Create Thematic Interdisciplinary Schools

This lengthy comment comes from the School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS), currently located in SBS, and part of another proposed White Paper on the reorganization of SBS. I, as director, have consulted with my faculty executive committee and we are agreed on the content of this statement. I have also sent this statement to the other involved department heads. SIRLS is a graduate school, with 300+ enrollment offering an accredited 36-credit master's degree for individuals planning to work as professional librarians or in related information professions. SIRLS also has an online 18-credit Certificate in Digital Content Management. This proposal, Create Thematic Interdisciplinary Schools, suggests that SIRLS, Journalism, and Communication merge into a School of Communication and Information Studies. In principle, SIRLS has no opposition to joining with Communication and Journalism. Although as has been pointed out, we are completely separate disciplines, we all deal with communication and information and themes do run through all our work. And we already collaborate in conferences, research presentations, and have plans to collaborate on research efforts and curriculum sharing as separate units. But if we proceed down the road to merger, the details need to be carefully worked out so that the school is not diminished in terms of 1) student-generated fee revenue (which reduces dependence on state funds), 2) chances for full accreditation, and 3) visibility and national leadership in LIS grant-getting, education and curriculum to promote library and information services to under served communities, and digital content management education SIRLS is taking the need to reduce costs very seriously. We are running lean in terms of faculty and staff, having already downsized 2-3 positions as our share of the belt-tightening; we are in the midst of curriculum downsizing to ensure our courses are subscribed to the graduate limit identified by President Shelton. We also have identified where our response to the next cuts will come. And, SIRLS, starting in FY 2010 will be almost 70% self supported by student fees approved by ABOR to support our accreditation. In addition, we have a good track record with the Library and Information Science federal agencies in getting million dollar grants, having had 8 since 2001, and 4 additional ones in the works for this year. One of our faculty members is PI in a 5-million dollar collaborative grant to NSF, partnering with NASA education units who believe the grant has strong chances. In addition, SIRLS, Comm and Journalism are now in 3 widely spaced locations, so at the present time, it seems that merger would introduce inefficiencies rather than save money. In the event that the much anticipated building to house the three of us, and others, becomes a reality, maybe that would be a sensible time to reconsider a merger and consolidated staffing. Probably our most important concerns revolve around our current full accreditation and the need to be nationally visible as a school of library and information science. This matters very much to our professional public and to our accreditors. The conditions of our accreditation mandate certain levels of administrative control, and so if we were to merge, we would probably need more autonomy than units without accreditation. Our biennial report accreditation to our committee is due Dec 1, and it is highly likely that if we are proceeding down the path to merger, we will be subject to much more frequent and stricter monitoring than when we received a glowing accreditation report in 2005. As has happened with other proposed LIS mergers nationally, this one will probably spark national debate and may cast doubt and weaken our growing reputation in diversity education and in digital content management. Another area that will have to be carefully worked out in any merger, and in spite of that might still suffer, is our Knowledge River program that graduates Native American and Latino librarians and integrates service to these communities into our curriculum. We lead the nation and are among the best at UA in graduating diverse students. At the end of this year, we will have graduated over 100 Native American and Latino librarians. Achieving this continuous level of recruitment, support and graduation involves many partners, on-going grants, and takes quite a bit of administrative time and autonomy. Our national KR advisory board and our local constituencies are watching closely to see what impact UA Transformation will have on KR. As a side note, KR was invited to testify before Congress this fall, as an example of programs that interact with diverse communities. It is also worth noting that, 8-10 years ago, when SIRLS accreditation was perceived as at risk, our enrollment dropped from 250 to 90 in one semester, and those 90 were students who were finishing, not new students. Since so much of our revenue is ABOR-approved special fees, it is very important for us to protect our revenue stream so that we can continue to be predominately self-support. Our endangered accreditation status was perceived by our professional community as a serious situation, since we are the only school educating graduate librarians in Arizona and one of 4 in the Southwest/West. And contrary to some popular opinion, the need for librarians is growing, not diminishing, as libraries become more centered on communities and digital information curation, access and preservation. Several prominent national newspapers have recently published articles on librarianship as a cool and upcoming career, and accredited graduate library schools are experiencing growth throughout the nation. I should also add that we have not been consulted about this merger. Since discovering it yesterday embedded in proposal 172, Create Thematic Based Interdisciplinary Schools, consultation with senior faculty and the other involved department heads has been fast and furious. I have not yet had time to involve our professional communities, though from the local and national reaction to similar proposals, I know they will have questions about many of the things I have raised above. There is more information that I can provide about how SIRLS meets the SPBAC criteria, including research productivity and national reputations of our faculty, in addition to our high level of self-support, and the importance of our accreditation to our growing national reputation. If this is needed, please request it, and I will respond promptly. To summarize: In principle, SIRLS has no opposition to joining with Communication and Journalism. But if we proceed down the road to merger, the details need to be carefully worked out so that the school is not diminished in terms of 1) student-generated fee revenue (which reduces dependence on state funds), 2) chances for full accreditation, and 3) visibility and national leadership in LIS grant-getting, education and curriculum to promote library and information services to under served communities, and digital content management education Thank you for considering this response by SIRLS.