The UBC School of Information’s Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) is an American Library Association (ALA) accredited program that has been educating information professionals since 1961. ALA accreditation means that our program has undergone an external review, and satisfies the ALA Committee on Accreditation’s Standards for Accreditation of Master’s Programs in Library and Information Studies. This allows our MLIS graduates to pursue a variety of professional positions and provides career flexibility, as many information studies professions require graduation from an ALA-accredited program.
As of 2023, an accreditation review is underway. The iSchool Working Group on Accreditation and Accreditation Oversight Committee are established and carrying out planning and self-study activities in preparation for the External Review Panel visit scheduled for October 2024.
With appreciation to all those supporting this process.
Accreditation Oversight Committee
UBC University Librarian and Associate Faculty Member, Susan Parker
Executive Director, British Columbia Library Association, Rina Hadziev
President of the UBC Library and Archival Studies Student Association, Allison Mander-Wionzek
Head of Belzberg Library at Simon Fraser University; UBC iSchool Adjunct Instructor, Jorge Cardenas
Chief Librarian, Burnaby Public Library, Beth Davies
Research Manager, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Alissa Cherry
Digital Library Specialist, BC Housing Corporation, Suzanne Jay
UBC iSchool Adjunct Instructor, Christine Middlemass
Working Group on Accreditation
All iSchool Faculty and Staff are members of the Working Group.
Student Representatives: Katie Punia, Kyler Ford, Celia Hagey, Rachael Huegerich, Alice Li
For more information, please contact Dr. Luanne Sinnamon, Accreditation Lead
Updates
November 6, 2024: The External Review Panel visit concluded yesterday, and we expect to receive the written report soon.
September 23, 2024: The final Self-Study report has been submitted to the Committee on Accreditation. We are now finalizing the schedule of the External Review Panel visit on November 3-5, 2024.
July 8, 2024: We submitted the draft Self-Study to the Committee on Accreditation today. With thanks, again, to the large team who contributed to this project!
May 15, 2024: With appreciation to all student, staff and faculty members of the Working Group on Accreditation for delivering their draft chapters! This is a huge task that involves compiling and synthesizing evidence across the full scope of activities in the school that support and enable the MLIS program. We are now at work compiling everything into the Self Study report, to be submitted to ALA in July, 2024.
October 29, 2023: We submitted our Draft Plan for the Self Study to the ALA. This is the first major milestone in the accreditation review process.