2017 Self-Study of the School of Information Master of Science in Information to the American Library Association Committee on Accreditation A School organized and maintained for the purpose of graduate education in information: ■ School of Information Principal Administrator, School of Information: ■ Thomas A. Finholt, Dean Parent Institution: ■ University of Michigan Chief Executive Officer, University of Michigan: ■ Mark Schlissel, President Chief Academic Officer, University of Michigan: ■ Paul Courant, Interim Provost Degree Program Brought Forward for Re-Accreditation: ■ Master of Science in Information University of Michigan is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), an independent corporation that holds membership in the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). iii Preface COA ACCREDITATION TASK FORCE Chair and Lead Editor: Elizabeth Yakel (Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs) Task Force Membership: Thomas A. Finholt (Dean); Judy Lawson (Assistant Dean of Academic and Student Affairs); Karen Markey (Professor); Scott Staelgraeve (Chief Administrative Officer) Staff Assistants: Glenda Bullock (Communications Specialist); Amanda Ciacelli (Senior Administrative Assistant); Alexandra Holler (Writer/Editorial Assistant); David Young (Multimedia Designer) Subcommittees for Each Standard: Standard I: SYSTEMATIC PLANNING Thomas A. Finholt (Dean, Chair); Elizabeth Yakel (Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs) Standard II: CURRICULUM Karen Markey (Chair and Professor); Soo Young Rieh (Chair of the MSI Program Committee and Associate Professor); Judy Lawson (Assistant Dean of Academic and Student Affairs); Kelly Kowatch (Associate Director of Engaged Learning and Adjunct Lecturer in Information) Standard III: FACULTY Elizabeth Yakel (Chair and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs); Deborah Apsley (Director of Human Resources and Business Affairs); Heidi Skrzypek (Assistant Director of Human Resources and Business Operations); Rebecca O’Brien (Director of Research Administration) Standard IV: STUDENTS Judy Lawson (Chair and Assistant Dean of Academic and Student Affairs,); Karen Markey (Professor); Laura Elgas (Director Admissions and Student Affairs); Joanne Kroll (Director of Career Development); Rebecca Pagels (Director of Development and Alumni Relations) Standard V: ADMINISTRATION, FINANCES, AND RESOURCES Scott Staelgraeve (Chair and Chief Administrative Officer); Elizabeth Yakel (Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs); Gary Dryden (Director of Finance); Deborah Apsley (Director of Human Resources and Business Affairs) iv Copies of the draft Program Presentation were distributed to the following advisory groups for review and feedback: School of Information External Advisory Board: John Seely Brown, John Evans, Nancy Gwinn, Tom Hyry, Kelvin Lam, Marianne Silver, Kenneth Jones, Stuart Feldman, Roger Ehrenberg, Jason Blessing, David Chio, Irene Cheung, Deb Schwartz, John Cameron, Ayca Aksu, and Jamie Voris School of Information Alumni Society Board Members: Karen Trimberger Brady, Abbey Potter, Dr. Jason Cohen, Devan Donaldson, Sonia Doshi, Omid Farviar, Tammy Greene, Dr. Mark Handel, Randy Horton, Dr. Veronica Wilkerson Johnson, Dr. David Levine, Maureen Moore, Robert Parks, Andy Peterson, Sue Quackenbush, Philip Tularak, and Mary Zhu School of Information Alumni: Robert Parks, Darrow Wood, and Steve Barkan School of Information MSI Students: Amy Eiben, Ben Rearick, Jay Winkler, Kayla Carucci, Molly Szymanski, Noa Kasman, Quamesha Hayes, and Nora Dolliver Brief description of program being presented for accreditation: In this self-study, the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI or the School) submits its Master of Science in Information (MSI) degree program for American Library Association (ALA) reaccreditation. There have been a number of significant structural changes in the School since the 2010 accreditation. In 2010, the primary degree was the MSI. The only other degree was the PhD, and its Program was small. In previous accreditation processes, accrediting the MSI Program was essentially accrediting the entire School minus the PhD Program. In this self-study, that is no longer the case. In 2017, UMSI now has four programs: (1) MSI Program, (2) Master of Health Informatics (MHI) Program (jointly administered with the School of Public Health), (3) Bachelor of Science in Information (BSI) Program, and (4) PhD in Information Program. The PhD Program accommodates a wide range of scholarly pursuits at the intersection of people, information, and technology. Because UMSI faculty come from a wide range of disciplines, the PhD Program is highly interdisciplinary, encouraging students to tread beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries in their quest to understand and improve the ways in which information is collected, organized, preserved, analyzed, shared, and used. In 2010, the PhD Program had about 30 students. Since 2012, the PhD Program has averaged 53 students per year. Doctoral students are required to serve as graduate student instructors (GSIs) for at least two courses, and many meet this requirement by GSI assignments to courses in the School’s MSI and BSI programs. The PhD Program is highly competitive; for the 2015 incoming class, 108 applications were received, 22 students were accepted, and 13 students enrolled. The Master of Health Informatics (MHI) Program, established in 2012, is a partnership between the U-M’s School of Information and School of Public Health (SPH). The MHI Program’s goals are to develop a new kind of information professional who helps clinicians, patients, and consumers navigate and manage increasingly more readily v Preface available streams of health information. Defining features of the program are its strengths in consumer informatics, population health applications, and system-related human and organizational issues. All MHI courses that originated in UMSI are also available to MSI students and vice versa. Now in its fourth year of existence, the MHI Program admitted 31 students for the 2015 incoming class and has graduated 33 students to date. UMSI began offering undergraduate education in 2008 as an equal partner in an initiative with the College of Engineering and College of Literature, Science, & the Arts (particularly Statistics) at the University of Michigan (U-M). In 2014, UMSI launched its own Bachelor of Science in Information (BSI) Program, an upper-level undergraduate degree that U-M undergraduates complete during their junior and senior years. This richly interdisciplinary Program encompasses the social and technical aspects of the digital revolution, giving students the opportunity to gain breadth and depth through rigorous coursework, frequent interaction with faculty, high-level practical experiences, and research engagement. BSI students focus almost exclusively on coursework in one of three defined BSI-Program paths—information analysis, user experience design, or social media—or they develop an academic plan for themselves in conjunction with faculty advisors. The BSI Program’s first class of 2015 graduated 25 students, and the most recently admitted class of 2018 has 120 students. The mission of the Master of Science in Information (MSI) Program is to prepare students to understand the human, ethical, and technological dynamics of our constantly evolving information society; excel as professionals in a variety of information environments; lead in designing and building new user-centered solutions to society’s most challenging information needs; and use their expertise to serve their communities, their professions, and the world. MSI students must meet various requirements for graduation while amassing 48 credits for the MSI Program. Under the current curriculum, MSI students must fulfill both program and specialization requirements. Students must choose at least one of these specializations: 1. Archives and Records Management (ARM) 2. Human Computer Interaction (HCI) 3. Information Analysis and Retrieval (IAR) 4. Information Economics for Management (IEM) 5. Library and Information Science (LIS) 6. Preservation of Information (PI) 7. Social Computing (SC) Alternatively, students can choose the Tailored option and design their own academic plan under the guidance of a faculty advisor and with the advisor’s approval of their written plans. The MSI Program is in the midst of transitioning from its current specialization-based curriculum to a post-specialization curriculum that enlists mastery courses to designate requirements through prerequisite coursework, hereafter referred to in this report as named future curriculum or mastery-based curriculum. Nonetheless, the MSI Program remains a 48-credit program with a significant engaged-learning component that gives students relevant experience in their desired area of expertise. The impetus for the vi transition as well as the planning, evidence, decision-making, and stakeholders involved in defining UMSI’s future curriculum are described in standards II.1, II.5, II.6, and II.7. The faculty own the curriculum and each academic program has its own program committee populated by faculty and a faculty program director who reports to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA). Since all faculty can potentially teach in any of the four programs, all faculty are eligible to serve on any program committee. The School’s several academic program committees are responsible for curriculum, course approvals, policy setting, overseeing recruitment and admissions