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Table of Contents
Introduction |
Accreditation Status Report Spring 2008Program OverviewFounded in 1901, Dominican University is a comprehensive, coeducational Catholic institution offering Bachelors and Masters degrees. As the oldest and largest graduate school at the university, the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), established in 1930, enrolls more than 600 students and ranks among the ten largest library and information science programs in the country. Deeply committed to educating future library and information science leaders, Dominican GSLIS awards two Masters degrees: the Masters of Science in Knowledge Management, jointly sponsored with Dominican’s Brennan School of Business; and the American Library Association-accredited Masters of Library and Information Science. The program is scheduled for its next accreditation review in spring 2008. The purpose of this site is to provide members of the American Library Association (ALA) Committee on Accreditation External Review Panel, the Dominican GSLIS community, stakeholders, colleagues, and the interested public with access to program information. Dr. June Lester, the Chair of our External Review Panel, has provided the GSLIS community with an overview of the review process and the External Review Panel's activities. Please click here to access Dr. Lester's letter. Dominican GSLIS Mission and Identity StatementWe educate leaders in the library and information science professions who make a positive difference in their communities. This service-oriented education takes place within the larger context of the university’s commitment to values-centered student development and is guided by relevant professional standards and core competencies. We provide our students with an excellent graduate education leading to a meaningful work life. Defining program characteristics include:
Dominican GSLIS Vision StatementBy 2008 and beyond, we aspire to build a program and a reputation for innovative practice in library and information science education. We look to educate library leaders who engage constituencies, advocate change, and transform communities. Our program will benefit from, and be distinguished by, our proximity to the Chicago library and information community. Dominican GSLIS Program Highlights and AchievementsRich in its access to some of the nation’s most inspired and talented thinkers and doers in the field of information and to some of the most resource abundant library and information science organizations and associations, the Dominican GSLIS is proud of its expanding offerings and achievements, which most recently include: Butler Center for Children’s and Youth LiteratureEstablished in 2007 with donor support, Dominican University’s Butler Children’s and Young Adult Literature Center seeks to become one of the nation’s premier centers for the study of children’s and young adult literature. The Butler Children’s and Young Adult Literature Center will serve as an examination center for children’s and young adult books published annually in the United States, and as an historical collection of the best children’s and young adult literature published nationally and internationally. The Butler Center will also serve as an evidence-based, best practices professional collection in support of the application and integration of children’s and young adult literature in classrooms, libraries, childcare centers, and homes. The Center seeks to serve educators, scholars, researchers, librarians, teachers, parents, and other caring adults in children’s lives through programs, conferences, credit and continuing education courses, web resources, and graduate research opportunities. Center for Student PlacementAt Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science, we don’t just expect our students to work in library and information science environments; we expect them to lead them. The desire to assist GSLIS students in establishing and reaching long-term career goals was the driving force behind the creation of a GSLIS-specific career development program. Established in 2006, the Dominican GSLIS Student Placement Center provides students with the necessary resources to navigate their professional careers. Among the many career development services available to GSLIS students are:
The GSLIS Student Placement Coordinator holds individual counseling sessions with current GSLIS students, new graduates, and with alumnae/i interested in pursuing new career opportunities. Educating Library Leaders for the 21st CenturyIn fall 2007, Dominican GSLIS initiated a new seminar series, Emerging Library Leaders for the 21st Century (ELL21), designed to connect GSLIS students, alumnae/i, and LIS professionals working in Greater Chicago with some of the best thinkers, practices, and ideas in the field. Typically scheduled for Monday evenings from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, past speakers have included former American Library Association president and AACR2 co-editor, Michael Gorman; Dominican GSLIS alumna Jane Burke, currently General Manager, Serial Solutions and Vice President, ProQuest; and libraries and gaming maven, Jenny Levine (the Shifted Librarian). Follett Chair EndowmentThe Follett Corporation’s mission is to be the world’s leading provider of educational solutions, services and products that empower schools, libraries, colleges, students and lifelong learners. In 2002, The Follett Corporation established the Follett Chair in Library and Information Science at Dominican University. This is the first endowed academic chair at Dominican and was among the first to be created in the field of library and information science in North America. An endowed chair is the highest academic honor that can be bestowed upon a master teacher and scholar who has achieved renown in his or her profession. The GSLIS Follett Chair position is funded through an endowment from the Follett Corporation. Past and present Follett Chairs include some of the nation’s most respected library practitioners; each serves a one-year renewable term for up to three years:
Steven Herb
Edward J. Valauskas
Martin J. Dillon Recruiting and Educating Library Leaders for 21st Century Libraries (REAL 21) Diversity Recruitment InitiativeIn 2008, Dominican GSLIS was the recipient of a university Diversity Initiative Fund grant for its new “Recruiting and Educating Leaders for 21st Century Libraries (REAL 21)” program. The establishment of the REAL 21 initiative supports GSLIS’s efforts to proactively recruit students from ethnic and racial groups currently underrepresented in our program as well as the profession. To that end, the project focuses on the creation of an intensive marketing campaign, the design of new marketing materials, and the development of a targeted outreach plan aimed at increasing the recruitment, retention, and graduation of African American (currently 3.1% of the GSLIS student population), Asian American and Pacific Islander (2.5%), Hispanic (4.3%), Native American (0.2%), and new immigrant (0.5%) students. Spectrum Scholarship SupportAt the Dominican GSLIS, "Educating Library Leaders" is central to our teaching mission. We believe that diversity plays a critical role in leadership development. To that end we have supported the American Library Association’s Spectrum Scholarship Fund, a national diversity recruitment initiative by providing matching scholarships to Spectrum Scholarship recipients from the five ethnically and racially underrepresented groups the program targets. To date, Dominican GSLIS has 19 Spectrum Scholars as alumni, current students, and administrative staff. For more information about the Spectrum Scholarship visit: www.ala.org/spectrum. World Libraries JournalIn 1990, GSLIS began Third World Libraries, a professional journal with a focus on libraries and socioeconomic development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Its scope was broadened and the title changed to World Libraries in 1996. World Libraries is published twice a year and is indexed in Library Literature, Library and Information Science Abstracts,PAIS International, PAIS Select and Current Index to Journals in Education. Since 2005 World Libraries has been offered in an electronic journal format, first co-publishing with the print edition and then moving to an Internet only edition in 2008. In addition to publishing new issues, the journal will continue to add articles from our archive as well as unique, Web–only content. Dominican GSLIS is one of a small number of library and information science schools publishing a national professional journal. Leaders in the arena of international librarianship comprise the World Libraries Advisory Board. Visit World Libraries online at http://www.worlib.org/ Review TimelineAn American Library Association Committee on Accreditation External Review Panel will visit the Dominican GSLIS March 30-April 1, 2008. During that time the panel will hold collective and individual meetings with various program constituents, including faculty, staff, students, alumnae/i, employers of DU GSLIS graduates, and interested members of the larger community. A final decision regarding reaccreditation will be made during the Annual Conference of the American Library Association by the Committee on Accreditation. Dr. June Lester, the Chair of our External Review Panel, has provided the GSLIS community with an overview of the review process and the External Review Panel's activities. Please click here to access Dr. Lester's letter. Program Presentation SummaryThe Dominican GSLIS Program Presentation highlights the program’s noteworthy progress and achievements since its 2005 Accreditation review. Specifically, the presentation underscores the school’s critical importance in educating and training LIS professionals for work in Chicago and throughout the state and region. Also reflected is the program’s growth as a resource for pre-professional development and continued education; its ongoing dedication to diversity and the recruitment, retention, and preparation of a workforce reflective of the area’s rich heterogeneity; and correspondingly, its concentrated efforts to attract new and veteran LIS educators and practitioners in the effort to build a program renowned for its development of regional and national library leaders. |
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Dominican University
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