UC Berkeley not seeking ALA accreditation

[Ward Price]

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>Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 15:39:02 +0000 (ECT)
>From: Corliss Lee <clee at library.berkeley.edu>
>Subject: UC Berkeley not seeking ALA accreditation
>Sender: Bibliographic Instruction Discussion Group
> <BI-L at BINGVMB.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU>
>To: Multiple recipients of list BI-L <BI-L at BINGVMB.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU>
>X-To: Bibliographic Instruction Discussion Group
> <BI-L at BINGVMB.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU>
>Reply-to: Bibliographic Instruction Discussion Group
> <BI-L at BINGVMB.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU>
>
>The UC Berkeley School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS),
>formerly the School of Library and Information Studies, has decided not to
>seek ALA accreditation.  According to the Daily Californian, the campus
>newspaper, the decision was made by the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and
>SIMS Dean because the administration finds accreditation for professional
>programs to be time-consuming, expensive and to have little discernible
>value.  See the Daily Cal web site at
>http://www.dailycal.org/archive/98/12/3/school.html
>
>Please send your comments to the following addresses.  Physical letters,
>whether mailed or faxed, carry more weight than e-mail messages, but
>please send whatever you can.  The university is closed beween December 24
>and January 3.  I'm going to write as soon as possible, but in fact the
>campaign needs to take place both before and after the holidays; we can't
>let the issue die because of the holidays.
>
>
>Your message doesn't have to be long.  Things you may want to include:
>
>* your current position and if it's relevant, what that includes
>(especially helpful if your position is technical but you still feel an
>ALA-accredited degree was essential)
>
>* affiliation to UCB or the school, if any
>
>* whether or not your current (and past) employers require a degree from
>an ALA-accredited program
>
>* if you are an employer or hiring authority, how lack of accreditation
>affects your ability to hire.
>
>* the impact on (society, California, the economy, k-12, higher education,
>the public good, etc.!) that libraries and librarians have and how NOT
>having an ALA-accredited school at UCB will negatively impact all those
>things
>
>* what librarians add to the information universe that computers alone
>cannot provide
>
>* and anything else you feel would make a succinct, rational case that
>would be comprehensible to university administrators.
>
>
>if you like, you can cc: the SIMS Alumni Association (though this message
>is my personal message,not from them):
>
>UCB SIMS Alumni Association
>102 South Hall
>University of California
>Berkeley, CA  94720-4600
>
>
>
>
>Mail or fax copies to:
>
>Chancellor Robert Berdahl
>200 California Hall
>University of California
>Berkeley, CA  94720-1500
>FAX:  510-643-5499
>
>
>Vice Chancellor Carol Christ
>200 California Hall
>University of California
>Berkeley, CA  94720-1500
>FAX:  510-643-5499
>
>
>Dean Hal Varian
>School of Information Management and Systems
>102 South Hall
>University of California
>Berkeley, CA  94720-4600
>FAX:  510-642-5814
>
>Daily Californian
>PO Box 1949
>Berkeley, CA  94701-0949
>FAX:  510-849-2803
>
>Chair of the Regents of the University of California
>John Davies
>Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory
>501 West Broadway, Suite 900
>San Diego, CA 92101
>FAX:  (619) 233-1158
>
>
>(note:  there are 26 regents and no single mailing or e-mail address for
>them.  if you address mail to the Office of the Secretary of the Regents,
>1111 Franklin St. in Oakland, they will not forward letters to the
>Regents; they might mention letters in their report of communications.
>For the addresses and other information about the regents, see
>http://www.ucop.edu/regents/    )
>
>
>E-mail addresses:
>
>Chancellor Robert Berdahl (c/o Joyce deVries, his executive assistant)
>
>     joycedev at uclink4.berkeley.edu
>
>Vice Chancellor Carol Christ
>
>     cchrist at uclink4.berkeley.edu
>
>Dean Hal Varian
>
>     hal at sims.berkeley.edu
>
>Daily Californian
>
>     opinion at dailycal.org
>
>UCB SIMS  Alumni Association (c/o co-president Chris Orr)
>
>     chriso at sirius.com
>
C. Ward Price    wprice at panam.edu
 Instruction/Reference/Web Librarian
  University of Texas-Pan American
         Edinburg, Texas  78539
        http://www.lib.panam.edu/