Mississippi Library Association Annual Conference presentation, "Southern Miss School of Library and Information Science Report, 2020"

1. 10/15/2020 1MLA Annual Conference, 2020
Southern Miss SLIS Report, 2020

2. What’s unique about USM?
 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of
Higher Education: Highest Research
Activity (only 130 institutions classified R1)
 USM Ranked #1 Military-Friendly
Online College
(AffordableCollegesOnline.org)
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3. What’s unique about SLIS?
 Only ALA-accredited program in state;
one of the few LIS programs entirely
online with no out-of-state fees
 MLIS degree, archival certificate, youth
services certificate, BS in LIS degree, LIS
minor (all online with weekly, live classes)
Children’s Book Festival each spring,
British Studies class each summer in London.
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4. 10/15/2020 4MLA Annual Conference, 2020
What are the Latest Program
Statistics and Rankings?

5. SLIS by the Numbers
 54 students earned MLIS degree in 2019 (#2 in
Top 10 USM Master’s Degrees awarded)
 271 graduate students
 117 undergrad students
 Students from 44 states,
Canada, Japan
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6. What’s Driving Growth?
 MLIS program only ALA-accredited
program in MS; one of only 60 in
U.S. and Canada
 One of only a few LIS programs
and MLIS programs all online
 No campus visits required
 No out-of-state fees
 Live, interactive class sessions.
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Bachelor of Science
LIS degree, MLIS degree,
Graduate certificates all online

7. SLIS Rankings, 2020
 #1 Online MLIS degree by Online School Report
 LIS programs ranked top 10% by
collegefactual.com
 #2 Best Online LIS Bachelor’s Degree
bestcolleges.com, bestvalueschools.com
 #10 Best Online MLIS Programs
onlinecoursereport.com
 #12 Best MLIS Degree
www.intelligent.com
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8. Online Application
 GRE waived in 2021 due to COVID-19
 Immunization waiver for out-of-state applicants
 Regular admission GPA reduced from 3.0 to 2.75
 2.0 – 2.74 GPA may be admitted w/conditional status
 Conditional – must earn A or B on first 9 credit hours
 Admissions portal - www.usm.edu/slis
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9. Accelerated Master’s Option (AMO)
 Senior undergrad LIS students with GPA of 3.5 or
higher can take up to 9 hours of graduate credit
 AMO students pay undergrad tuition rate
 Graduate credit counts toward undergrad
degree & MLIS degree
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10. 10/15/2020 10MLA Annual Conference, 2020
Who’s on Faculty and Staff?
Fritzsche-Gibbs Hall

11. New Faculty: Dr. Jeff Hirschy
 Assistant Professor
 Ph.D., Univ. of Alabama;
MLIS, MA History
 Archival Studies,
Collection Development
 Research: Civil Rights
Collections in the South
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12. New Faculty: Ms. Ashley Marshall
 Instructor, Recruiter
 MLIS, MS Family &
Consumer Sciences
 Teaching: Information
Literacy, Children’s
Literature, Marketing/PR,
 Interests: British Studies,
Diversity, Youth Services
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13. Dr. Catharine Bomhold, Assoc. Professor
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 School Licensure Advisor
 ACUE Distinguished
Teaching Scholar,
Outstanding Service-
Learning Faculty Award
 School Libraries,
Children’s Literature,
Service to Underserved
Populations

14. Dr. Stacy Creel, Associate Professor
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Certificate in Youth
Services & Literature
Advisor
 Reference, Youth Services,
Public Libraries
 Special Topic Courses
Graphic Novels
Storytime & Early Literacy

15. Dr. Matthew Griffis, Associate Professor
 Segregated Carnegie Libraries Pre-
Civil Rights, 1900-65
https://aquila.usm.edu/rocoverview/
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Archival Certificate Advisor
 History of Libraries,
History of the Book,
Foundations of LIS

16. Mr. J. Edmand Pace, Instructor
 Undergraduate
Coordinator, Advisor,
Recruiter
 Information Literacy,
Rural and Small
Libraries
 LIS Curriculum,
Student Success
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17. Dr. Jennifer Steele, Assistant Professor
 LIS Student Assoc.
Advisor, British Studies
 Information Literacy,
Information Science &
Technology
 Research: Censorship in
Public Libraries, Role of
Academic Librarian
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18. Dr. Cindy Yu, Associate Professor
 Advisor, USM
Student Archivists
 Cataloging, Digital
Preservation, Metadata
 Research:
Crowdsourcing, Social
Media
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19. Adjunct Faculty Dr. Suellen Adams
 Ph.D., Univ. of Texas
 Web Development,
Library Management,
Popular Culture
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20. Adjunct Faculty Ms. Rachel McMullen
 MLIS, USM; Master of
Education, Univ. So AL
 Reference & Youth
Services Librarian,
Highwood Public
Library, IL
Reference, History of
the Book, Info Ethics
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21. Adjunct Faculty: Dr. Sarah Mangrum
Ed.D., MLIS, Univ. of
Southern Miss.
 Access Services &
Assessment Librarian
 LIS Research
Methods, Academic
Libraries, Special
Libraries
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22. Adjunct Faculty: Dr. Stephen Parks
 J.D., Miss. College, MLIS,
USM
 State Librarian, oversees
State Law Library
 Member, U.S. Depository
Library Council
 Government Resources
and Publications,
Foundations of LIS
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23. Dr. M.J. Norton Retirement, June 2020
 Associate Professor,
Ph.D. North Texas, 1994
 USM Faculty since 1994
 4 ALA Accreditations
 SLIS Director, 2003-2013
 Interim Dean, University
Libraries, 2013-2014
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24. Adrienne Patterson, Administration
 Finance &
Administration
Specialist
 Assistant to the
Director
 Frizsche-Gibbs Hall
Building Coordinator,
Keeper of the Keys
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25. Karen Rowell, Administration
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 Outreach and Special
Events Coordinator
 Kaigler Children’s Book
Festival Coordinator
Assistant to the Director
Webmaster

26. 10/15/2020 26MLA Annual Conference, 2020
What’s New in SLIS
Programs and Curriculum?

27. 10/15/2020 27MLA Annual Conference, 2020
www.usm.edu/childrens-book-festival/

28. More Course Offerings
 Two sections of courses Fall 2020
 LIS 500: Intro to LIS
 LIS 505: Cataloging
 LIS 511: Collection Development
 LIS 605: Library Management
 LIS 646: Intro to Archival Theory and Practice
 Two sections of courses in Spring 2021
 LIS 501: Reference
 LIS 636: Foundations of LIS
LIS 647: Intro to Archival Organization
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29. e-Portfolio Requirement
 SLIS faculty required to have updated teaching e-
portfolio as one measure of teaching evaluation
 Students required to take at least one tech course;
common assignment is e-portfolio
 Capstone requirements for graduation with MLIS
are master’s research project and enriched e-
portfolio that is a reflection of MLIS course
outcomes and digital artifacts (equivilent of comp
exam).
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30. More Electives in Spring
 LIS 533: History of the
Book
 LIS 631: History of
Libraries
 LIS 640: Academic
Libraries
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31. 8-Week Electives in Spring
 LIS 670: Special Topic
– Graphic Novels
 LIS 590: Library
Instruction
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32. Asynchronous Electives
 LIS 492/692: Special
Problem – Library Marketing
& PR
 LIS 691: LIS Research –
Genealogy Research
 Proposed course LIS 629 on
storytime and early literacy
may be asynchronous
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33. SLIS Connecting
Refereed open-access e-
journal
 Dr. Creel, Dr. Welsh,
Managing Editors
 1st aquila e-journal (2012)
 Downloaded 100,000+
times from sites around the
world
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aquila.usm.edu/slisconnecting

34. 10/15/2020 34MLA Annual Conference, 2020
Future Directions?
 What kind of technology would you like to see
added to courses or curriculum?
 What about a badge in information technology?
 What content or courses should be added or
revised?
 Please attend the LIS Education focus group this
afternoon at 1:30pm.

35. Questions?
Dr. Teresa Welsh,
Professor and Director
teresa.welsh@usm.edu
www.usm.edu/slis