The Latest from SLIS

There have been several recent events of note this spring semester. In this blog posting I'd like to share information on our progress with accreditation, discuss the Stone Lecture, seek your support, and mention the passing of an important member of our community.

Accreditation

We have passed two major milestones this semester. First, the official Program Plan, was due March 23, 2008, exactly one year before we go through the re-accreditation process. We have submitted that document and it is also available on the SLIS web site at: http://slis.cua.edu/about/Accreditation/. The Program Plan received very high marks from the Executive Director of the Office of Accreditation at ALA and our External Review Panel Chair, Dr. Jean Donham. We are extremely pleased to have achieved this milestone and to have received such positive comments on our efforts by the individuals who are leading our review process and provide formal feedback on our efforts.

Second, We had a faculty meeting with the entire SLIS faculty on April 26, 2008, and this was also very informative and extremely helpful as we review the core courses in SLIS and revise and develop formal outcomes measures for the courses in SLIS. The current slides on the State of SLIS are now available on the SLIS accreditation site also.

We also had another meeting of the SLIS Advisory Committee and are continually seeking stakeholder feedback through many avenues to make SLIS's program a better place for all.

The Annual Elizabeth Stone Lecture

The annual Elizabeth Stone lecture was also well attended and Mr. Andrew Pace, the guest speaker gave a lively presentation enjoyed by everyone in attendance. We were particularly pleased to have Dr. Stone's daughter, Ms. Anne Cole Stone Crow, joining us for the event. Her remarks about her mother, her mother's dedication, and the impact of her administration on the development of SLIS were heart warming and reassuring, especially for a new dean such as myself! :-) A video of the speaker's remarks for the Stone Lecture is available through the SLIS home page. For more information on the Stone Lecture series go to: http://slis.cua.edu/people/stonelecture.cfm. Or, to learn more about the many activities of our SLIS alumni, please see: http://slis.cua.edu/people/alumnigateway.cfm.

SLIS Surveys

SLIS is reviving the survey process to obtain feedback on how well we have served our alumni and our current students. We are asking for your assistance to obtain sufficient feedback to use to improve our program. Please take a moment to fill out either the alumni or student survey to help us make improvements and continually refresh the program.

Jessica Dovi

We lost an important member of the CUA community two weeks ago, on April 24, 2008, Mrs. Jessica Dovi. Mrs. Dovi was a recent graduate of SLIS and after graduation, rose to become the Head of Access Services at the Mullen Library, CUA. In her short life, she made an impact on many, many people and is survived by her husband, Damien Dovi, and her infant son, Matthew. I had the privilege of attending her funeral and seeing her life's impact on her friends, family, faculty, and co-workers. I was reminded of one of my favorite films, It's a Wonderful Life, as I observed the love, caring and sorrow in the room after the funeral. She was a brave individual who lived life to its fullest in her short time with us here on earth. We are looking forward to welcoming her family at the upcoming graduation ceremony for SLIS on May 17th in the Law School Atrium. Her husband will be accepting her diploma in her place. If you had the privilege of knowing Jessica, or seek to assist in finding a cure for melanoma, please contribute to The Jessica Dovi Foundation c/o St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 2609 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22207-3501. Jessica, we will miss you!

SLIS Graduation

On May 17th we will celebrate the degree completion of 46 SLIS graduates (and counting)! We are excited to welcome the graduates, their family, friends, and guests to celebrate the completion of their degrees and to share in the joy of success and the anticipation of life after completion. I hope to see you there! If you haven't let us know you intend to join us, please do so with Ms. Anita Coleman at colemana@cua.edu.

Have a great summer, see you in the fall (yes, I'll be here this summer, so, if you are on campus, stop by).

Dean Kelley

Exciting Developments in SLIS

New Developments in SLIS:

The Faculty Web Page:

SLIS faculty, students, and staff have been extremely busy with many projects designed to make things better for all of us in SLIS. First, we recently "unveiled" our new faculty Web page available at: http://slis.cua.edu/people/adjunctresources.htm. I am very interested in your feedback on our new faculty Web page and any ideas you have for improving this resource for the future.

ALA Accreditation:

We have completed, and submitted, the next report for our upcoming accreditation visit in 2009. The Program Plan is the next required submission. You can find the report at http://slis.cua.edu/about/Accreditation/. The final version of that report will be on the accreditation page in the next day or two. The Program Plan is the detailed outline of the report we are preparing, referred to as the Program Presentation, that forms the primary document for the on-site accreditation visitors in 2009. The Plan is under review by ALA and the SLIS Coordinating Committee will speak with ALA in early April to ensure we are on the right track and preparing a document that meets their expectations.

So many of our dedicated alumni, current students, faculty and staff have contributed to this impressive document. I want to thank everyone for your dedication and commitment to SLIS's future.

Upcoming Events:

Some important upcoming events on the SLIS calendar include:
1. The Elizabeth Stone Lecture, sponsored by the SLIS Alumni Board on April 30, 2009 in Hannan Hall.

2. The semi-annual faculty meeting of the entire SLIS faculty scheduled for April 26, 2009 in Mullen Library, the May Gallery and, last but not least,

3. SLIS Graduation! SLIS graduation is on May 17th in the Law School Atrium on the CUA campus.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!
Dean Kelley

The first draft of the Accreditation Program Presentation Plan

Dear SLIS Community,

The process of developing a Program Presentation for accreditation is developmental. With this in mind, I want to alert you that the first draft of the Program Presentation Plan is available for review and comment by our SLIS community (you!). The document may be viewed at the following location: Program Presentation Plan Draft I. The initial draft is the result of significant work by many individuals associated with the development of the Plan. I have so many individuals to thank, the dedicated faculty of the School, the students who have graciously agreed to participate in the process and our caring, engaged alumni, to name a few.

The Program Presentation Plan outlines the process the School will follow, and the evidence the School will provide, to demonstrate our compliance with the six accreditation Standards. The next step is to develop the complete Program Presentation, the document that forms the detailed discussion of our evidence to demonstrate our compliance with the Standards for our accreditation visit in 2009.

The Program Presentation Plan, once reviewed and revised and finalized, will be reviewed by the Executive Director of the Office of Accreditation and our External Review Panel chair. These two individuals will examine the Plan, give us their views on our progress and alert us to any issues they see that we need to address as we develop the actual Program Presentation. The Program Presentation will be submitted at the beginning of 2009 to the Committee on Accreditation of the American Library Association's Office of Accreditation.

For now, this is an excellent first draft that includes the work of a dedicated group of individuals who are committed to our success in 2009. The draft will be revised per the feedback we receive through our SLIS Accreditation Web Page, through review and revision by the six standard committees responsible for this document, the Alumni Board of Directors for SLIS, and from the SLIS Advisory Committee.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me or the chair of the standard committee responsible for the chapter.

Thanks
Dean Kelley

The SLIS Accreditation Forum

I hosted the first accreditation forum on Monday, February 11, 2008 for the entire SLIS community. The purpose of the forum was to begin the process of reviewing SLIS's current status on planning for our next accreditation visit and to provide further information on the issues that SLIS is addressing as we prepare our Program Presentation for the External Review Panel who will visit SLIS on March 23 & 24, 2009. I had the event taped so I could provide it to you as part of our efforts to keep you up-to-date and informed about all aspects of accreditation and the progress we're making. I also hope it will generate questions that you will ask me here in my blog so we can have a continuing dialogue and discuss issues that may arise, or concern you, as we progress toward the visit in 2009. The taped event can be accessed here: The Forum Video. Thanks to everyone who attended I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable discussion of the issues of importance to the future of SLIS.
Dean Kelley

The Latest on Accreditation Planning

It is always exciting to share good news. It is my pleasure to announce the creation of the SLIS Accreditation Web site to keep everyone informed of our activities and progress toward re-affirming our accreditation in 2009. The new Web site is available through the SLIS home page by selecting --> about SLIS ---> Accreditation from the left-hand menu at http://slis.cua.edu/. Or, if you prefer, the direct link to the site is: http://slis.cua.edu/about/Accreditation/. The many individuals giving generously of their time are listed at the site as are the documents and presentations related to preparing for an accreditation visit. In addition, the current progress of the School on developing planning documents, and a planning process, are located here for your perusal.

I will also be hosting a forum on accreditation on Monday, February 11th, 2008. I hope to see you there. The event will be webcast and a copy of the event will be made available through the accreditation Web site also. In the meantime, or if you cannot attend the first forum (there will be more!) please do not hesitate to check out our new Web site and share your views, questions, or concerns with me on the process.

The Web site is the hard work of Professor David Shumaker and Ms. Colleen Candrl. I extend my thanks to both of them for their assistance with establishing this important Web site for our SLIS community.

Thanks.
Dean Kelley

Update on Accreditation Status

Much has occurred since I last shared the information about SLIS and our accreditation efforts. The faculty are actively engaged in strategic planning, an essential foundational piece for our upcoming accreditation visit. One important milestone for having a successful accreditation visit in March of 2009 involves regular reporting on our planning process to the Committee on Accreditation (COA), the body that decides whether to accredit a School of Library and Information Science such as CUA-SLIS. In December, 2007, I submitted a detailed report on our progress. For the purposes of ensuring all of our constituents are informed, I attach a copy of the Executive Summary of that document here for your perusal. In addition, the Provost of the University, Dr. James Brennan, and I met with the Committee on Accreditation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss the School's progress and garner their feedback on our approach to reaffirming our accreditation status in 2009. This was a very productive meeting. The response from the COA was generally positive and they did not express any concern with our efforts, in fact, they were complimentary of our efforts. I will provide a copy of the PowerPoint slides of my talk with the COA on the soon-to-be-released accreditation web site. We are currently working on a web site for the accreditation process at CUA-SLIS to keep you informed and to provide a location for documents and updates to supplement my blog.

There is much that remains to be done. Our next milestone is the Plan for Program Presentation we will submit to the COA in March of 2008. I will also be hosting a series of forums to give everyone an opportunity to discuss our progress and ask questions on our approach and status.

Thank you again for your support and interest in SLIS!

The Full Faculty Meeting

It has been exciting here at SLIS. We were fortunate to have had a visit recently by Ms. Karen O'Brien, Director, Office of Accreditation at the American Library Association. She came to SLIS on November 9th and 10th, 2007 to discuss our progress on meeting the Standards for Accreditation. We are steadily making progress for the Program Presentation document for our next team visit to SLIS in March, 2009. The discussions were uplifting and she had many, helpful things to share with us. She also provided important insights into the accreditation process for the entire faculty, who met on November 10th to discuss issues related to the School, teaching and learning and accreditation from 8:30 - 2:00 p.m. Ms. O'Brien's talk can be seen by visiting the site for our faculty meeting
http://digitalmedia.cua.edu/calendar/event_dsp.cfm?event=3863.
I was impressed by the outstanding quality of our faculty, their dedication great ideas, and support for the School. It was a great day for me and I really enjoyed hearing from the faculty on myriad issues. We discussed our newly revised core values for SLIS: Collaboration, community, innovation and excellence. I welcome your thoughts on these ideals that our faculty felt accurately characterized SLIS and supported the greater university's values of Reason, faith and service. We have also developed a new vision and mission statement and we are finalizing our program goals and objectives.
The outcome of the break out groups on Saturday, which were focused on mechanisms to foster community were also very helpful. We're working toward making some improvements in our support for community to help to engage everyone to the greatest extent possible with our busy lives. Do you have ideas to share on how to foster community? Please share!

If you are interested in what we've accomplished to date, the faculty meeting Webcast is a good site to review. I discussed our progress in some depth at the meeting and gave specifics about the planning process we've been undergoing for SLIS to achieve full compliance with the ALA standards in 2009. I welcome your feedback on the faculty meeting, and any thoughts you have about our planning process here in SLIS.

In the near future, I will submit our first, formal report on our progress to the Committee on Accreditation for ALA. Further, we are working on a Web site to keep everyone informed of our activities and documents related to planning and accreditation. Be on the look out for this new Web site, which I'll also announce, soon after the new year.

As we enter the busy holiday season, let me wish you a joyous holiday season!