Standard I-- Mission, Goals and Objectives

Standard I.1

University Context

The University of Illinois, founded in 1867 under the Land Grant Colleges Act, is a state-supported land-grant institution with a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service.  There are now three campuses: Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield.  The Urbana-Champaign campus has a student body of 38,864 (Fall 2003) of whom 9210 (23%) are graduate students (including all GSLIS graduate students) and 1065 (3%) are professional students enrolled in the Colleges of Law and Veterinary Medicine.  UIUC is “one of the nation’s great research universities, known for its distinguished faculty, its outstanding resources and the breadth of its academic programs.  It is deeply committed to educating its large, diverse student body and to engaging critical societal and scientific issues.” (University of Illinois 2004 Pocket Facts, p. 8)  The Graduate College has jurisdiction over all programs leading to advanced degrees.  The responsibility for initiating, developing, and administering degree programs is delegated to the departments and other academic units.  The Graduate College provides supporting services as well as general supervision to these degree-granting units. 

In the welcome statement on Interim Chancellor Richard Herman's web page, he observes that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is “ a place where excellence, innovation, and tradition have combined to produce a unique institution” ( http://www.oc.uiuc.edu/welcome/index.html ). He concludes: “We who work and study here strive to keep faith with our predecessors by constantly reaching for higher horizons of excellence, achievement, and service. There is a nobility of purpose in this institution, a rich legacy that inspires us, and a determination to improve the lives and expand the possibilities of all who are touched by our efforts.” Illinois is an institutional context that values and has high expectations of graduate professional education.

GSLIS Mission

Consistent with the UIUC mission, the School's mission is to provide:

• Graduate education for leaders in research and practice in the fields of library and information science;
• Groundbreaking research to advance preservation of and access to information in both traditional and digital libraries and in the many settings outside of libraries where large amounts of critical information are collected;
• Useful service to librarians and other information service providers, as well as to the citizens of Illinois .

This is the framework by which we are judged by the University and within which the School shapes its work.

As a context for initiating the search for a new dean to lead the School, the faculty developed the following fuller statement, adopted in October 2001. 

GSLIS Mission (10/3/01)

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), as part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has a long history of excellence in education, research, and service since 1897 (following its founding at the Armour Institute in Chicago in 1893).    These three missions have evolved as the School seeks to achieve a breadth and depth of excellence in all its activities and to have an impact on the state, the nation, and the world.   GSLIS has regularly been highly ranked in scholarly comparisons of LIS schools and was ranked #1 in the most recent U.S. News & World Report ranking of LIS schools.

Excellence in education includes:  1) providing undergraduates with access to a minor in information technology studies with a range of courses encompassing the social, organizational, and historical changes created by information infrastructures as well as technical skills; 2) offering an MS curriculum that reflects a philosophy that “library” and “information science” should be held together, while accommodating students with diverse backgrounds and career objectives; 3) engaging successfully in online pedagogy to build learning communities of students at a distance and applying new techniques to teaching on-campus courses;  4) preparing doctoral students as researchers through a research-oriented, interdisciplinary program with an individually tailored course of study.  We recruit talented students to these programs and seek a diverse student body, a diversity that is enhanced by the reach of our online program across the country and around the globe.  Courses are taught by a full-time, interdisciplinary faculty committed to quality in teaching, supplemented by a pool of knowledgeable adjuncts drawn from across the country as well as the local community. In addition alumni have opportunities to contribute to the educational experience of current students through serving as mentors, guest speakers, and practicum site supervisors.

Excellence in research includes: 1) application of a variety of research methods in the investigation of research problems; 2) exploration of a wide range of information-related topics within such broad rubrics as historical studies; distributed communities; Internet studies; managing heterogeneity and diversity in large scale information systems; readers, writers, and texts; and technology and scholarship; 3) enhancement of organizational structures, specifically the Library Research Center and Information Systems Research Laboratory, to support engagement of faculty and students in research; 4) pursuit of additional sources of funding to support research; 5) enhancement of physical facilities to house research computing infrastructure and research groups; 6) collaboration across campus and with external partners; 7) use of various channels to disseminate the results of research, including a GSLIS technical report series. 

Excellence in service includes: 1) engagement of faculty in significant roles in a wide range of disciplinary and professional associations; 2) involvement of faculty as valued members of campus committees; 3) high standards for publications and services provided by units such as the Center for Children’s Books, Prairienet, Information Researchers, and the GSLIS Publications Office.

Excellence is achieved in an environment of collaboration and cooperation.   Students, staff, and faculty are all valued members of the GSLIS community who take pride in the history and accomplishments of the School while being open to innovation and change.

Planning Process

Since FY1998, GSLIS planning processes have been embedded in the planning process mandated at the campus level, as described in Provost Communication 1: Budgetary Principles and Practice.  Planning and budgeting take place in a sequence that operates continuously, but repeats through a twelve-month cycle most conveniently considered in terms of the fiscal-year calendar, running from July 1 through June 30.  In January of each year, GSLIS submits to the Campus Budget Oversight Committee (CBOC) and the Provost: 1) a report covering the state of the unit, recent progress toward the unit’s strategic goals, and evidence concerning the quality of performance in fulfilling mission and sustaining institutional values; and 2) a budget proposal including discussion of the ways in which the next year’s budget and out-year projections will affect performance and provide progress toward strategic goals of the unit and the campus.  The actual review of each unit consists of (a) preliminary study and discussion by the CBOC and the Provost, (b) an extended conference involving the dean and appropriate staff from the unit, the CBOC, and the Provost, and (c) additional study and discussion by the CBOC and the Provost in a phase involving comparative evaluation of proposals from all units.   This review also takes into account extensive data compiled by the Division of Management Information in the Campus Profile to monitor the performance of all units.  Thus the University of Illinois expects broad-based, continuous program planning and improvement of all its units, and enforces this expectation in its budget processes that ask about the School’s mission and how it is being carried out.    Faced with declines in state support for the University, in FY03 and FY04 units were asked to assess the impact of budget rescission/reductions but at the same time discuss opportunities in their field that must be addressed and how this could be accomplished.  GSLIS faculty collaborated in developing this portion of the GSLIS annual report to the campus.   

Beginning in fall 2003, Dean Unsworth has initiated monthly meetings of the faculty (“faculty diets”) at his home to foster discussion of issues critical to strategic planning for the School. These meetings have provided a forum to involve all categories of faculty (full-time, emeritus, adjunct) and key administrative staff in shaping future directions for the School. Topics addressed in 2003-2004 have included:

October  Position of GSLIS in relation to other campus units (not only other academic departments, but the library, the museum, etc.); position of GSLIS in relation to other schools of library and/or information science.  What should we do to build the GSLIS program on campus and externally?

November  What is the proper role of GSLIS in undergraduate education?  What do we want to see develop in GSLIS MS and doctoral education (size of program, profile of student body, etc.)?

December  Strategies for increasing and supporting diversity of GSLIS students, staff, and faculty

January  Faculty hiring plans; Long-range planning

February  Capital campaign; Chicago area activities; Ph.D. recruiting

March New degree programs; Research review

April Review of year’s activities

A retreat for the full-time faculty held August 18, 2004 included discussion of the most effective formats for engaging the faculty in strategic planning, with recommendations for the operation of School committees and the conduct of faculty business meetings, as well as a commitment to regular retreats to review progress and plan future initiatives.

In addition to faculty and staff, other constituents are also engaged in providing input to planning. MS students have representatives who participate in both the Curriculum Committee and faculty business meetings and also meet regularly with the dean. Dean Unsworth has made outreach to constituents in the state a high priority. A Chicago initiative is building stronger connections with the large concentration of GSLIS alumni residing in the greater Chicago area, and bimonthly meetings of a corporate roundtable include representatives involved in information-related work at Archer Daniels Midland, Caterpillar, Boeing, and Abbott Laboratories as well as GSLIS faculty and administrative staff.

The preparation of the Program Presentation has provided an opportunity to involve many individuals in review and comment on drafts of the document, reinforcing connections to a range of constituents. Once the draft document was available on the web, comments were sought from faculty (both full-time and part-time), students, staff, colleagues in the University Library, and the 2200 alumni who receive our electronic eUpdate newsletters (many of whom also employ graduates of our program).

Sources of Evidence:
Campus Profile
GSLIS Annual Report, January 28, 2003
GSLIS Annual Report, January 28, 2004
Appendix to the GSLIS Annual Report, January 28, 2004
GSLIS Mission Statement
Provost Communication 1: Budgetary Principles and Practice

Standard I.2

I.2.1

I.2.2

I.2.3

I.2.4

I.2.5

I.2.6

I.2.7

I.2.8

I.2.9

I.2.10

Program objectives are clearly stated in the MS degree program overview:

“We equip students with the theories and practices of library and information science (LIS) through the study of the foundations, principles, and ideas of the discipline, and the status and expectations of the profession. Our program objectives include teaching graduates to anticipate social and technological changes, and promote change to advance the profession; fostering critical thinking about literature and research in LIS and related fields; encouraging commitment to high standards of practice, conduct, responsibility, and service; and preparing for evaluation and development of services. Graduates of the master’s program are qualified to pursue careers as beginning librarians and information scientists in the information industry.”

Parsing this statement in relation to the standard, one has:

1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3 We equip students with the theories and practices of library and information science (LIS) through the study of the foundations, principles, and ideas of the discipline, and the status and expectations of the profession.

1.2.8, 1.2.9, 1.2.10 Our program objectives include teaching graduates to anticipate social and technological changes, and promote change to advance the profession;

1.2.5, 1.2.6, 1.2.7 fostering critical thinking about literature and research in LIS and related fields;

1.2.4 encouraging commitment to high standards of practice, conduct, responsibility, and service;

1.2.2, 1.2.5, 1.2.8, 1.2.9 and preparing for evaluation and development of services.

1.2.10 Graduates of the master's program are qualified to pursue careers as beginning librarians and information scientists in the information industry.

The detailed discussion of the curriculum in II below will demonstrate in more detail how these objectives are achieved.

Source of evidence:
Master of Science Degree Program Overview

Standard I.3

As noted in I.1, GSLIS operates in an environment that expects continuous planning and program improvement.  Data gathered, formally and informally, from students, faculty, employers, alumni, and campus colleagues and administrators informs the ongoing evaluation of program goals and objectives.  The use of electronic communication and the geographic reach of our online program mean that many more voices can contribute to this process.  The discussion of the remaining standards provides more specific examples of data gathering, analysis, and use for this purpose.