CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
by
Jana
Varlejs
Forty-one of the 56 schools
with ALA-accredited programs in library and information studies submitted data
on their 2002-2003 continuing education (CE) activities, 3 more than last year.
The 15 that did not provide information, or reported no activity for the year
were:
Instructions for this
section’s questionnaire state that only those educational offerings designed
specifically for practicing information professionals should be included. Enrollments in courses that are part of degree
programs are to be reported in the section on students, in the tables on
“Enrollment by Program and Gender” under “other graduate.”
Continuing Education Events
For the 2002-2003 year,
library and information studies programs reported continuing education events
in a wide array of formats, including a five-day conference of the Association
of Caribbean University Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL). The
length of events varied from one-hour lectures to Web-based courses requiring a
minimum of thirty hours.
Below, data on the
non-credit events and credit bearing offerings are tabulated and discussed
separately.
Table V-1 lists the number
of continuing education events that were presented by 40 of the 41 reporting
programs during 2002-2003, the total number of contact hours of instruction,
and the total number of participants.
The number of events increased by 78, or 10 percent, but the contact
hours decreased by 1,849 hours, a substantial 20 percent. Participation, on the
other hand, rose by 3,755 (18 percent).
The drop in hours may be
attributed in large part to
Usually, about one half of
the schools that hold non-credit continuing education events report 10 or fewer
offerings. For the 2002-2003 year,
however, that proportion rose to 65 percent, helping to account for the drop in
contact hours. At the other end of the
continuum, there were five schools that reported over 40 events. In descending order, the schools with the
greatest number of events were:
In terms of the number of
attendees of CE,
Table V-1
Number,
Duration, and Enrollment in Non-Credit Continuing Education Events
2002 - 2003
(n = 40)
ALA Schools |
Number of Events |
Contact Hours |
Attendance |
|
4 |
6 |
95 |
|
8 |
71 |
207 |
|
17 |
140 |
114 |
|
21 |
209 |
683 |
Catholic |
4 |
8 |
170 |
Clarion |
10 |
76.5 |
533 |
Dalhousie |
12 |
32 |
1,025 |
Dominican |
2 |
4 |
190 |
Drexel |
21 |
502 |
115 |
|
12 |
140 |
494 |
|
2 |
6 |
38 |
|
10 |
30 |
375 |
|
15 |
116.5 |
668 |
|
1 |
4 |
158 |
|
2 |
12 |
335 |
|
1 |
6 |
40 |
|
2 |
5 |
37 |
|
6 |
60 |
207 |
McGill |
9 |
13.5 |
250 |
Michigan |
7 |
96 |
666 |
Montréal |
3 |
7 |
65 |
|
52 |
306 |
3,876 |
|
6 |
136 |
94 |
|
3 |
16 |
73 |
(Table continues)
Table V-1 (cont.)
ALA Schools |
Number of Events |
Contact Hours |
Attendance |
|
8 |
23 |
121 |
|
1 |
7 |
247 |
|
29 |
64 |
508 |
|
4 |
43 |
440 |
|
10 |
21 |
254 |
|
20 |
158 |
995 |
Simmons |
40 |
267.5 |
266 |
|
20 |
64 |
436 |
|
1 |
1.5 |
50 |
|
10 |
24 |
540 |
|
2 |
36 |
34 |
|
365 |
3,003 |
5,358 |
|
68 |
891 |
2,642 |
|
7 |
24 |
297 |
|
60 |
886 |
1,394 |
|
1 |
4 |
24 |
Total |
876 |
7,519.5 |
24,114 |
Table V-2 summarizes
non-credit continuing education by type of activity. As in previous years, workshops were the most
frequent mode of delivery. In addition
to the change in patterns mentioned above, differences can be seen in the
number of events awarding Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) and in the number
delivered by alternative methods. Sixty
fewer offerings carried CEU’s in 2002-2003 than in 2001-2002, a decrease of 23
percent, although three more schools used the CEU than did last year. The drop
can be attributed largely to Long Island and
Of
the 352 events delivered by alternative methods, 271 were by Internet and
mostly asynchronous; 72 by Internet, mostly self-paced; 4 by correspondence; 4
by video conference; and one was a study tour. Schools other than
Summary of Non-Credit Continuing Education Events
By Type of Activity
2002 - 2003
(n =40)
Non-Credit Activity
|
Number Held |
Contact Hours |
Attendance |
Programs
Offering CEU's |
Number Held On-Campus |
Number Held
Off-Campus |
Delivered by Alternative
Method |
Institute Symposium Conference Forum |
121 |
1,190 |
6,748 |
51 |
34 |
67 |
20 |
Workshop |
489 |
3,675.5 |
8,213 |
41 |
160 |
74 |
255 |
Lecture mode |
140 |
670 |
6,982 |
23 |
108 |
27 |
5 |
Seminar |
51 |
655 |
1,074 |
25 |
26 |
15 |
10 |
Short Course |
51 |
942 |
666 |
50 |
10 |
0 |
41 |
Individualized Learning |
20 |
316 |
226 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
Other |
4 |
84 |
205 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
Total |
876 |
7,519.5 |
24,114 |
197 |
341 |
183 |
352 |
Looking more closely at the
use of the CEU in 2002-2003, the percentage of events for which this measure of
participation was offered was down to 22 percent. This proportion represents a
substantial drop from the fairly stable one third of recent years. CEU’s are a
standard way of reporting non-credit continuing education, and awarding them
constitutes a seal of quality. Each unit
represents ten contact hours of participation in an organized continuing
education activity under responsible sponsorship, capable direction, and
qualified instruction -- elements spelled out in considerable detail by the
International Association for Continuing Education and Training[1],
and reiterated in the American Library Association’s Guidelines for Quality in Continuing Education for Information, Library
and Media Personnel (ALA, 1988). In
general, the schools that offer the traditional CEU's are also the ones that
generate the most contact hours. The
major exception is
Table V-3 summarizes credit-bearing courses that are specifically
designed as continuing education for practitioners. The number of courses rose by 47 over last
year, an increase of 32 percent, but enrollment dropped by one percent. The
total credits offered were 428, 71 percent more than last year. These credits were not comparable, as the
contact hours equivalent to one credit ranged from
Table V-3
Summary of Credit Course Offerings for Continuing Education in
Reporting ALA Schools
2002 - 2003
(n = 12)
Credit Activity |
1.0 credit hour |
2.0 credit hours |
3.0 credit hours |
4.0 credit hours |
Totals |
Delivery modes
|
|||||||
|
No. of courses |
No. enrolled |
No. of
courses |
No. enrolled |
No. of courses |
No. enrolled |
No. of
courses |
No. enrolled |
Credits |
Enrollment |
No. held on campus |
No. held off campus |
No. by alternative
methods |
1-2
week short course |
5 |
104 |
5 |
45 |
6 |
131 |
|
|
33 |
280 |
12 |
4 |
|
3-4
week short course |
|
|
1 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
4 |
|
|
1 IA |
5-6
week course |
|
|
|
|
1 |
22 |
|
|
3 |
22 |
|
|
1 IB |
7+
week course |
|
|
|
|
34 |
462 |
39 |
64 |
258 |
526 |
17 |
30 |
15 IB 11 IC |
Weekend |
86 |
863 |
2 |
12 |
2 |
36 |
|
|
96 |
911 |
66 |
22 |
2 V2 |
Other: ________ |
|
|
|
|
12 |
212 |
|
|
36 |
212 |
|
|
7 IB 5 IC |
TOTAL |
91 |
967 |
8 |
61 |
55 |
863 |
39 |
64 |
428 |
1,955 |
95 |
56 |
42 |
The twelve schools that offered
credit-bearing continuing education courses were: Catholic,
A
new high of 42 courses were delivered by alternate means, 62 percent more than
in the previous year.
The Continuing Education
Environment
Table V-4 shows that the
audience attracted to the schools’ continuing education events was largely
local. The pattern of distribution is
similar to that of previous years. Of the
40 schools reporting, 23 (58 percent) drew at least half of their attendees
from within the state or province. A trend
toward an increase in national and international registration continues. Thirteen schools reported some international
registration:
Table V-4
Number of Schools Reporting by Geographic Distribution of Participants
2002 - 2003
(n = 40)
Area |
0 - 24 Percent |
25 –
49 Percent |
50 -
74 Percent |
75 - 100 Percent |
Local |
10 |
7 |
10 |
13 |
State |
22 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
Regional |
33 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
National |
34 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
International |
39 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Schools were asked to
indicate how their CE programs are funded.
The percentages of funding sources include salaries for the CE portion
of administrators and support staff, stipends or salaries of instructors, travel,
facility rental, and other direct costs.
Excluded are overhead costs for the use of the school's own office space
and other facilities for which no direct charges are incurred. The data are summarized in Table V-5.
Table V-5
Number of Reporting Schools by Funding Source Distribution
2002 – 2003
(n = 41)
Funding Source |
0 - 24 Percent |
25 –
49 Percent |
50 -
74 Percent |
75 - 100 Percent |
Institution |
24 |
8 |
2 |
7 |
Government grants |
39 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Fees |
10 |
4 |
7 |
19 |
Non-government Contracts/Grants |
37 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
Other* |
39 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
* Co-sponsorships, pro bono
Sixty-three percent, 10 percent more than last year,
relied on fees for the bulk of their financing.
Those schools that were the most active CE providers were also the ones
that relied most heavily on fees. This
year was the second time that schools were queried about their financial
agreement with their parent institution.
Seven reported that they were required to return a percentage of income
to their universities, mostly from 15 to 17 percent.
Table
V-6 summarizes information on how instructors are compensated for their
teaching efforts in both credit and non-credit situations. The pattern is similar to that of previous
years.
Table
V-6
Summary of Methods of Determining Compensation of
Continuing Education Program Faculty in Reporting ALA Schools
2002- 2003
(n = 41)
Method of Compensation |
Non-Credit Activities |
Credit Courses |
||
School's Own Faculty |
Outside Instructors |
School's Own Faculty |
Outside Instructors |
|
Negotiated |
7 |
18 |
5 |
4 |
Flat fee |
5 |
19 |
2 |
3 |
Formula |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Part of Teaching Load |
16 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
Table V-7 provides a profile
of the instructional force used in continuing education offerings, both credit
and non-credit. The pattern resembles
that of other years, with schools’ own faculty and practitioners providing the
majority of instruction. Under the
"other" category, children's book authors and illustrators and
schools' own non-faculty staff were used to a great extent, while schools' own
students and visiting scholars were used to some extent.
Table V-7
Summary of Sources of Faculty for Continuing Education
Instruction in Reporting ALA Schools
2002- 2003
(n =41)
Source of Faculty |
Not at all |
|
Great Extent |
||
Instructor Source |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Own Faculty |
11 |
8 |
10 |
2
|
10 |
Visiting LIS Faculty |
25 |
7 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
Non LIS Faculty in Own Institution |
26 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
Non LIS Faculty from Other Institution |
25 |
8 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
Library/Information Practitioners |
8 |
5 |
7 |
10 |
11 |
Consultants |
25 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
Vendors |
31 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
Other |
35 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
The last question in the
continuing education survey asks schools to indicate who administers and
coordinates their CE activities. The
results for this year, presented in Table V-8, are quite similar to those in
previous years.
Summary of Methods of Administration and Coordination of
Continuing Education Activities in Reporting ALA Schools
2002- 2003
(n =40)
Method |
Total Program |
Individual Activities |
||
Administered |
Coordinated |
Administered |
Coordinated |
|
a. (other than d, e, or f) |
14 |
10 |
11 |
14 |
b. University Office of CE or Extension |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
c. Faculty Committee |
4 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
d. One faculty member as permanent administrator |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
e. Faculty rotate |
2 |
6 |
4 |
7 |
f. Dean or director |
10 |
13 |
7 |
7 |
Fewer schools than last year
have positions with titles that indicate that continuing education is in the
job description. These are:
·
·
·
·
·
·
Washington – Senior Program Manager, Educational Outreach
In addition, the long-time CE director at
Wisconsin-Madison still manages that CE program, although her title now is
Associate Director of the school. Some
other schools have had the same faculty coordinator for CE for many years, most
notably Simmons. Continuity in the CE
leadership generally is reflected in the stability and productivity of the
programs.
Summary
The most notable difference
in the continuing education landscape between last year and this year is the
sharp rise in alternative delivery methods.
An increasing number of both non-credit and credit-bearing offerings is
being presented online, primarily in the asynchronous mode. This is not surprising, as more schools have
become involved in distance education as part of attempts to provide broader
access to their master’s programs. It is
a logical step to apply the experience gained in degree programs to continuing
education. A case in point is