DRAFT SIS VISION MATERIAL
R. Larsen
5-3-11
DRAFT EXEMPLAR FOR A VISION
It’s the beginning of the fall 2016 term and students are arriving with eager anticipation of challenging and provocative encounters with the opportunities and challenges presented to information professionals in an ever-increasingly global society. They have heard of the technological opportunities and about the careers to be had, but they are also uncertain about the societal implications of information work. There seem to be increasing encroachments on personal privacy and growing threats to personal and national security. The social networking systems to which they were lured only a few years ago seem to be increasingly invasive and predatory. The public information infrastructure largely accessed through libraries continues to shoulder seemingly unsustainable service demands while suffering increasing budgetary pressures. Yet, networked information services continue to grow, mobile information devices are globally ubiquitous, and students understand that society runs on information and that this is their calling. They also know of no better place to experience the breadth and depth of the information professions than in an information school, and Pitt’s is among the very best in the world.
Each chose Pitt for very personal reasons, but many of these reasons relate to the School’s ability to build intellectual linkage among sub-disciplines that evolved independently, from very different origins. Students come to Pitt’s information school to learn from librarians, archivists, scientists, engineers, sociologists and cognitive psychologists, for it is only through such an array of diverse perspectives that they can prepare for leadership positions in libraries, laboratories, industry, government, and academe.
The iSchool offers unique educational opportunities that start in the undergraduate informatics program. Undergraduate students all learn the technology fundamentals of networked information systems, user-centered design, and information security, and then develop an in-depth understanding of how these fundamentals apply in a variety of fields. Through prior study and electives, they have the option to learn to apply information technologies and principles to specialized disciplines, preparing them for careers in fields such as bioinformatics, medical informatics, or geoinformatics. They also have the option of pursuing a pure informatics track that prepares them for graduate study.
The iSchool offers a professional Master of Information program that prepares students for leadership positions in the information professions. A four-term (full time) program of 48 credit hours, students are introduced to the breadth and depth of the information professions through a set of foundations courses that address topics such as the history of information, the social context for information services, and the organization and management of information. Taken by all students, these courses offer a creative balance among large lecture, small recitation, and team project experiences that articulate to assure that each student has sufficient preparation for the more specialized courses to follow.
The iSchool offers five specialty areas with concentrations that span the physical to the virtual, and the automated to the mediated, including:
· Infrastructure (critical foundations)
o Security and Information assurance
o Telecommunications and networked systems
o Wireless
· Systems and services (automated facilities for end users)
o Web
o Geospatial
o Mobile
o Human-centered
· Values and society (understanding the social contract)
o Information ethics
o Policy and management
· Librarianship (mediated services for the public)
o School library certification
o Children & youth
o Health
o Digital libraries
· Archives, preservation and records management (long term curation)
Faculty have defined and designed combinations (and, in some cases, sequences) of concentrations (pathways) that prepare students for specific career paths. These pre-approved pathways are administered by the Assistant Dean for the Professional Master’s Program. Students may opt to design their own pathway in consultation with a faculty advisor.
Several concentrations are available through Pitt Online, and pathways that consist entirely of these concentrations enable a remote student to complete the professional Master’s program fully online.
The faculty believe strongly that each student of the professional Master’s program graduate with a strong technical foundation, an understanding of and appreciation for the societal context in which they will practice, and a demonstrated capacity to perform at a professional level suited to their selected pathway.
The iSchool also offers a PhD program that prepares students for advanced work in research, teaching, and administration. It requires a minimum of 90 credit hours beyond an undergraduate degree (18 of which are dissertation credits). Students with a Master’s degree acquired from another institution require a minimum of 54 additional credits (18 of which are dissertation credits).
The iSchool faculty members take on the customary responsibilities of all university faculty with regard to the design and delivery of the curriculum, the performance of scholarly research, and the provision of service to the profession. The exceptional diversity of iSchool faculty, however, provides the opportunity and the means to conduct scholarship in new and creative ways, and this is explicitly explored, encouraged and facilitated through colloquia, workshops, and interdisciplinary research proposals, and augmented with investment in post-doctoral research fellows. Faculty members who are exceptional teachers and have a passion for the classroom, for example, can trade off research in favor of teaching, while those who are particularly active in research can negotiate a reduction in their teaching load. Relative faculty workloads are measured through a parametric model that faculty also use to balance their commitments to teaching, research, and related scholarly endeavors. The iSchool’s power results from the integration of each faculty member’s unique combination of strengths and interests into a coherent, articulated curriculum supported by related, relevant research.
Shared governance is administered through the iSchool Council with representatives of faculty, staff, and students. The iSchool Council addresses the strategic and policy issues confronting the school, its faculty, staff, and students. Routine administration is the responsibility of the Dean’s Office with the advice and counsel of the iSchool Council. Student Services (a component of the Dean’s Office) provides a full suite of services on behalf of the faculty, from recruitment through placement services. The Assistant Dean for the Professional Master’s Program is responsible for all routine administrative functions related to delivery of the Master’s curriculum, including:
· Term course schedules
· Adjunct contracts
· Travel funds allocation
· Assuring Web pages are accurate and current
· Handling student complaints
· Compiling and responding to requests for data and surveys at the program levels
· Ensuring three year reviews for new faculty hires are accomplished
· Coordinating the faculty annual review process
· Reporting to the iSchool Council
· Reviewing curricular issues or concerns that arise with faculty
· Coordinating accreditation of the professional Master’s degree
· Attending faculty advisory committee meetings (e.g., APRM)
· Coordination with Partners Program
· Working with faculty for internships
Ron Larsen
