Office for Accreditation

Karen O'Brien, Director
312-280-2434; 800-545-2433, x2434
kobrien@ala.org

Kerri Price, Associate Director
312-280-2435; 800-545-2433, x2435
kprice@ala.org

• Memorandum of Understanding Between ALA and COA (pdf)
• Committee on Accreditation (COA) roster and resources
• COA meeting schedule

Responsibilities of the Office for Accreditation include:

• Coordinating and supporting activities that are directly related to the accreditation of master’s programs of education for LIS,
• Active engagement with the accrediting community through recognition by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and volunteer service with the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA),
• Maintaining contact with LIS programs,
• Providing information about the ALA accreditation process, policies, and procedures, as well as the accreditation status (both historical and current) of specific graduate LIS programs,
• Providing programs, publications, and other activities to promote the awareness and enhance knowledge about the ALA accreditation process, trends in library and information studies education and trends in higher education accreditation,
• Maintaining a schedule of evaluation reviews
• Maintaining the Directory of Institutions Offering ALA-Accredited Master’s Programs,
• OA shares responsibility with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) for administering the review of school librarianship education programs under the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), formerly the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE),
• OA shares responsibility with the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR) for providing information on LIS careers, foreign credentials, and ALA scholarships.