SCILS Dean, Jorge Reina Schement, writes:
Recently, the faculty of the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies voted to change the name of the School to the School of Communication and Information. I understand there has been some discussion on listservs of the proposed name change, so I want to clarify our collective rationale.
First and foremost, the proposed change of name for the school offers a cohesive identity to the diverse faculty and student groups who make up our community. In the 26 years since the founding of the School, much has changed in the profiles of its faculty, students, and alumni - the new nomenclature reflects the breadth of intellectual emphasis of the research and teaching offered by the faculty. By changing the name, we do not - nor will we - eliminate any focus areas; but, rather, broaden the context of those areas we embrace and include in our research and teaching agendas.
In conversations with colleagues, alumni, and friends across the country, it is clear that the name "School of Communication, Information and Library Studies" is not well understood. For example, how many of our friends know that we have six degree programs? How many know that we graduate about 1,360 undergraduate majors who make up almost 9% of the University's total undergraduate majors? How many know the actual names of our degrees?
- Undergraduate program in Communication: about 760 students.
- Undergraduate program in Journalism and Media Studies: about 450 students.
- Undergraduate program in Information Technology and Informatics: about 150 students.
- Masters in Communication and Information Studies: about 60 students.
- Masters in Library and Information Science: about 560 students.
- Doctoral Program in Communication and Information Studies: about 120 students.
Prior to the vote, I consulted with a number of library leaders, including the MLIS Program Associates, president and executive director of NJLA, past ALA presidents, and others. I believe I have their support, because they understand that success in the 21st century requires us to reposition ourselves within the university and across the country. Our MLIS program will continue to be a keystone of the school. To do so shares our pride and keeps faith with our proud heritage in areas such as librarianship and media, as well as to engage the changing world in which we all work, learn, and live.
With your support, we can contribute, serve, and lead.
Sincerely, Jorge Reina Schement
There are MANY points to be addressed in this message and I'll try to cover some of them.
First, Mr. Schement describes the process as a consultative one. I must admit I was absent from the December MLIS Program Associates (an advisory group) meeting, but there was NO mention of the school's name change in the minutes that have been distributed. It could be that we had a fairly inefficient note-taker.
Heidi Lynn Cramer, president of NJLA writes:
I am alarmed that there is reference to the president and executive director of NJLA in this notification with an implied endorsement of this change. As a New Jersey librarian and SCILS alumni, I personally do not support the change. More importantly, as the president of NJLA, I will bring this issue to the executive board for their response. I can assure you that [NJLA Executive Director] Pat Tumulty and I were not consulted in any way about this proposal.
Heidi Cramer, President
New Jersey Library Association
February 09, 2009
Perhaps Mr. Schement had this on his list of things to do, but never actually got around to doing them.
I'm no statistician but there are, by Mr. Schement's numbers, 2100 total students in the school of which 1360 are undergraduates. Of the 740 grad students, 560 are in the MLIS program. So even though they make up only 27% of the total program (and that is more than a quarter of the school) they account for 75% of the graduate student population.
Those who have been paying attention to the school at Rutgers would have seen this coming for a while though. The undergraduate program in Information Technology and Informatics was added in 2000. It was in that year the school decided they would no longer offer MLS degrees and would offer MLIS degrees. I am a member of the last graduating class to earn an MLS from Rutgers. Earlier last year, there was a hotly debated issue to drop the "library" from the name of the doctoral degree earned by students in the program - even if their specialization was in library science. They would have a PhD in Information Studies or some such. That proposal was defeated after much debate nationally in the library education field and especially in the NJ library community.
This new move, which appears to have support from even some of the library faculty at the school (it would be interesting to see who the 40 faculty members who voted are and how they voted), will generate probably as much debate as did the proposal last year to change the name of the doctoral program. One such library faculty supporter is Claire McInerney, the chair of the LIS Department. She writes, on the school listserv:
Dear Student Colleagues and Valued SCILS Alumni,
I'm writing today as the chair of the Department of Library and Information Science to address some of your concerns regarding the name change to the School of Communication and Information. Let me assure you that the Department of Library and Information Science
is as strong or stronger than ever. We plan to keep moving forward in quality, to maintain our number one status in the school library/media field, and our goal is to maintain our high standards in all areas. We have one of the largest MLIS student cohorts among the ALA accredited schools in North America, so the name change is not about numbers.
The LIS faculty voted for the name change -- nothing is being forced on us. Why did we vote for it? As SCILS has grown, we now have many program areas -- some of the areas like journalism and media studies would like to be included in the name as well. We have an undergraduate degree in Information Technology and Informatics, helping students who are interested in technology learn about the human/user perspective. As a professional school we prepare people to work in public relations and advertising. All these programs could not be included in the name, or it would be a cumbersome string of program names.
SCILS functions like a college -- in some universities it would be a college. We wanted a name that would reflect all of our disciplines within a growing college or school context. Library service, I would contend, is about communicating with library patrons, learning what they need, and helping them fulfill those information, cultural, learning, and entertainment needs. If you attended a communication or media studies conference today, you would see that those fields have many of the same issues and needs that librarians have. We're all about building knowledge through communication and information. Granted, librarians have the additional mission of preserving the culture and other concerns, but you could say journalists have the additional mission of developing the information that is published or broadcast.
I worked as a librarian -- in a high school, in a university, and in public libraries in Michigan and Minnesota... and then did my doctoral research with librarians and executives in industry. Personally, I like the designation "Communication and Information" -- it is elegant but much
more descriptive than the simple "Information" designation that many universities have adopted (Syracuse, Michigan, Washington, etc.). Some Library and Information Science Departments are in Schools of Education. In our school we work in an interdisciplinary environment, so the name is reflective of our colleagues' disciplines too. In fact, we as librarians have expanded our sphere of influence by joining with journalists, public relations people, advertising experts in our school to pursue the ideals of freedom of speech and intellectual freedom -- we share those values across the disciplines.
I'm glad we're able to discuss the name change in a civil way through our discussion list. And it is very encouraging to see the heartfelt loyalty expressed by students we as faculty have been associated with in courses. Although I'm away from the campus today and tomorrow, please feel free to contact me about this issue or others. As we move forward in examining our
curriculum, please know that we will be calling on all who are willing to advise the LIS faculty about the skills and issues that you believe new librarians need in the workplace.
My kindest regards,
Claire McInerney
Associate Professor, Department Chair
Department of Library and Information Science
School of Communication, Information & Library Studies
February 10, 2009
Surely the debate and discussions will continue. Here are a few places where you may follow the conversation: a Facebook group to keep the "library" in the school name; a Library Journal article on the proposed name change; comments on a story in the Daily Targum; and the NJ-SLA blog.
Personally, I'm proud to be a librarian, and am happy to have attended Library School and earned a Masters in Library Science. I have often referred current and future colleagues to the Library School at Rutgers because I always believed it was a quality program that valued libraries, librarians, and librarianship. It seems that value is diminishing. I will now have to think of alternate places to make those referrals, I'm not sure I'll refer anyone to SCI - unless they'll be doing so in the Alps!
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