- The research/best practices symposium planned for January of 2009. The symposium committee, composed of Dr. Kules, Professor Shumaker, Assistant Dean Steelman and Dr Kelley has developed a concept for the Symposium that was approved by the SLIS faculty. This an exciting opportunity to share your successes and accomplishments with your fellow students, scholars and professionals in our field in a variety of areas. We are very excited to have this symposium planned. Further, James Rettig, current ALA President has agreed to be the keynote speaker for the event. Please find further information on our upcoming symposium at: http://slis.cua.edu/symposium/symposium.cfm. I hope to see you there and I strongly recommend submitting a proposal for consideration for the event.
- The first, complete draft of our Program Presentation, the accreditation document for the American Library Association, is complete. This draft is now being reviewed and edited. We expect to produce a new draft each month leading up to the formal submission of the draft to the American Library Association on November 23, 2008. As soon as the editing process is complete, we will share this latest draft with all of our stakeholders, colleagues, and friends.
- SLIS has received additional funds for improvements to the Information Commons as a result of our Strategic Funds proposal to the Dean's Council and through the auspices of the Provost. The School's Technology Committee, chaired by Dr Kules, is examining our next steps and determining what improvements are possible with the additional funds. Further, I provided funding to upgrade our licenses to the Adobe Creative Suite for the Laboratory and the SLIS classrooms. The latest version is now available and is part of our efforts to continually improve our technology infrastructure in Marist and on behalf of our students and faculty.
- I am hosting an accreditation update on September 25th, 2008. The event is scheduled in the Information Commons from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. I hope I will see you in the Information Commons, in Marist Hall, on the 25th. I look forward to speaking to you about our efforts and hearing your views.
- The fall faculty retreat is right around the corner. This is an annual event where the full-time SLIS faculty come together to discuss our current progress on planning and establish next steps. This year's retreat is scheduled for October 3rd. We are most fortunate that a former SLIS Dean, Dr. Elizabeth Aversa, is the key note speaker for the event and she will converse with the faculty on our present and future and discuss the School and how to best steward it into the future.
- Finally, our fall, full faculty retreat will be on November 8, 2008. We will again have the company of Mrs. Karen O'Brien, Director of the Office of Accreditation, for the American Library Association. She will provide an update on the accreditation process and answer questions about the upcoming visit of the External Review Panel (ERP) who will visit SLIS in March, 2008.
It is busy at SLIS, much is being accomplished and we are making excellent progress. I hope to hear from you and, please, if you have questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
Dean Kelley
