Master's and Specialist Program Team Meeting Report

Report for Meeting Scheduled:
Friday, February 23, 2001 at 11:30 AM

1. Called to Order:
   • Presiding: Beth Logan

   • Members Present:
     Anthony Chow, Beth Logan, Margie Thomas, Jeff Shim

   • Members Who Arrived Late:
     Ron Blazek

   • Absent Members:
     Eliza Dresang, Misook Heo, Linda Carruth, Stephanie Maatta

   • Others in Attendance: Note that several members were not able to attend due to conflicts; meeting time had to be changed due to scheduling problems

2. Special Orders:
   

3. Reports of Sub-Teams:
   

4. Reports of Special Teams and other Team Business:
   See below for the proposal to the faculty based upon recommendations from the faculty retreat.

5. Unfinished Business:
   

6. New Business:
   REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION TO FACULTY Master's and Specialist Degree Team February 28, 2001 Although the team does not necessarily agree that the Master's Degree Program is the degree in the most need of attention, the team proposes the following in accord with recommendations from the faculty retreat: 1. Maintain a single degree program to be accredited by the ALA 2. Consider divisions (majors?) within the Master's Degree to be: a. Library Services b. Information Science and Technology 3. Identify two ad hoc subcommittees to investigate and make recommendations for curriculum changes within each of these two divisions (majors?) based upon - a) consolidation of courses (delete, re-write existing courses, add new courses) b) examination of core requirements (including 5230) c) course sequencing (and attention to articulation with Bachelor's Degree) d) new course development e) marketing of program changes [ Problems associated with the Library Services division were noted as lack of enrollment in upper level library courses and a need to raise the level of basic instruction; problems associated with Information Science and Technology include a lack of basic technology courses to prepare students for upper level classes and at the same time, there are too few advanced classes for students wanting to graduate with more advanced skills. ] We request and encourage faculty with interests in either of these two divisions to select one (or both) and work with the ad hoc subcommittees. Since the curriculum depends upon direct faculty involvement and since the Master's Degree program is our accredited degree and in some sense, our "bread and butter", broad faculty involvement will only strengthen the program and the education our Master's students receive. The next step will be to identify tracksor specializations within the two divisions and identify recommended or required sequences of courses. Note that there is already an extensive listing of specializations completed last year, and although the Team recommends reducing the number of specializations, a major portion of the work completed last year should remain relevant. Team Members and their assignments Library Services: Information Science and Technology Blazek Shim Dresang Heo Thomas Chow Logan - liaison, both groups Maatta - support data Carruth - student member Please indicate with which of the two divisions you would like to work.

7. Announcements:
   

8. Adjourned:

Agenda Posted by Beth Logan (logan@lis.fsu.edu) on 02/26/2001 at 14:31:30