Baruch College, Newman Library, Room 415

January 28, 2005, 2 pm – 4 pm

Members in Attendance:

Alexandra deLuise, Queens
David Brodherson, Queens
Keith Muchowski, City Tech
Mickey Laskin, Hostos
Jeff Wayne, Borough of Manhattan
Jacqueline Gill, City College
Katherine Parsons, Bronx
Sandra Marcus, Queensborough
Charles Keyes, LaGuardia
Edward Owusu-Ansah, Staten Island

Meeting commenced at 2 pm.

After past meetings dealing with promotion of instruction activities on CUNY campuses, two issues were suggested for consideration: how to make the most of single sessions, assessment efforts at CUNY institutions, and articulation of missions, goals and objectives at individual institutions. The latter had been first of these had been touched upon briefly in the prior meeting. The current session elected to devote exclusive attention to assessment. The ensuing discussion touched on various institutional tendencies, with little attention to concrete practices, and the interjection of other concerns as well.

The question arose as to what the various campuses were doing to address assessment in response to Middle States expectations. Representatives from Hostos and LaGuardia noted that administrative emphasis seemed to be providing the framework for assessment on their campuses, and assessing information literacy appeared to be part of overall institutional assessment. Hostos had a plan of achieving information literacy through multiple approaches: liberal arts majors have to take a library workshop, faculty adopted a requirement of 1-4 workshops for their courses, and the library provides foundational workshops. Appropriate assessment tools for measuring impact of these activities were, however, still in the developmental stages.

On the success of library instructional activities, the question was raised as to how library instructors could be made more active/motivated. The issue here was how to improve teaching through peer observation and collaboration. Observations were encouraged, though potential difficulties were noted too. No clear resolution emerged.

Members agreed to return to the issue of assessment for the next meeting, but to take a more structured approach. Attendees will present on assessment efforts (or lack thereof) at their respective institutions, and identify specific assessments tools used, as well as provide the rationale for their selection. The presentations will begin with LaGuardia’s experience.

Next meeting will be on Friday March 4, 2005 (2 pm – 4 pm):

Meeting adjourned at 4 pm.

Submitted by:

Edward Owusu-Ansah

Chair

Edward Owusu-Ansah, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor/Reference Librarian
Coordinator of Information Literacy
& Library Instruction
CUNY College of Staten Island
2800 Victory Boulevard
Staten Island, NY 10314
Phone: (718) 982-4097