In a letter addressed to Dr. Kathleen Burnett, professor and interim director of the School of Library & Information Studies at The Florida State University, the Committee on Accreditation of the American Library Association (ALA) stated that it had voted to grant continued accreditation status to the school’s master’s degrees in library and information studies. The FSU master’s degrees have the distinction of being among the longest continually accredited by the ALA, having first received that honor in 1951.

Master degree programs in library and information studies, such as those leading to the Master of Science and Master of Arts at the School of Library & Information Studies (SLIS), are re-evaluated every seven years by the American Library Association. Accreditation by the ALA does not extend to the school’s Master of Science in Information Technology program.

There are currently 56 ALA-accredited programs in the United States and Canada. Students graduating from accredited programs have more career opportunities and mobility. Most employers and states require an ALA-accredited degree for professional-level positions in the field.

The reaccreditation process began in the fall of 2011. It is one of self-evaluation and peer-assessment. The SLIS faculty carried on a self-study process in which they determined what the focus of their self-assessment and of their required ALA Program Presentation Report would be. They also determined what assessment methods they would use. The Committee on Accreditation accepted their plan and selected a six-member External Review Panel made up of individuals active in both academia and practice. The SLIS faculty began collecting data for their report.

Beginning in the spring of 2012, the next phase of the process was the preparation of the report by the SLIS faculty, including the analysis of data, a discussion of findings and the writing of its numerous sections. The process took several months and the preparation of various drafts before a final draft was sent to the accreditation committee and the external review panel.

In November, members of the external review panel came to the school for a site visit and interviewed alumni and students, faculty and staff, administration and the FSU provost. The panel examined available documents and records. Following their visit they sent a report to the school and invited its faculty to make comments and to correct factual errors. The panel then submitted a final report to the Committee on Accreditation.

“We are proud of our long history as an ALA accredited institution since 1951,” said Burnett. “Faculty, staff, students and alumni worked very hard over the past two years to ensure that the planning and assessment processes we have put into place continue to not only meet the ALA’s high standards, but to ensure that Florida’s iSchool remains a leader in the field of library and information studies education.”