Volume 33 Number 2
Fall 2011
School Media Certification Faculty Position Reinstated; School Gains Faculty Line
ALA COA Continues Accreditation of Master’s-Degree Programs
The School learned in February that UK Provost Kumble Subbaswamy approved reinstating the faculty line devoted to school media certification. The School lost the line due to a budget reduction for fiscal year 2010-2011 and suspended admission to the school media certification program. When Director Jeff Huber informed faculty and staff the Provost had approved reinstating the position, he added: “We will need to form a search committee to begin work immediately since the goal is to have someone in place beginning August 2011 and to begin admitting school media certification students right away.” Along with searching for a faculty member to fill the reinstated line, efforts were begun to disseminate information the line was to be restored and admission to the school media certification program would be resumed. Will Buntin led efforts to recruit students to the school media certification program, and he told the newsletter responses to those efforts have been gratifying. In addition to approving reinstatement of the school media certification position, the Provost, in a separate decision, approved an additional faculty line for the School. The Provost took the step in response to the School’s continued strong enrollment, which for some time has pressed against, and on occasion exceeded, 220 students, the upper limit of the target range, given the size of the faculty. Although the School admits students for the fall semester, spring semester, and summer, most new students enroll in the fall, with the result there is high demand for the core courses in the fall semester. Consequently, there is not only the limit on enrollment due to faculty size but also the practical limit that is the result of more entering students in the fall wanting to register for core courses than there are openings in the courses. This often has forced SLIS to notify qualified fall applicants the School is unable to admit them at that time, due to a lack of space in core courses. The School discussed enrollment limitation due to faculty size in the Program Presentation that was prepared in conjunction with ALA accreditation review. The additional faculty line increases to 250 the enrollment that the faculty of 13 can reasonably accommodate.
Director Jeff Huber received written notification the end of June that the Committee on Accreditation of the American Library Association “voted to grant continued accreditation status to the program leading to the degrees of Master of Arts and Master of Science in Library Science at the University of Kentucky.” The normal accreditation review cycle is seven years, and the letter noted: “The next comprehensive review is scheduled for spring 2018 unless evidence persuades COA that the review should be conducted at an earlier or later date.” The letter explained the basis for the favorable decision: The decision was based on the Program Presentation, the External Review Panel Report, all of the reports the program submitted to the Committee since the last comprehensive review, and the June 26, 2011, meeting with you; [College Dean] Dan O’Hair; and Marilyn Irwin, Chair of the External Review Panel. The letter also pointed out that “The decision to grant continued accreditation to the program is based on the ‘totality of the accomplishment and environment for learning … rather than from a consideration of the isolated particulars’ (Standards, p. 5).” The letter concluded: The Committee [on Accreditation] thanks all those who provided information and participated in the evaluation process. The cooperation of those associated with the program and with the University of Kentucky enabled us to facilitate the review of your program. We appreciate your cooperation in the on-going evaluation, assessment, and review process of accreditation and we encourage you to continue your efforts. Between comprehensive reviews the academic unit that offers an ALA-accredited master’s-degree program must submit what are referred to as “biennial narrative reports,” and the letter to Director Huber included information about topics to be addressed in the next biennial narrative report, due December 1, 2012. When Jeff notified faculty and staff the program had been granted continued accreditation status, he added: “Again, thank you all for your work on the accreditation process!”