ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries N ovem ber 1 9 9 7 / 6 9 5 Developing an associate degree for distance learners Every lib ra ria n a Leader By T hom as E. Abbott and Kirk T. Rau The University o f M aine’s excellent adventure I t isn ’t every day, that librarians from a library without academic rank, or their place in the campus academic decision-making pro­ cess, are asked to create a degree program for 300 constituents spread over the entire state. And we are pleased to report that the only ones we know o f can say they succeeded. Establishing the need an d getting started Almost six years ago, leaders from the Maine Education Media Association’s (MEMA) Support Staff Group approached the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) Library dean with an urgent request from its membership that a coordinated program of education and training be estab­ lished. They sought educational opportunities (ultimately agreeing on an associate o f science degree in library and information technology) for their members that would support their ef­ forts to achieve fair and consistent compensa­ tion and recognition for their work.' And to add to the challenge, the support staff inter­ ested in continuing education were scattered across the 32,000 square miles o f Maine— re­ quiring some version o f distance education for the potential students. Determined to respond positively to our new constituents, and not miss the opportunity to create the first degree program in Maine de­ signed specifically for Maine’s Interactive Tele­ vision (ITV) System, the dean sought support from a community advisory group for curricu­ lum development, and found several willing faculty allies in UMA’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Academic Division to sponsor the pro­ gram proposals. At that time, UMA had already been in the business o f delivering ITV courses on the Maine ITV network for about three years, and we had been watching and learning. We had discovered what we thought worked and what didn’t, and did our best to apply our find­ ings to our degree program. We wrestled with the issues o f integrating the university core curriculum into the program, what level o f mathematics our students needed, and in the end, had the degree program ap­ proved by the division faculty, the Educational Policy Committee, the Faculty Assembly, the provost, the president, and the University of Maine System Chief Academic Officers, as well as the system chancellor and Board of Trust­ ees— all in a little over six months, which stood as a record until recenüy. Finding our stride In the process o f gaining degree approval, we library professionals found we were pretty good at collaborative processes (utilizing the com­ munity advisory group and gaining trust and support for academic approval with the fac­ ulty) and good at writing curriculum and pro­ posals in general. We found we knew our con­ tent area very well and knew how to teach others, and, indeed, impressed the skeptics among the divisional faculty. We found we were comfortable arguing our points at the various approval levels, and we were able to adequately address a last-minute concern from some of our library colleagues who felt the associate o f science in library and information technology would be used by some as a poor substitute for an MLS. Working with the aca­ dem ic units through the various approval stages, we concluded we were as good at the Thomas E. Abbott is dean o f learning resources an d university development at the University o f Maine at Augusta; e-mail: tabbott@maine.maine.edu. Kirk T. Rau is assistant dean o f learning resources an d coordinator o f the Library an d Information Technology Program at the University o f Maine at Augusta; e-mail: kirkrau@maine.maine.edu mailto:tabbott@maine.maine.edu mailto:kirkrau@maine.maine.edu 6 9 6 / C&RL News Lib rary and information technology core courses Lib 100 Introduction to Libraries and Li­ brary and Information Careers Lib 101 Library and Public Services Pro­ gramming Lib 150 Basic Reference and Database Searching Lib 175 Library Technical Processes Lib 225 Library Information Technology and Media Lib 250 Orientation to Collection Devel­ opment, Budgeting and Fund Raising Lib 299 Library Assistant Practicum— 80 hours supervised academic curriculum end of the business as many of our faculty who held academic rank. M id-course correction: M ajor change in d elivery method The degree program ran for two years as a Maine ITV offering. Although we admitted 120 students to the program, we managed to attract only 30 to 50 students at the off-peak times we were scheduled in, and faced cancellation of several courses due to low enrollments and high delivery costs o f ITV. After consulting with our students and members of our original advisory group, Program Coordinator and Library Assis­ tant Dean Kirk Rau took a deep breath and the leap o f faith necessary to become the first UMA degree program to become totally asynchro­ nous— offered as an independent group learn­ ing activity via videotape and Internet listserv. We dropped the ITV offerings o f our courses and began instead videotaping about two-thirds of each course using experts in their home en­ vironments (the business librarian in the busi­ ness library), and setting up Internet listservs for the students and faculty for each class. All students receive personal copies of the video­ taped lectures and a course packet, and follow along, week by week, with assignments, and interact with other students and faculty mem­ bers on the listserv. The new delivery method was begun as an experiment during the sum­ mer of 1996; the student reaction was so posi­ tive, everyone agreed to convert the entire de­ gree program to this method of asynchronous delivery. Five courses o f the 11 have been pre­ pared, and plans are underway to convert the remaining six to the asynchronous model. The 80-hour practicum is the last hurdle in making the program available at a distance. At this point, a local on-site work supervisor is selected by UMA, and communication among student, work supervisor, and faculty member is managed via e-mail, telephone, and mail for the duration of the project. Success, an d a n e w e ra is born at UMA Students are delighted with the flexibility the asynchronous mode of delivery offers. Students say they appreciate the ability to watch the tapes and use the listserv at times convenient to their work and family schedules, and that they have the time necessary to respond thoughtfully to issues raised on the listserv. Faculty back this up with stories of incredible levels of interac­ tion among and with students. Faculty concerns about keeping up with student expectations led to the point where Rau has successfully nego­ tiated a split into two sections when the enroll­ ment reaches 40. During the fall 1997 semester registration process, we were forced to close a double section of one course and stop enroll­ ment. The flexibility of the new model, how­ ever, will allow us to offer all seven of the li­ brary core courses each semester, so students (D eveloping a d eg ree cont. on p a g e 705) Students like distance class Students taking the asynchronous version o f Lib 150, Reference and Database Search­ ing this past summer overwhelmingly ap­ preciated the flexibility that videotapes and listservs afforded. Some of their comments: “I felt this was a great course and I would definitely recommend it to others.” “This distance learning is a great way to meet my recertification requirements . . . it is a good way to get ideas from library people from different parts o f the country. I would give the course an A+.” “Thank you so much. I will promote the use of the library in the future . . . I speak to over 10,000 people and 5,000 fifth grad­ ers about electricity safety each year. . . I will direct them to the library.” Note: Of the 62 people in Lib 150 only one would have preferred a traditional course. N ovem ber 1 9 9 7 / 6 9 7 N ovem ber 1 9 9 7 / 7 0 5 formats, a sample résumé, and advice for writing cov er letters are given. A ccess: http:// www.jobweb.org/catapult/guenov/restips.html. • R e s u m e M a g ic : M a s te r R e s u m e W riter’s S ecrets R evealed. Resume Magic ex­ plains how to write the various components of a résumé. Additionally, definitions and samples of the parts are given. Access: http://www.liglobal.com/ b_c/career/res.shtml. Links to: Abracadabra: Cover Letters That Make Interviews Appear. Access: http: //www.liglobal.com/b_c/career/abra.html. The cover letter site links to: Interview Magic: How to Pass Through the Interview Process in One Piece. Access: http://www.liglobal.com/b_c/career/ iview.html. C o m p a n y inform ation • Edgar Database o f C o rp orate In form a­ tion . Domestic public companies required to file forms 10-K and 10-KSB, containing most of the information from the “Annual Report to Shareholders,” with the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) are found on Edgar. Edgar posts the forms within 24 hours o f filing. Access: http ://www. sec .gov/edgarhp. htm. EDGAR Database o f corporate information • T he F o rtu n e 5 0 0 . This site contains in­ formation about the Fortune 500 companies arranged by com pany names, industry, and CEO. Some o f the information provided in the Company Snapshot includes links to the com­ pany Web sites, the company’s address, cur­ rent stock prices, and revenues. A large num­ b e r o f th e c o m p a n y W eb s ite s in c lu d e em ploym ent opportu nities. A ccess : http:// www.pathfinder.com/@@T9BcBQUAOiH20634/ fortune/fortune500. • Job W eb : E m p lo y er P rofiles. The Na­ tional Association o f Colleges and Employers publishes these Web site pages describing vari­ ous employers and providing links to their homepages. A ccess: http://www.jobweb.org/ employer/. • Sources o f Public In fo rm atio n o n P ri­ vately Held C om p anies. A list, provided by Washington Researchers, Ltd., notes public sources to consider when searching for infor­ mation about private companies. Access: http:// a llis o n .c la r k .n e t/ p u b/ b u sin tel/ p re m iu m - private.html. Electronic jo u rn als • C a re e r M agazine. This site provides ac­ cess to job openings, résumé banks, employer profiles, articles, and news, as well as career links. A ccess: http://www.careermag.com/. • J o b C h oices O nline. This online peri­ odical contains current and archived career ar­ ticles from the print version o f J o b C hoices. Access: http://www.jobweb.org/jconline/. • R e se a rch M agazine O nline. Research Magazine Online provides comprehensive stock information to job seekers concerned with the financial health o f a potential place o f employ­ ment. 4̂ccess.-http://www.researchmag.com/. ■ (D evelopin g a d eg r ee con t. f r o m p a g e 6 9 6 ) w on’t have long to wait. And an exciting side benefit of going asynchronous is that we are now able to welcome out-of-state students to partici­ pate, and have done so with 16 out-of-state stu­ dents taking Basic Reference and Database Searching this past summer. Out-of-state students are eligible to earn a UMA degree by taking the library core courses via distance education and transferring in other required courses from an accredited institution of higher education, or as many seem to do, take them for professional development. Based on a special policy for these type of courses, set up by the Board o f Trustees, out-of-state students pay in-state tuition rates. It has been an interesting and “excellent” adventure— one we are delighted we signed up for. The staff have com e together in sup­ port o f our students and we have made an­ other name for ourselves in our institution and in the state. Changes continue to swirl around the librarians and their entrepreneurship. This fall, Dean Abbott submitted a proposal to the president requesting that, in addition to Kirk Rau, the two other reference librarians be given non-tenure faculty rank to recognize their place in the greater institution. O f course, while all o f this is going on, we continue to provide li­ brary services to our undergraduates and keep the business o f the library in good order. Note 1. Shirley M. Jarvella, “Associate Degree in Li­ brary and Information Technology: Experiment in ‘Virtual’ Library Education in Maine,” L ibrary M osaics (May/June 1996). ■ http://www.jobweb.org/catapult/guenov/restips.html http://www.liglobal.com/ http://www.liglobal.com/b_c/career/abra.html http://www.liglobal.com/b_c/career/ http://www.pathfinder.com/@@T9BcBQUAOiH20634/ http://www.jobweb.org/ http://www.careermag.com/ http://www.jobweb.org/jconline/ http://www.researchmag.com/