Library Value and Accreditation

 Posted by at 8:00 am  Communicating Value, Institutional Reputation/Prestige  2 Responses »
May 142012
 

If people at your institution shudder when they hear the word “assessment,” the reaction may be even more dramatic when they hear that it’s time for “accreditation.” An accreditation visit puts pressure on a college or university to demonstrate what students are learning. Has your library participated in a self-study or a visit by an accreditation team?

Most accrediting bodies seem to place high value on information literacy outcomes, whether the phrase “information literacy” is used or not. It’s important for librarians to become familiar with accreditation guidelines and look for terms synonymous with information literacy (Value Report, page 55). Here are some terms that might be used:

  • critical and creative thinking
  • inquiry and analysis
  • evaluation and synthesis of information.

What other learning outcomes would you say are synonymous (or nearly synonymous) with information literacy?

Librarians can take the initiative to communicate the presence and importance of information literacy language in accreditation documents and then leverage accreditation guidelines to integrate information literacy skills into teaching and assessment processes throughout campus. This gives librarians the opportunity to ensure that information literacy extends beyond individual library instruction sessions and into the broader curriculum so that the institution can prove that upon graduation, students are information literate (Value Report, page 55). Participating in the accreditation process can have several positive outcomes for libraries and librarians: greater integration of information literacy learning outcomes throughout departments and programs, improving the library’s status on campus, and increasing the perceived value of the library to the mission of the institution.

My institution’s accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), has recently created new “Pathways for Reaffirmation of Accreditation.” When major changes in accreditation processes like this take place, it’s important to stay abreast of the new requirements.

What is the role of your library in the accreditation process?

Measuring Student Success at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

 Posted by at 3:53 pm  Library Impact on Students, Student Enrollment, Student Retention  1 Response »
May 072012
 

In last week’s blog posting, I mentioned the work the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus has been doing in collecting data to measure student success.  A summary of their project located on their blog states that their initial focus will be on undergraduates and the following questions:

  • How does use of print and digital collections correlate with course pass/fail rates, grades, or GPA?
  • How does use of instructional tools or attendance at instruction sessions correlate with course pass/fail rates, grades, or GPA?
  • Is there a correlation between library use and university retention measures?
  • Are there significant trends in departmental use (including use by students in various majors) of library resources and services?
  • Are students who use library instructional resources more or less likely to use library collections (print or digital)?

The project is being managed by a team of  University library staff members working closely with members in their Office of Institutional Research.  Team members are:

  • Shane Nackerud, Director, Web Development
  • Jan Fransen, Engineering Librarian
  • Kate Peterson, Information Literacy Librarian
  • Kristen Mastel, Outreach & Instruction Librarian
  • Krista Soria, Office of Institutional Research, Analyst
  • David Peterson, Office of Institutional Research, IT Professional

Their project encompasses several sections on Learning in the research agenda of the Value report, including student retention as well as student achievement.  As they showed in their presentation, they were able to examine 5,638 first year students and demonstrate that in that group,  students who used the library at least once were 1.54 times more likely to re-enroll.   Readers may refer to an earlier posting (March 12)  about Presidents and Provosts and the fact that among “84% of the provosts surveyed” “improving retention and degree completion as one of the top five challenges.”  This is a great example of demonstrating the impact that the library has at our institutions.

All members of the team, except David Peterson,  participated in the presentation held on April 27th.  A complete copy of their presentation will be found on their blog site.

There was a lively discussion after their presentation with a few members of the audience expressing concerns about privacy.  Shane has a blog posting as a response to that discussion that provides more details about what the University is using without violating privacy.  So for example, while they do not keep a record of the titles of the books checked out, they are able to retain how many books have been checked out.    “For the first time, we are retaining some user information in order to find out 1) who our users are, 2) what types of resources they use, and 3) how this use impacts their success in the classroom.” [A Word About Privacy, May 1, 2012] 

The University intends to continue with data collection this spring and explore additional issues.  More information on their work will be found on their blog. I am very much looking forward to their next presentation with further results of their studies.

In the meantime, are issues of privacy a factor in your ability to collect information on your campus?  Are you encountering barriers that are preventing you from gathering and making similar correlations?  Have you established a good working relationship with members of your Institutional Research department?  Or do you have stories of similar success that you’d like to share?

Please let us know what you are doing by filling out our survey, located on the right sidebar, or go directly to the survey here.

Blossoming Interest in Gathering Statistics

 Posted by at 3:32 pm  General, Value Report  1 Response »
May 012012
 

The Minnesota Academic and Research Libraries Division holds an annual spring gathering and for the past few years the annual meeting has taken place at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  With the early spring in Minnesota, it was a beautiful location with many tulips, redbuds, lilacs, and daffodils in full bloom.  What also bloomed this year during the day was an increased interest in developing a program of assessment in our libraries.

At this year’s ARLD day, there were two sessions that were relevant to the Value report.  Kara Malenfant, and I did a 50 minute session to introduce participants to using the report and selecting one topic to brainstorm on how they could get started collecting data.  After a brief overview of highlights of the report, some samples from existing statistical reports, and a brief example from work being done by the University of Minnesota, participants worked together to brainstorm on one of three topics:  Student Experience, Student Learning, or Faculty research.  Each table brainstormed on how they might get started working with their offices of institutional research or using existing data.

After the brainstorming session, we had a brief discussion with the participants regarding challenges they felt they faced in starting this type of project.  One comment raised in this group, and a comment I’ve heard previously, relates to gathering data on use of databases.  Is there an opportunity here for ACRL to work with vendors to help us collect information without violating privacy?  Other participants mentioned the challenge of not having an office of institutional research on their campus, and that this could be a barrier.  At the same time, several participants were enthusiastic about getting started based on some of the brainstorming done in small groups.  Highlight for me was the response by one participant on “how excited” she was to get started when she returned to her institution.

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Thanks to Carrie Keillor, from St. Mary’s University, Minneapolis for the testimonial.

A second session featured the work being done by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  Members of the library staff have been working with a faculty member in the computer sciences along with members of their Office of Institutional Research to collect and analyze data in order to make correlations about student retention and library instruction.  Members of the University shared information on their research project in March at our regional Library Technology Conference.  Entitled, “Library Data and Student Success”, the group shared how they were able to collect information that showed that 77% of their undergraduates made use of the  library in the fall semester of 2011.  They were also able to demonstrate that 85% of their graduate students made use of the library.  While one would naturally expect graduate students to be using the library, to be able to demonstrate that the library had an impact of some kind on 77% of their undergraduates is definitely something to brag about.  One can look at some of the data they have collected by reviewing their session slides found here -http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/28/

In the next blog posting, I’ll provide some more details on the University of Minnesota efforts at collecting data and analyzing results and their perspective on privacy.  In the general discussion that we had with participants at our session, one individual mentioned the challenge of comparing circulation data since data was erased when materials were returned.  By sharing the work they are doing, it is hoped it will help generate some conversations and ideas on your campuses.

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