SLIS Strategic Directions (under review 2023/24)
2020-2021 | Reflecting Changes in our Environment and Re-aligning our Strategic Directions
SLIS will respond to the changing academic and administrative environment of the Faculty of Education and the University of Alberta through involvement in ongoing initiatives around the U of A for Tomorrow (UAT), which consists of two major activities: the Service Excellence Transformation (SET) process investigating ways to make central services more effective and an academic restructuring model that establishes three colleges to bring together the faculties to foster the expansion of interdisciplinary research, programming, and community engagement. These changes at the university enterprise and faculty level will likely impact the SLIS program in numerous ways.
Concomitant with academic and administrative restructuring, SLIS will respond to recommendations in the 2019-2020 External Review Panel Report of the Committee on Accreditation, along with other necessary program changes.
Status: In Progress
2019-2020 | Reflecting Accreditation Readiness for Securing our Future
SLIS will produce its accreditation Program Presentation addressing the 2015 Standards for Accreditation (systematic planning; curriculum; faculty; students; administration, finances, and resources), host the accreditation site team visit, attend the accreditation deliberation at the American Library Association annual conference, and maximize opportunities to streamline efforts with preparations for an expected institutional Faculty of Education graduate program review in 2022-2023. Note: the ALA annual conference was cancelled due to COVID-19 and the accreditation meeting to close out the review process was held remotely. The University of Alberta granted SLIS an exemption on the graduate program review process in 2022-2023 based on the rigour of the accreditation process.
Status: Done
2018-2019 | Reflecting 50th Anniversary of Continuously Earning Recognition
SLIS will launch its 50th Anniversary on Alumni Weekend, concomitantly mark the fifth year of the purely online teaching and learning stream, and host an anniversary lecture or debate series and other activities to critically engage the School's constituents in its diverse endeavours (as an important player in library and information studies research and scholarship, a stimulating model for educational advancement, and an intercultural hub for professional cooperation with a vibrant community). Visitors to the School and website will experience enhanced inclusive signage, spaces, and resources.
SLIS will introduce an Indigenous-based 3-credit MLIS course and produce an Indigenous initiatives report.
SLIS will enhance the extent to which the employment survey and/or exit survey maps to the program learning outcomes, express a vision for future joint programming, produce its accreditation Program Presentation plan, and hold its annual retreat on the theme of accreditation.
Status: Done
2017-2018 | Reflecting Sustainable Growth and Expansion
SLIS will adopt a recruitment statement, review its internal admissions process, administer a curriculum review, assess the longstanding 48-credit requirement for the MLIS degree, and hold the annual retreat on theme of sustainability (environmental, leadership, education and research, operations and infrastructure, community and culture, health and well-being).
SLIS will map its MLIS program learning outcomes to core courses, propose a cohesive online core course teaching strategy, and hold its annual teaching symposium with an emphasis on online pedagogy and instruction.
SLIS will evidence our diverse community engagement (including attention to international contexts), signal existing Indigenous-based activities, administer a survey of practicum site supervisor experiences, and further encourage student research and scholarship activities extending beyond the classroom/virtual classroom in tandem with enhancing student travel awards.
Status: Done