On Jan. 10, Emporia State’s School of Library and Information Management (SLIM) department was reaccredited by the American Library Association, a group that only accredited 63 programs in the Unites States, Canada and Puerto Rico, according to ESU President Garrett’s ‘I am a Hornet.’
”We were thrilled, really thrilled,” said Mirah Dow, interim dean and professor of SLIM. “It is so important to the graduates of our program and it is the ultimate credential they need to be employable as professional librarians and information professionals.”
David Cordle, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, said that his initial reaction was pleased.
“(I was) not surprised because I was fairly confident that the American Library Association would recognize the quality in the academic program in SLIM,” Cordle said. “The program does, in fact, meet the standards that the ALA sets for accreditation. The most important thing is meeting the specific standards that the accreditor sets out. And these standards have to do with the curriculum that’s offered, with the qualifications of the faculty, with the amount of support that the institution provides.”
Garrett said she was since ESU’s SLIM department works to teach programs both here at ESU and across the nation.
“I’m thrilled for the faculty and staff in SLIM because it really is a wonderful program,” Garrett said. “It’s a program that serves not just students here in Emporia, but students broadly. The faculty who are based here are typically doing a lot of travel and it’s challenging to teach in a program that is different in so many ways than the programs that most of us think of. They’ve just done a wonderful job.”
The SLIM department teaches students in Overland Park, Kansas; Denver, Colorado; Seattle, Washington and in Utah.
“Our master of library science program has an interesting and fairly unique instruction model,” Cordle said. “We actually have outposts and a physical presence in those places. That’s an instructional model that does set us apart and one of the distinguishing characteristics of SLIM.”
The accreditation process was a group effort, all across campus. The SLIM department did a majority of the work but another group helped them fill out the paperwork that was needed for the accreditation, according to Dow.
“We’re especially grateful to Dr. Cordle and others at Emporia State,” Dow said. “There have been many who have been very supportive of our program and who have been actively involved in helping us to answer all the questions posed by the external review panel.”
ESU’s SLIM department will be up for reaccreditation
