Information literacy in self-study and accreditation

Journal of Academic Librarianship

Volumn 28, Issue 6, 2002, Pages 368-375

  Ratteray, Oswald M T ^a  

^a Middle States Commission on Higher Education   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0036860470     PISSN: 00991333     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0099-1333(02)00340-3     Document Type: Article

References (14)

1. The Middle States region encompasses New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and several locations overseas.
2. Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education: Eligibility Requirements and Standards for Accreditation (Philadelphia, PA: Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 2002).
3. American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, Final Report (Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1989).
4. Oswald M.T. Rattery, Howard L. Simmons L. Information Literacy in Higher Education: A Report on the Middle States Region. (Philadelphia, PA: Commission on Higher Education, 1995). (ERIC Document #ED 388136).
5. Gabriela Sonntag, "Report on the National Information Literacy Survey," College & Research Libraries News 62 (November 2001): 996-1001.
6. For a clarification of these and other terms in the context of accreditation, see Peter T. Ewell, Accreditation and Student Learning Outcomes: A Proposed Point of Departure, CHEA Occasional Paper (Washington, D.C.: Council for Higher Education Accreditation), September 2001.
7. Ralph A Wolff, "Using the Accreditation Process to Transform the Mission of the Library" in Information Technology and the Remaking of the University Library: New Directions for Higher Education no. 90, edited by Beverly P. Lynch (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995), pp. 77-91.
8. Association of College and Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2000). (Also available online, http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html.)
9. Beth McMurtrie, "Accreditors Revamp Policies to Stress Student Learning," The Chronicle of Higher Education (July 7 2000), p. A29.
10. There are eight regional accrediting commission in the United States, because two of the six regions have separate commissions for two-year and four-year institutions, The national coordinating groups for accreditors are: The Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (CRAC), which consists of the executive directors and commission chairs from each region, and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which is an association whose membership consists primarily of colleges and universities in the United States and to whom the regional accreditors are themselves accountable for their own recognition.
11. Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Student Learning Assessment: Options and Resources (Philadelphia, PA: Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 2000).
12. Unlike the self-study, the PRR does not involve the entire campus, although the committee preparing the report should be representative of the institution's constituencies, The term PRR is unique to the Middle States region, although other regions have different strategies for monitoring institutional progress in the decade between self-study reports.
13. Evaluators are chosen, for the most part, from institutions that are comparable to the institution being visited, To avoid conflicts of interest, evaluators do not come from the state in which the institution is located. Frequently, a team will include an evaluator from outside the region if that person has particular expertise needed on the team. The chair of the team is always an experienced evaluator and generally is the president of an institution that is comparable to the institution being visited. This is partly because of the team's need for a voice to communicate as peers with the trustees and presidents of the institutions being visited.
14. Characteristics of Excellence does not require institutions to provide data that all students are assessed, at all levels, or every year. Sampling is permitted.