MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2019
The Committee on Accreditation (COA) of the American Library Association (ALA) has granted continued accreditation status through 2025 to the Department of Information Studies’ Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program.
“The ALA decision underscores our forward momentum and strategic direction as a department, and the outstanding value our programs deliver to our students and to the IS community at large. We look forward to continuing doing so with the passion, engagement, and intellectual rigor that has been the hallmark of our program for many years,” said Jean-François Blanchette, interim chair of the Department.
Continued accreditation is based on a comprehensive program evaluation that includes a Self-Study, External Review Panel Report, response to the External Review Panel Report, and a meeting with the COA. This outcome confirms that the MLIS program meets the rigorous standards set forth by ALA, which evaluate the excellence of a program’s administration, curriculum, faculty, finances, resources, students, and systematic planning.
The Department thanks the many individuals — students, faculty, staff, alumni, institutional leaders, etc.— who helped with the accreditation process, and would like to extend a special thanks to the following faculty and staff whose expertise contributed to the School’s successful continued accreditation: for compiling data and authoring sections of the Self-Study: Jonathan Furner, Anne Gilliland, Diana Ascher, Snowden Becker, Amy Gershon, Annie Lee, Michelle Maye, Justin Scott, and Andrew VanSchooneveld; For leadership of the core accreditation team that prepared the Self-Study: Jonathan Furner, Professor and immediate past Chair; and Johanna Drucker, Professor and incoming Chair;For representing our School at the COA meeting: Anne Gilliland, Associate Dean for Information Studies, and Jean-François Blanchette, Associate Professor and Interim Chair.
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