to the individual faculty member and are not used in the aggregate for any comparison purposes. A summary of the survey results (not including the verbatim comments) is provided to the Dean and the relevant Program Chair. See this Pitt Web site for more information about the confidentiality and use of OMETS.
At the end of each term, program faculty and administrators perform a grade review. This examination often reveals telling trends in course performance, which may indicate a need for revising or recasting a specific course.
LIS doctoral students may attend and participate in monthly faculty meetings. This has proven to be invaluable as many of the PhD students earned their MLIS degree recently (some here at the iSchool). They bring a contemporary, hands-on perspective of course offerings and delivery mechanisms, based on their personal experiences as learners, teaching assistants and teachers.
On an annual basis, the School is required to submit to the Provost’s Office the Learning Outcome Objectives for the various degree programs, as well as to report on progress in reaching the previous set of goals. This process involves the program faculty extensively and comprehensively reviewing a specific course (as well as course activities) to ensure that the course leads to a defined level of student learning. The LIS faculty have chosen to assess the two core courses which every MLIS student must take: LIS 2000 Understanding Information and LIS 2600 Introduction to Information Technologies. In 2011, the faculty chose to review the student work produced within these two courses (papers, lab exercises) to determine if the courses were providing adequate support for the MLIS goals on research (Understand and apply research in library and information science) and the life-cycle of information (Apply the principles of information management). In 2012, the faculty chose to map the courses’ success in preparing students to meet the MLIS goal in the areas of ethical use of technology (Advance the creative and ethical applications of information technologies.) and the University of Pittsburgh goal “Understand the international dimensions of the discipline.” The Learning Outcomes Assessment guidelines and results from 2011 and 2012 are provided in Appendix CUR 7.
In addition, the School surveys the alumni base to ensure that the learning occurring in the iSchool has long-lasting benefits for the students. The most recent survey (2010) indicated that alumni had a very positive reaction to their program of study:
Alumni Perception about quality of program
The results of the 2010 survey will be provided in Appendix ALU2, available on-site.