McNeese State University

Section 2:
Core Requirements
2.1	2.2	2.3
2.4	2.5	2.6
2.7.1	2.7.2	2.7.3
2.7.4	2.8	2.9
2.10	2.11	2.12
Section 3:
Comprehensive Standards
3.1.1	3.2.1
3.2.2.1	3.2.2.2	3.2.2.3
3.2.2.4	3.2.3	3.2.4
3.2.5	3.2.6	3.2.7
3.2.8	3.2.9	3.2.10
3.2.11	3.2.12	3.2.13
3.2.14	3.3.1	3.4.1
3.4.2	3.4.3	3.4.4
3.4.5	3.4.6	3.4.7
3.4.8	3.4.9	3.4.10
3.4.11	3.4.12	3.4.13
3.4.14	3.5.1	3.5.2
3.6.1	3.6.2	3.6.3
3.7.1	3.7.2	3.7.3
3.7.4	3.7.5	3.8.1
3.8.2	3.8.3	3.9.1
3.9.2	3.9.3	3.10.1
3.10.2	3.10.3	3.10.4
3.10.5	3.10.6	3.10.7
Section 4:
Federal Requirements
4.1	4.2	4.3
4.4	4.5	4.6
4.7	4.8

McNeese State University
Compliance Plan for Reaffirmation

Section 3.8.3: Library and Other Learning Resources

Judgment of Compliance

Compliance

Partial Compliance

Non-compliance

Requirement

The institution provides a sufficient number of qualified staff with appropriate education or experiences in library and/or other learning information resources to accomplish the mission of the institution

Narrative

McNeese State University is in compliance with Comprehensive Standard 3.8.3.

The Frazar Memorial Library is staffed with a sufficient number of qualified staff to accomplish the mission of the University.

The Frazar Memorial Library “supports the University’s mission ‘to offer associate, baccalaureate, and specific graduate curricula distinguished by academic excellence’ and the University of Louisiana System’s mission to emphasize teaching, research, and community service to enhance the quality of life for the State’s [c]itizens” (2006 Master Plan, 930).

Association of College and Research Libraries Standards

The Association of College and Research Libraries is the learned society which establishes standards and guidelines for college and university libraries. ACRL defines its role in higher education as follows:

ACRL is the source that the higher education community looks to for standards and guidelines on academic libraries. ACRL promulgates standards and guidelines to help libraries, academic institutions, and accrediting agencies understand the components of an excellent library. These standards, guidelines, and model statements are reviewed and updated by the membership on a regular basis. (ACRL home page)

The University recognizes the ACRL Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians as the appropriate standard for the field.

The master's degree in library science from a library school program accredited by the American Library Association is the appropriate terminal professional degree for academic librarians.

ACRL defines the role of the professional librarian as follows:

The academic librarian makes unique contributions to the academic community and to higher education itself. These contributions range from developing collections to providing bibliographic access to all library materials and interpreting these materials to members of the college and university community.
Specific services include instruction in the use of print and online library resources and the creation of new tools to enhance access to information available locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.
Librarians add to the sum of knowledge through their research into the information process and other areas of study. Service improvements and other advances in the field result from their participation in the library and other scholarly organizations.

The University Library staff consists of fifteen faculty librarians and ten support staff. Seven librarians are tenured, and eight hold tenure-track positions. The table below shows the position, rank, and academic credentials of each of the professional librarians.

Name	Department	Academic Rank	Degree and Institution
Khoury, Nancy	Library Director		MS- Louisiana State University
Awagain, Kenneth	Library Services Coordinator	Associate Professor	MLIS- Louisiana State University
Bloomquist, Mary Jane*	Circulation Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLS- University of North Texas
Bordelon, Kathie*	Archavist/Special Collections	Associate Professor	MLS- University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Cagle, Brantley*	Documents Librarian	Professor	MSW- Louisiana State University MSLS- The Catholic University of America
Drake, Paul	InterLibrary Loan Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLS- University of Alberta
Guillory, David	Catalog Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLS- Louisiana State University
Houssiere, Barbara	Reference Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLIS- Louisiana State University
Hutchings, Jessica*	Reference Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLIS- University of Oklahoma
Johnson-Houston, Debbie	Reference Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLIS- University of South Florida in Tampa
McNeil, Joe	System Administrator	Associate Professor	MLS- Louisiana State University
Merriman, Kevin*	Collection Mgmt. Librarian	Assistant Professor	MA- University of Sheffield MBA- University of Leeds
Threatt, Pati	Assistant Archivist	Assistant Professor	MLIS- University of Texas
Troy-Horton, Rebecca	Reference Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLIS- University of Rhode Island
Woolman, Janet*	Serials Librarian	Assistant Professor	MLIS- Louisiana State University
* Department Head

Source: Frazar Memorial Library

To ensure that the professional library staff is consistent in its delivery of service and that meritorious service is recognized, the Library conducts annual performance evaluations for both faculty and staff as outlined in the McNeese Faculty/Staff Handbook. The following procedure for annual performance review, excerpted from the Librarian’s Performance Report, attached in supporting documents is specific to library staff.

Librarian’s Performance Report

1. All librarians must complete a Librarian's Performance Report annually. This will be used to review each librarian's performance over the past year and will provide the information to determine merit pay increases. Each librarian has the option of participating in the merit pay plan. If he/she chooses not to participate, he/she will write a memorandum to the Library Director asking to be excluded from consideration in a merit pay increase.

2. There will be a maximum of three merit raise categories. They are category 1 (highest amount), category 2 (second highest), and, when funds permit, category 3 (third highest). Dollar values are determined by the University administration.

3. Criteria for evaluation are listed on the Performance Report. Using 10 as the highest rating and proceeding to 1 as the lowest rating, the Director will enter the number which best describes the librarian's job performance for the past year. Each faculty member is responsible for describing his/her last year's contributions in each section.

4. Faculty members are encouraged to include a job description with the Performance Report. Any changes should be brought to the attention of the Director.

5. Librarians will be evaluated in three major categories. The categories and the percentages allotted for each are listed below:

Category	Percentage	Range
Librarianship	50%	40-60%
Research, Creative/Scholarly Publications, Professional Activities	40%	30-50%
University and Community Service	10%	10-20%

The stated percentages can be adjusted up or down by a maximum of 10 percentage points per category so long as the total is equal to 100% and no category is counted less than 10 percent. Such changes must be justified in writing and attached to the performance report. Librarians, as members of the University faculty, participate in professional development activities, serve on University committees, and engage in scholarly endeavors. The sample Annual Performance Review (APR) attached illustrates the kinds of activities that are considered in the annual review.

To ensure that each librarian understands how the various departments of the Library work together, the Library periodically holds Department Showcases. Each department in the Library hosts a showcase. Individual department members prepare a short presentation, which reviews functions of the department, gives an overview of its resources, and brings fellow library employees up-to-date on innovations or additions to functions, resources, or services.

Library Support Staff

Professional librarians are assisted in their duties by a capable, experienced support staff. Library Support Staff members are evaluated on an annual basis according to job classification either according to policies established in the Faculty/Staff Handbook or the Classified Civil Service Handbook. The table below shows the number of support staff, their department, and job title. Included in supporting documents is a job description for Library Specialist, which illustrates the kinds of duties and responsibilities assigned to support staff personnel.

Library Support Staff

Name	Department	Job Title
Barczak, Karen	Technical Services	Library Specialist 2
Brock, Jeannie	Government Documents	Library Specialist 2
Castille, Sharon	Circulation	Library Specialist 2
Comeaux, Lyn	Collection Management	Library Specialist 3
LeJeune, Joycia	Circulation	Library Specialist 3
McFarlain, Jan	Serials	Assistant
Picard, Patsy	Director's Office	Clerk Chief 2
Robinson, Ellen	Reference	Library Specialist 2
Royer, Barbara	Serials	Library Specialist 3
Thomason, Christine	InterLibrary Loan	Library Specialist 2

Source: Frazar Memorial Library

Evaluation of Services and Staff

The Spring 2005 Library Survey illustrates that eighty-five percent of the respondents agreed that the Library staff are usually friendly when asked a question. Eighty-two percent of the respondents feel that the Library staff are usually well-informed and helpful. The Library Survey is attached as a supporting document. Student satisfaction with library services is addressed in greater detail in Comprehensive Standard 3.8.2.

Exemplary Service in the Wake of Hurricane Rita

Library personnel, in particular, were faced with an enormous task after returning to campus following Hurricane Rita. The entire staff tirelessly worked long hours to bring a sense of order to the havoc wrought on the Library. Only two of the professional librarians opted not to return to the University. One returned to her native state of Kansas; the other retired to Texas.

When the University resumed quasi-normal operations in October in the wake of the hurricane, the Library was one of several campus locations which remained closed. Water and mold damage to the Library structure and collections was extensive. Library staff, faculty, and students were barred from entry until the building could be repaired and air quality inspectors and risk management assessment teams approved the building for use.

Temporary Library headquarters were set-up in Kaufman Hall, Rooms 333 and 334. Before the Library re-opened, library personnel met in order to analyze the problems associated with no access to the library building and its contents and to create solutions for this unique obstacle. The Library faculty/staff, in conjunction with University officials and other faculty, developed a strategy to address operational issues and, primarily, to provide access to information and information services for our students. By creative improvising, the library supported the University’s efforts and helped minimize student frustration levels.

In order to facilitate student and faculty needs, the librarians performed many activities including the following:

• Library personnel began working shifts at the Curriculum Materials Center (Farrar Hall) and Performing Arts Library (Fine Arts) in order to provide assistance to students and address other problems as they became obvious.

• Students were directed to the Curriculum Materials Center for assistance with research, where librarians were able to provide research assistance limited to the use of electronic resources.

• The library staff collaborated with faculty from many different disciplines to coordinate research projects based on electronic resources and the limited print media that was available.

• Librarians gave specialized instruction sessions for classes on using the enhanced electronic resources and online material available for research.

• Librarians worked with NetLibrary to arrange for access to e-books off-campus. The cataloging staff worked in our Integrated Library System to set up NetLibrary electronic books in the catalog so that all e-books will have a Library of Congress call number. This simplified searching and descriptive links made e-books more accessible to users.

• The Interlibrary Loan Librarian expedited borrowing privileges for faculty and students needing research material.

The storm created new building problems and exacerbated existing ones. When the building was opened four months after the storm, the staff was faced with evaluation and disposal of damaged government documents. Before the completion of this task, a summer mold outbreak in the book collection required additional staff time. The building was completely without elevator service for several months after the building opened.

In spite of all the difficulties, the library faculty/staff has continued working to provide quality service to library users. As part of a unified effort, librarians are developing projects that are intended to put students more in touch with library resources and integrate seamlessly with outside online searching. Using the library’s local link resolver, McNeese Library recently worked with Google Scholar to enable additional links in Google Scholar search results which facilitate access to Google Scholar resources. These links lead to the Library's servers which, in turn, direct them to the full-text of the article. Also, since library holdings are listed in OCLC's Open WorldCat, the Library has a link for each Google Scholar book result that leads to the Open WorldCat database where users can find the book in the Library.

McNeese Library also arranged a trial through OCLC that allows patrons to chat online live with a reference librarian. Question Point 24/7 provides live brief answers to factual questions and/or suggestions for locations and sources. The Reference Department is also investigating the possibility of instant messaging as another point of contact.

Although still dealing with building problems, damaged documents, and molded books, Frazar Memorial Library has made a concerted effort to not only improve services, but also prepare for the possibility of another disaster.

Other Learning Resources

Although the Library is the primary academic support unit on campus, other resources across the campus support the University’s academic mission. These resources are discussed in detail in Core Requirements 2.9 and 2.10 and in Comprehensive Standard 3.4.9. A brief description of these resources and the personnel who staffs them follows:

Curriculum Materials Center

Students enrolled in the Burton College of Education have full access to Frazar Memorial Library and its resources. Located in Farrar Hall, which houses faculty and staff in the College of Education, the Center is a specialized resource library for students majoring in education and/or teacher preparation. The Curriculum Materials Center specifically supports the Burton College of Education curricula. As such, it establishes its own policies for operation and for

the types of materials necessary to support the instructional programs for teacher preparation. It supports all aspects of teacher education programs and other related programs as well.

The Curriculum Materials Center is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Frazar Memorial Library circulation policies guide student and faculty use of the Curriculum Materials Center.

The Coordinator of the Curriculum Materials Center, a library paraprofessional, is a Library Specialist 3. She is supported by and works closely with Frazar Memorial Library staff, and Frazar Memorial Library acquires and processes the materials housed in the Curriculum Materials Center.

Performing Arts Learning Resources

The Department of Performing Arts library collections are comprised of musical scores, collected works, LP recordings, CDs, videos/DVDs, computer software, and a limited number of reference works. This resource is located in the Shearman Fine Arts Center.

Daily operations of the departmental library facility are assigned to the Performing Arts Librarian/Administrative Assistant whose primary job is to ensure that the facility is maintained in an orderly and efficient manner to serve McNeese faculty and students effectively.

Electronic Learning

Another means by which educational, research, and public service programs are supported and enhanced is through the University’s electronic learning (e-Learning) program. The University offers a number of web-based, web-enhanced, and compressed video opportunities for students and faculty. These courses provide flexible scheduling options for traditional or non-traditional students. In an effort to provide students with the highest quality of learning, McNeese State University has partnered with the Southern Regional Education Board’s Electronic Campus in order to ensure the quality of online instruction and make the University's courses available to students in other states.

In order to ensure that incorporation of electronic resources facilitates learning, the University provides extensive training to faculty who wish to teach web-based, web-enhanced courses. Faculty who wish to incorporate Blackboard into their courses as a tool to augment learning are also provided with extensive training. Several training sessions are scheduled each semester and assistance is available at all times to faculty who enhance their courses with technology.

Training is conducted by the Coordinator of Distance Learning. The Reference Librarians in Frazar Memorial Library assist both students and faculty in the use of the library's online databases and electronic resources. Either the Coordinator of Distance Learning or a Reference Librarian is available for instruction, document delivery, reference and research assistance, technical assistance, and distance learning course information. The Center for Teaching and Learning Technology (CTLT) provides beginner and advanced level courses in Microsoft

Office, FrontPage, Outlook, Blackboard and other applications for faculty who wish to incorporate technology into their courses.

The Coordinator of Distance Learning has extensive training and experience in technology-related instruction and is completing a PhD in Educational Leadership, Research and Counseling with an Educational Technology concentration at Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge in December 2006.

Discipline-Specific Studio Computer Labs

As a part of the Louisiana Technology Plan initiative, University faculty members from each college completed a fifty-hour training course held at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette during the 2001-2002 academic year. With teacher training in mind, faculty members were introduced to strategies for using technology in the classroom in all disciplines. Completing the cascade-training model, I-Quest: Technology in Higher Education, faculty members were charged with returning to their campuses to establish and facilitate discipline-appropriate in-house training for colleagues. The Louisiana Technology Plan identifies its goals as they relate to training University faculty as follows:

• Develop and implement a long-range technology plan that reflects needs of the 21st century to equip the university teacher preparation program with technology necessary to support the teaching and learning process and instructional management needs;

• Develop and maintain staff to support the technical infrastructure;

• Seek partners for funding/support for technology implementation;

• Develop, disseminate, and implement an Acceptable Use Policy;

• Develop model classrooms for preservice and inservice teachers.

Using the goals of the Louisiana Technology Plan and other discipline-specific guidelines, faculty across the campus have established labs to serve as resources for teaching and learning. Often funded by grants and/or student assessment fees, these labs are developed by the faculty members whose disciplines they serve. Faculty who incorporate technologies into their disciplines are well qualified, not only in their respective disciplines but in incorporating technology into those disciplines as well. Studio labs include such technological capabilities as the following:

• Shared document revision;

• "Whiteboard" interaction;

• Desktop teleconferencing;

• Video communication;

• Multi-media equipment;

• Data visualization tools.

The following applications are a few of the examples of resources that augment classroom instruction and enhance student learning:

• The College of Nursing implements a program called “Sim Man.” Student nurses are able to perform assessments and medicate simulated human beings. Paid for by student assessments, the “Sim Man” lab includes two virtual human beings who must be assessed based on symptoms which are generated by a computer. “Sim Man” has his blood pressure, breathing rate, and other body functions tested as a faculty member supervises and provides instant feedback.

• The College of Education has a state-of-the-art teacher-training lab which enables teacher candidates to use electronic resources to prepare course materials and video equipment to tape and view sample lessons. These labs are overseen by faculty who are trained in delivering instruction in computer-assisted learning.

• The Department of English and Foreign Languages uses its Language Laboratory to augment instruction in Spanish and French. Students enrolled in foreign language courses are required to log lab hours throughout the semester. The lab provides opportunity for guided language practice, online audio-visuals to supplement culture studies, web access for foreign language research, and other teaching materials that supplement both beginning and advanced foreign language instruction. The lab director is a native-Spanish speaker who holds a PhD in foreign language education.

• The English Department supervises a twenty-seat writing lab equipped with writing software to engage students in writing and researching. Computer-assisted writing experiences are supervised by individual faculty members who reserve the lab for projects lasting from one or two class periods to several weeks. Oversight for the computer writing lab is assigned to a faculty member who holds a PhD in composition and rhetoric.

• The Geography Department shares equipment with the English Department in order to provide instruction in using GIS software. Geography students learn to generate maps using technology. GIS classes are supervised by a geography professor who holds a PhD.

• The Biology Department established a lab in which students can collect and store DNA samples. Genetic research fostered in this lab is guided by a faculty member who holds a PhD.

Similar labs established and managed by senior faculty members facilitate instruction in the Visual Arts Department in graphic design courses, and in the Department of Mass Communication, where under the supervision of faculty members students are encouraged and inspired to develop knowledge and hone their skills.