Program changes

To all of our program students:

You should know that St. Cloud State announced at the end of last spring, 2010, that they were going to sunset their Information Media undergraduate major and minor:

"...two of CIM’s numerous programs (the undergraduate major and minor) have been designated for closure. All of our other degrees (Tracks I, II, and III masters) and certificates (Instructional Technology graduate and undergraduate, Design for E-Learning graduate, and Library Media Specialist graduate) are still in place. This closure of the undergraduate major and minor will allow us to use our existing resources to focus on the graduate and certificate programs and our service courses.

"For undergraduate students already in either the major or minor, there are provisions in place to allow for the completion of those degrees. But, we will not be accepting newly declared majors into either the undergraduate major or minor."

We found out about this change late in the spring. As an Associate of Science program that articulated into this program, this change was announced to us too late for us to give our students any real advance notice.

This fall, the faculty of MCTC's Library Information Technology program went before our Academic Council to improve our own program and address the changes in our curriculum that St. Cloud State's change prompted. Our Academic Council approved the changes, and we will now be presenting them to MnSCU for final approval. We'll be making a more formal announcement later this semester, but here's the short version.

1. Our current A.S. degree program will sunset in Spring 2013. That means that any students in the program that have started in the 2010-11 catalog year (this year) or earlier and wish to complete their studies under that catalog will need to complete their award by then. With the changes at St. Cloud State, there is no longer a formal program into which an MCTC student can articulate. All transfers will happen like any other transfer - the receiving college or university will review the incoming courses as per their standard transfer policy.
   
2. Beginning with the 2011-12 catalog, we will be offering an Associate of Applied Science (AAS degree) in Library Information Technology. Based on feedback from our advisory committee and past students, we are making the following changes to the curriculum:
1. We are dropping 3 credits of previously required coursework in the MnTC goal areas. An A.S. degree must have at least 30 credits in a minimum of 6 MnTC goal areas; an A.A.S degree must have at least 25% of the credits (15 in our case) from a minimum of 3 MnTC goal areas. The changed program will require 27 credits from the MnTC goal areas.
2. We are changing LIBT 2900 from 4 credits to a choice of 3 or 4 credits
3. Adding a new required program course, LIBT 2??? Library Community & Outreach Services
4. To make up those "dropped" credits, we are adding a choice of elective courses from which students must choose. Those courses are:
• CSCI 1200 Computer Applications in Home and Business[1] OR ITEC 1110 Information Technology Skills (2 cr)
• BUSN 1155 Human Relations and Team Building[2]
• CHDV 1640 Literature, Language and Literacy for Young Children
• EDUC 1215 Child, Youth Growth and Development
• ENGL 1161 Children's Literature
• ITEC 1100 Information Technology Concepts (2 cr)
• LIBT 14?? Topics in Library Information Technology (1 cr)
• LIBT 14?? Preserving History and Memory: Archives in Current Society



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[1] Dropping this as a program requirement to add new outreach course LIBT 14??

[2] Was formerly a program requirement but dropped to make room for a 2^nd required 2000-level tech services course

You can see we're adding two new regular program courses, Library Community & Outreach Services, which will be required as part of the Public Information Services certificate and the new AAS, and an elective course, Preserving History and Memory: Archives in Current Society.

We're also developing a Topics course which will change each semester. For this course, we're envisioning a number of different online,hybrid and face-to-face options, depending on the topic. For example, we might meet one time, then have follow-up online, or meet over a series of weekends. Because it is an elective, it gives us some flexibility we don't have with our regular program courses.

We're excited about these changes, and we hope you are as well. We'll be posting up new program planning documents in late January or February. If you have any questions about course sequencing and/or how these changes impact you, please contact me (Ginny Heinrich).