FSU Biennial Narrative Report 2016

2016 Narrative Report School of Information Florida State University INTRODUCTION Since 2014, Florida State University’s School of Information (FSU iSchool) has maintained a #13 overall ranking from U.S. News & World Report for its ALA-accredited Master's degree program (M.S. and M.A. in Information.), ranked #1 in School Media, #5 in Youth Services, and #11 in Digital Libraries. The FSU iSchool’s degree programs also include a Ph.D. degree, a Specialist degree, and a Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) and a #11 ranked Master’s degree (M.S.) in Information Technology. Leadership has changed since the last Biennial report. In 2014-2015, Director Kathy Burnett led the School along with Dr. Michelle Kazmer as Associate Director (May-October 2014). Dr. Lorri Mon became Associate Director in January 2015, and Director in June 2016. Dr. Mia Lustria became Education Committee Chair in January 2016. Associate Director Linda Swaine continued as the Director of Assessment and Articulation, with Dr. Don Latham continuing as MLIS Program Chair, and Dr. Larry Dennis continuing as Dean of the College of Communication and Information. INFORMATION REQUESTED BY ALA I. Systematic Planning - The FSU iSchool’s Mission recognizes the importance of connecting people, information, and technology for society’s betterment (iSchool Mission: <a href="/goto?url=https://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/about/mission/" target="_blank">https://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/about/mission/</a>) with a commitment to universal information creation, access, use, and evaluation within a dynamic culture of emerging technology through innovative teaching, research, and service. The iSchool is committed to preparing information professionals with the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes to overcome information challenges in all organizations, and is dedication to innovative and interdisciplinary research, collaboration, service, leadership, respect for diversity, and ongoing professional development. The FSU iSchool’s Goals are: 1) to demonstrate excellence in scholarship, teaching, and <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 1 of 10 </li></ul>collaborative partnerships; 2) to have a state-of-the-art infrastructure to fully support scholarship, teaching, and collaborative partnerships; 3) to be an environment that fosters information entrepreneurship; 4) to have ample and sustainable financial resources to support excellence in our mission. FSU Learning Objective Goals as aligned with the iSchool Goals are: 1. Students who complete the Masters’ in Information core will achieve KSAs determined by relevant stakeholders including but not limited to ALA; 2. Students who follow specific specializations and/or certificates will achieve KSAs determined by industry/organization/disciplinary standards; 3. Course objectives and descriptions will be aligned with the course content in terms of measureable outputs; 4. Achievements of individual students, alumni, and faculty will be identified and communicated; 5. Relevant stakeholders will have input into the curriculum.; 6. The iSchool will explore partnerships within and outside the university for cooperative degree, certificate, course, and internship opportunities. (see Appendix A). FSU’s iSchool reaffirmed our mission, vision, values, and goals, reviewing progress toward the goals and their alignment with degree program objectives and student learning outcomes in 2014-2016 Faculty Retreats, Faculty Meetings, and Committee Meetings. The iSchool also completed a Financial Sustainability Faculty Retreat (January 14, 2014), a University Graduate Policy Committee Quality Enhancement Review self study and external review (February 10-11, 2014), and an Action Plan for 2014-2016. (see Appendices B and C). We reassessed organizational structure and bylaws, and conducted strategic planning and SWOT analyses (March 28, 2014) (see Appendix D). In 2014-2016, we created the FSU iSchool Goals, Objectives, Action Plans guiding document with five Goals each broken out into specific Objectives, Action Plans for each goal and objective, and assessment ratings for extent to which each goal has been achieved. (see Appendix E). iSchool administrators regularly revisited this document in planning, in writing each year’s Committee charges (see Appendix F), in setting goals, objectives and activities for Faculty Retreats (see Appendix G), and in identifying action items in Faculty Meetings and Committee Meetings (see Dates in Appendix F). Data collection and reporting included the FSU Graduate Program Committee Quality <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 2 of 10 </li></ul>Enhancement Review (QER), the ALISE Statistical Report, CRA/Taulbee, Library Journal Institutional Questionnaire, US News Best Online Computer Information Technology Programs review, and the NSF NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Post doctorates in Science and Engineering, We conducted biennial alternating surveys of the FSU iSchool employers and alumni, and assessed alumni job titles, noting new titles e.g. “electronic and technologies librarian,” “instructional technologies librarian,” “library media tech specialist,” and “social media manager and librarian” (see Appendix H). In iSchool Faculty Retreats, Faculty Meetings and Committee Meetings, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members including FSU librarians participated actively, giving feedback on and helping to carry out the iSchool’s planning and implementation activities for action items toward our goals and objectives. The iSchool’s all-day Faculty Retreats focused on strategic planning activities for research (August 11, 2014 and Nov. 20, 2015); goals, objectives, and action plans (February 13, 2015); committee structure and planning (August 11, 2015); and curriculum and student engagement (Jan. 22, 2016). On February 13, 2015, we reviewed completed Actions Plans, and current status of all goals, objectives and action plans (see Appendices I, J and E). A Director’s Plan developed by Dr. Kathy Burnett and building upon our prior planning activities was discussed at the March, 15, 2015 faculty meeting (see Appendix K), and action plan items developed from these iSchool goals and objectives continued to be assigned to the FSU iSchool Committees throughout 2014-2016, including: Education Committee (Curriculum Management Committee/Academic Affairs Committee): Goal 1: excellence in scholarship and teaching. The Education Committee assessed degree programs annually, reviewed existing courses, and reviewed all new or revised syllabi, with development of new syllabi such as Cultural Competencies undertaken in response to our mission, values, and learning objectives,(see Curriculum section (II), for further detail). Student Experience Committee: Goal 1: excellence in scholarship and teaching. The Student Experience Committee created awards processes to recognize, communicate and support scholarly and teaching excellence for faculty and students, among other activities (see Appendices L and M). Research <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 3 of 10 </li></ul>Committee/Technology Committee/Personnel Committee: Goal 1: excellence in scholarship, teaching, and collaborative partnerships. Goal 2: have a state-of-the-art infrastructure. The Research Committee conducted planning for technology and research needs, cross-university collaborative research events, and new faculty searches (see III. Faculty for hires). Planning Committee: Goal 2: have a state-of-the-art infrastructure;Goal 3: foster information entrepreneurship;. Goal 4: have ample and sustainable financial resources. The Planning Committee oversaw administration of planning and budget activities such as student technology fee grants ($15,983 in 2014; $10,759.95 in 2015; and $4,715 in 2016) for a makerspace with technologies such as 3D printing and 3D visualization with Oculus Rift, workshops such as Raspberry Pisentation Parts 1-4 and an Entrepreneur in Residence teaching information entrepreneurship (see Appendix N). Development, Recruitment & Outreach Committee: Goal 4: have ample and sustainable financial resources. The Outreach Committee participated in graduate recruitment, including diversity recruitment at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). A previous downward trend in graduate admissions stabilized and began trending upwards in 2014-2016, but converting admissions to enrollments remains challenging (see Appendix O). The Committee also worked on communication planning, launching the iSchool’s new mobile-friendly Web site, working on alumni and donor meetings at ALA Midwinter, ALA Annual, BCALA, and Florida Library Association (FLA), and on updates via direct emails, emails to key listservs, and iSchool social media, and CCI Leadership Board’s Speakers List to connect faculty and students with alumni and professionals speaking in classes. II. Curriculum The FSU iSchool’s ALA-accredited Master’s (M.A. and M.S.) 36 credit hour degree programs offer 12 credits of core courses (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/</a>) in Assessing Needs/Research, Foundations/Policy, Information Organization, and Management and 24 elective credits students can use for career needs, to earn Certificates in Leadership & Management, Youth Services, Reference, Health, Information Architecture (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/cert/" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/cert/</a>), or <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 4 of 10 </li></ul>special study in Museums (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/specializations/#mus" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/specializations/#mus</a>). The FSU iSchool offers guidance on public, academic, and special libraries, health, information organization, reference, youth services, management, and technology (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/specializations/#glib" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/specializations/#glib</a>). Up to 12 credits can be taken from other departments for interdisciplinary work (e.g. STEM librarian). The FSU iSchool’s MLIS Program Chair changed on August 25, 2014 from Dr. Michelle Kazmer to Dr. Don Latham, and the Undergraduate Program Chair changed on August 24, 2015 from Dr. Mia Lustria to Dr. Mark Jowett. John Marks continued as Masters in Information Technology Program Chair, and Dr. Melissa Gross continued as PhD Program Chair. Program Chairs worked with the Director, staff and faculty, the Education Committee and the CCI Academic Affairs Committee to conduct ongoing curriculum review and implement new curriculum goals and action plans identified in iSchool’s planning, including: Curriculum review: The Education Committee (including student, staff and faculty members) reviewed KSAs for iSchool syllabi (see Appendices P and Q) guided by ALA Standards documents for the ALA accredited Master's’ program and by other standards documents where relevant for areas such as technology (see Appendices R-T). Objectives, assignments, topics and readings were reviewed, and revised syllabi were re-proposed, reviewed and approved by the Education Committee, by iSchool faculty vote, by College Academic Affairs Committee, and finally by FSU’s University Curriculum Committee. New syllabi for technology, management and diversity were developed as a result of the iSchool’s reviews of course learning objectives and program and curriculum review processes (see Appendix U). Program review: The Student Affairs Committee (including students, staff and faculty) and Program Chairs assessed and revised learning objectives and student achievement measurements for degree programs in FSU’s Institutional Effectiveness Portal (IEP) annual review (see Appendix V). School Library Media Revision: On Feb. 18, 2015, the faculty approved a school media alternative path to the state-approved program, enabling students to add technology courses such as social <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 5 of 10 </li></ul>media and web design along with LIS courses. With coordination between the FSU iSchool, the FSU College of Education and the Florida’s Department of Education, by 2016 the FSU iSchool was matriculating out the final two state-approved degree program students, and using the new school librarianship path to educate students in information and technology skills to meet the needs of youth library users (see Appendix W). Programs of Study: New Programs of Study were developed in 2015-2016 via environmental scans of job ads, job titles, literature trends, and curriculum of peer and aspirational institutions for student careers as reference librarians and competitive intelligence specialists, information managers, digital librarians, youth librarians and health librarians/informaticists, (see Appendices X-BB). Course Rotation Schedule: On Feb. 13, 2015, the faculty worked on curriculum planning, including combining two collections management courses, merging the multicultural and international youth literature courses, and reviewing the course rotation including historic enrollment data (see Appendices CC-FF and http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/courses/grad/). III. Faculty Faculty procedures are guided by the Florida State University Faculty Handbook (Feb. 25, 2016) (see Appendix GG). New FSU iSchool faculty in 2014-2016 included Dr. Zhe He, Assistant Professor, hired in Fall 2015 in a cross-university collaborative research effort with FSU’s Institute for Successful Longevity (<a href="/goto?url=http://isl.fsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://isl.fsu.edu/</a>) (see Appendices HH and II). His research adds strength to iSchool’s Health and Data Analytics areas, focusing on developing data-driven methods to discover hidden patterns in biomedical data. New adjunct faculty included Dr. Adam Worrall, Dr. Nicole Alemanne, Dr. Karla Schmitt, Jennifer Underhill, Dr. Dong Joon Lee, Dr. Amelia Anderson, Dr. Jung Hoon Baeg, Dr. Jonathan Hollister, Dr. Jisue Lee, and Dr. Abigail Phillips (see Appendix JJ). Dr. Nancy Everhart, Dr. Michelle Kazmer, Dr. Don Latham, and Dr. Paul Marty received promotions to full Professor, and Dr. Charles Hinnant was promoted to Associate Professor. Leila Gibradze was promoted to Assistant <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 6 of 10 </li></ul>University Librarian, and Dr. Linda Swaine was promoted to Instructional Specialist III. Retirements included Goldstein Library Director Pam Doffek, Dr. Christie Koontz and Bowie Kotrla. Also, a parttime staff marketing position was discontinued, and Elaine Howard was promoted from Office Administrator to Director of Alumni Affairs & Outreach. Faculty Teaching: iSchool students continued nominating faculty for teaching awards: Drs. Gary Burnett, Michelle Kazmer, Don Latham and Lorri Mon in 2014-2015, Dr. Charles McClure, Ebe Randeree, Dr. Christie Koontz and Dr. Don Latham in 2015-2016, and Dr. Marcia A. Mardis, Dr. Paul Marty, Ebe Randeree, Dr. Mia Lustria, and Dr. Don Latham in 2016-2017. Dr. Michelle Kazmer won the ASIS&T Teaching Award in 2014, and Dr. Christie Koontz won FSU’s Graduate Teaching Excellence Award in 2016. Faculty are supported by instructional specialist Jane Barrager and the CCI Help Desk, and can access resources such as Lynda.com (available to all University faculty) to increase skills in course areas where there is a great need for instructors. Faculty preparation: The FSU iSchool faculty brought in research grants totaling $777,017.00 for 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 (see Appendix KK); this amount does not include continuing grants. For a complete list of faculty accomplishments including publications, grants and awards, see Appendices LL- VV. For a list of universities where faculty received their doctoral degrees along with areas of research focus and dissertation titles, see Appendix WW. Junior faculty are assigned mentors. Annual performance evaluations for all faculty conducted each Spring, and adjunct instructor evaluations have been required since Summer 2016 (Office of Faculty Development <a href="/goto?url=http://fda.fsu.edu/faculty-development/annual-" target="_blank">http://fda.fsu.edu/faculty-development/annual- </a>evaluation-faculty). For aggregated course evaluations completed by students Fall 2014-Summer 2016 refer to Appendix XX. Faculty Hiring: iSchool’s Research Committee conducted faculty searches in 2014-2016 for areas of need where faculty lines were allocated by FSU’s Provost (see Appendices YY and ZZ). FSU facilitates diversity hires, and in 2015 received a national diversity award (<a href="/goto?url=http://fla.st/2mfrqTu" target="_blank">http://fla.st/2mfrqTu</a>) IV. Students <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 7 of 10 </li></ul>In Fall 2014, 712 (unduplicated headcount) students were enrolled in iSchool degree programs with 667 students enrolled in Fall 2016, a decrease of 6%. In the MLIS degree program, student demographics for minority and international students remained consistent in Fall 2014, Fall 2015, and Fall 2016 with a slight increase in the number of Hispanic (30 students Fall 2014 and 35 students Fall 2016) and Asian (3 students Fall 2014 and 6 students Fall 2016) students. White student enrollment dropped by 28% (215 students Fall 2014 and 154 students Fall 2016). Overall enrollment in the MLIS degree program dropped 20% (283 students Fall 2014 and 225 students Fall 2016) (see Appendix AAA). The Alumni Survey of 2015 polled early (2011-2013), mid (2002-2006), and late (1990-1994) career Master’s and Specialist graduates in LIS and Master’s in IT 2012-2013 graduates (see Appendix BBB). The data analyst shared the results with administration, program chairs, and the office administrator; and the document was uploaded to SharePoint for all faculty to view. In 2014, the FSU iSchool had one ALA Spectrum Scholar, six in 2015, and one in 2016. We recruited at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) FAMU and Bethune-Cookman, and contacted McNair Scholars nationwide (<a href="/goto?url=https://mcnairscholars.com/" target="_blank">https://mcnairscholars.com/</a>). In 2015 we launched IDEA Learning Community (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/idea" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/idea</a>) with 5 assistantships. Admissions (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/admissions/graduate/mslis" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/admissions/graduate/mslis</a>) requires a GRE score or another graduate exam. Students are assisted during admissions by iSchool’s Student Services and attend online or in-person orientations, plus faculty advising sessions with staff, faculty and the iSchool’s Director. Students are assigned an iSchool faculty advisor (<a href="/goto?url=http://directory.cci.fsu.edu/ischool-directory" target="_blank">http://directory.cci.fsu.edu/ischool-directory</a>) and complete an Advising Worksheet (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/graduate/mslis/</a>). Students can access the Course Rotation Schedule (<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/courses/grad" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/courses/grad</a>) to determine when courses will be offered, and download programs of study for different information careers, course flyers, and sample syllabi. Students can apply for Internships or a Directed Individual Study to conduct research or work with a professor on research. Students needing help can contact their faculty advisors as well as Student Services staff.(<a href="/goto?url=http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/advising/#grad" target="_blank">http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/advising/#grad</a>.) <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">FSU SCHOOL OF INFORMATION </li><li style="flex:1">Page 8 of 10 </li></ul>The FSU iSchool’s award-winning ALA Student Chapter offers workshops and events for students to meet with and hear from information professionals (faculty advisors: iSchool librarians Pam Doffek and Leila Gibradze) Students can participate in research colloquia, Collaboratory tech workshops, student clubs such as WISE for women in technology (faculty mentor: Ebe Randeree), and the Cybersecurity Club (faculty mentor: Shuyuan Ho.) Students needing technology or software help can contact the CCI Help Desk (<a href="/goto?url=http://helpdesk.cci.fsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://helpdesk.cci.fsu.edu/</a>). FSU offers a Career Center (<a href="/goto?url=http://www.career.fsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://www.career.fsu.edu/</a>), Veteran’s Center (<a href="/goto?url=http://veterans.fsu.edu/" target="_blank">http://veterans.fsu.edu/</a>), Student Disability Center (<a href="/goto?url=http://dos.fsu.edu/sdrc/" target="_blank">http://dos.fsu.edu/sdrc/</a>), and a Writing Center.(<a href="/goto?url=http://wr.english.fsu.edu/reading-writing-center" target="_blank">http://wr.english.fsu.edu/reading-writing-center</a>). Students can apply for graduate assistantships in FSU Libraries and CCI Help Desk, and participate on iSchool Committees. V. Administration, Finances, and Resources The iSchool’s administrative infrastructure at the beginning of the 2014-2016 timeframe included the iSchool Director, Kathleen Burnett, Associate Director Michelle Kazmer, Associate Director Linda Swaine, and a staff team of Shonda Jones (Finance Administrator) supervising Linda Ross and Cathy Branton (Administrative Assistants), and Kimberly Amos-Tata (Assistant Director of Student Services) supervising Ade Kumuyi (Academic Program Specialist) and Jade Stagg (Admissions Coordinator). Elaine Howard (Assistant Director of Alumni Relations & Outreach) and specialized faculty Bowie Kotrla and Jane Barrager also assisted the team. Dr. Kotrla retired in 2015. In January. 2015, Dr. Lorri Mon became the Associate Director in place of Dr. Michelle Kazmer, then Director in June 2016. Cathy Branton left in 2016, and Dennis Hutchison replaced Ade Kumuyi, while Chauncey Richburg became Office Administrator. At the University level, Dr. Melissa Gross served on FSU’s Faculty Senate. During 2014-2016, FSU’s iSchool continued refining financial plans (see Appendix CCC) experienced decreases in graduate enrollments and overall funding. Budget cuts included a 10% budget cut university wide in 2016, for which the Provost refunded 5% making it a 5% cut. However, a strategic planning effort for a CIP code change from 25.0101 to 11.0401 classed all the iSchool’s programs in

FSU Biennial Narrative Report 2016

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