Focus on Assessment - Mar 22, 2010

In October 2009, the Library Assessment and Metrics Council sent out a survey to all faculty in
the University Libraries to gather information about the accreditation process within the
Libraries. We were thinking broadly about accreditation, including depository accreditation (for
the University Libraries’ status as a depository library) and programmatic accreditation (for
academic programs across the University), and requested that responses include all accrediting
agencies from which the faculty receives requests for information. We wanted to obtain an
accurate picture of UL accreditation activities.

We received 36 responses to our survey from faculty across the University Libraries. Of these
respondents, 23 currently provide information to external accrediting agencies for accreditation
purposes. These agencies included the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the
American Bar Association, the National Architectural Accrediting Board, and the Association to
Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, among many others.

Requests for information come in a variety of ways, from direct contact by the accrediting
agency to contact from individual faculty members from colleges and departments across the
University. Accreditation cycles vary from one to five years. The information requested includes
collection sizes, collection funding levels for print and electronic resources, library holdings,
statistics on ILL, facility information, reference and bibliographic instruction activities, and
staffing. Most faculty consult with others to gather the information, which is obtained from a
number of different sources such as Director’s Station, Serials and Acquisitions Services, OCLC,
and CONTENTdm. There is little consistency in the way faculty report the data to the
accrediting agencies, as it depends on the format requested by the agencies. Some provide
written reports, some utilize Excel spreadsheets, and others submit standardized forms or
complete web-based surveys.

As a result of this survey, we asked faculty if they would be willing to send us the data they
submitted to the accrediting agencies for inclusion on our website. We now have a centralized
repository for all accreditation data at
https://intranet.libraries.psu.edu/home/groups/assesscouncil/accreditation.html. The data is
organized by the name of the accrediting agency. If you have information you would like to see
on this site, please send it to ul-assessment-council@lists.psu.edu. The Assessment Council is in
the process of drafting an administrative policy to provide guidance to faculty regarding their
responses to accrediting agencies on behalf of the University Libraries.

— By Kimlyn Patishnock and Sydney Bennington
Want an “assessment checkup”? The Assessment Council welcomes queries from individuals or
groups regarding specific assessment-related questions or issues. Send us your question or
schedule an appointment with us via e-mail to ul-assessment-council@lists.psu.edu.