University of Arizona President Peter Likins proposed the elimination of 16 university programs January 14, including the School of Information Resources and Library Science, which, with more than 200 current students, is one of the largest graduate schools on campus.
Likins said the library program—the only library school in Arizona, Utah, or New Mexico—“has done a beautiful job of educating Hispanic and Native American librarians.” But the university can’t afford to add the faculty necessary to keep its accreditation, he said in the January 15 Arizona Daily Star. The school lost its accreditation by the American Library Association in 1999 but was reaccredited in 2001, with the understanding that it would have nine full-time faculty in place by 2004.
The key to the program’s survival is proving it can be more self-sufficient within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, said SIRLS Director Brooke Sheldon. She noted she has already submitted a new business plan that introduces a differential professional-school tuition fee for the master’s program and, “if implemented, would enable us to greatly improve services for students, hire new faculty, and increase financial aid,” she said in the January 17 Arizona Daily Wildcat.
Library Dean Carla Stoffle said librarians statewide are helping the effort to save the program. “I think we need to demonstrate to the campus that graduates from this program are desperately needed,” she said.
Posted January 20, 2003.