Minutes
LACUNY Instruction Committee
Meeting
March 28, 2003, 2pm-4pm
Members
in Attendance:
Alexandra
de Luise, Queens
Susan
Voge, Lehman
Marion
Prudlo, Borough of Manhattan
Gretchen
Gross, John Jay
Jacqueline
A. Gill, City College
Clay
Williams, Hunter
Sandra
Marcus
Jacob
Adekola, Bronx Community
Edward
Owusu-Ansah, Staten Island
Meeting
commenced at 2pm.
After brief chats and introductions, members representing their respective CUNY libraries proceeded to present for the information of all present the nature of their instructional practices. The presentations were interspersed with questions and lively, collegial exchanges, and proceeded in an atmosphere of mutual interest and willingness to share ideas and experiences. Marion Prudlo of the Borough of Manhattan Community College was the first to present.
1.Borough of
Manhattan Community College (Marion Prudlo):
The Bibliographic Instruction (hereinafter BI) head at BMCC assigns classes to librarians, with 5 doing the bulk of instruction in the library.
o BMCC had 30 BI requests last semester (Fall 2002).
o All English 095 classes attend a session, with 2or 3 classes showing up together for each session.
o Walk-in classes (one-hour sessions) are also provided on a number of topics (e.g. “Searching the library catalog,” “Ebscohost”), and are open to everybody.
All classes take place in a lecture hall reserved for the library and equipped with a computer and projection screen. Presentations only. Hall does not have computers for hands-on student participation/practice.
2. Queensborough
Community College (Sandra Marcus):
Queensborough (with an FTE of over 10,000) offers library instruction to basic skills classes, ESL, English, as well as some education and business classes.
o The library invites faculty to request sessions for their classes.
o As many as three classes could be requested though that number has now been curtailed due to staff shortages.
o Approximately 211 BI classes were taught last year.
o Class sessions are typically 40-60 minutes.
o Library tours are also conducted.
o The library is currently working on an online credit-bearing course.
2 classrooms are available in the library for instruction. The first is equipped with an overhead projector and seats 30 students. A second classroom with 16 computer terminals (15 for students, I for the instructor) provides hands-on opportunity. Librarians also avail themselves of the approximately 56 computers available in the library (30 on the reference floor, 10 on the circulating floor, 16 in the third floor Internet Room), when hands-on engagement is deemed necessary for larger classes.
3. Bronx Community
College (Jacob Adekola):
Bronx Community has 2 BI librarians (out of a total of 7 librarians), and an FTE of about 7000.
o 130 classes were taught by the two librarians in the last academic year (90/40).
o Freshmen must attend at least one BI class (25 students per class, with 16-17 offerings a semester).
There are no facilities available for hands-on work by students during instruction. Only projection equipments are available. Professors teaching various courses (English composition, education, biology, chemistry, and more) request instruction for their classes.
4. LaGuardia
Community College:
Edward Owusu-Ansah read on behalf of Francine Egger-Sider the contents of an e-mail message outlining LaGuardia’s instructional program. As per the information provided by Francine:
o LaGuardia offers a three-credit liberal art elective, LRC 102 – “Information Strategies,” which runs every semester (a day and an evening session are offered). This course will also run as an honors section in the Fall 2003 semester, and will be paired in two clusters (one with ESL 099 and Human Services, the other with ESL 099 and Introduction to Sociology).
o LaGuardia librarians also teach a mandatory one-hour, course-related session for all English 101 classes, in the library’s electronic classroom. Instructors may request additional hours.
o Optional one-hour classes are offered at the request of any teaching faculty.
o LaGuardia mandates a sign-off by the library on the information literacy component of all new course proposals.
The library further has an Annual Research Review Competition, which rewards term papers best demonstrating library research and use of resources.
5. City College
(Jacqueline Gill):
City has 15 teaching librarians (out of a total of 19 librarians), serving an FTE of 18,000.
o 60-70 classes were taught in Fall 2002, 45 in the spring and 7-10 in the summer of the same year.
o City offers two new students seminar sessions organized in two-part modules (part 1 – getting to know the library; part 2 – learning how to do research). Each part is 45 minutes long.
Instruction sessions are conducted in the library’s two instruction rooms (an electronic classroom with 25 computers and a smart board, and a second classroom equipped with a projector). Instruction is offered to new students, classes in the sciences, music, architecture, and are taught by library subject specialists in the areas of the individual subjects.
6. Hunter (Clay
Williams):
All librarians at Hunter teach (8 reference librarians and 3 others ready to teach when needed).
o Hunter offers a 1-credit course, which appears on students’ records but is not factored into the GPA.
o Hunter also offers some 60 sessions of an hour-long First Year Experience class, which because of the amount of staff time involved will soon be offered electronically together with an electronic quiz.
o 80% of English 120 (introduction class) classes receive BI; all are urged by the department to visit the library. More classes are requesting two sessions.
o The library does approximately 230 BI classes a year and has an FTE of 15,000 and actual student population of around 20,000.
o The number of upper level courses requesting instruction is on the rise.
o Since 10% of students’ technology fee goes toward purchasing databases, the library has undertaken the task of reviewing which database are underused so that instruction librarians may determine databases that need further promotion.
Instruction sessions are conducted mainly in two library classrooms (one with 16 terminals, the other with 25). Class size is usually 20 students.
7. Lehman College
(Susan Voge):
5 librarians at Lehman teach regularly (out of a total of 12 librarians), serving an FTE of 6,000 and a total student population of 9,000.
o Approximately 220 classes are taught a year.
o One librarian has the exclusive task of teaching education classes.
o Instruction is offered to 75-80% of all English 120 classes.
o All classes are eligible for instruction, actual requests being dependent on subject faculty.
o A technical assistant teaches some basic computer application classes (Excel, etc.).
o 4 new librarians hired in the fall use PowerPoint as an integral part of their presentation.
o The library is trying to get the college curriculum committee to ensure that any new courses have a library component.
Library instruction sessions at Lehman are conducted in 2 hands-on labs (with 25 computers each – 24 for students and 1 instructor’s terminal), and a lecture lab. Students are permitted to use the teaching labs with the supervision of a computer assistant when no BI sessions are scheduled.
In Conclusion:
It was agreed that those who could not present (Queens College, John Jay, Staten Island) because of time constraints on the meeting, and others not present but willing to present will do so at the committee’s next meeting (at Baruch College on April 25, 2003, 2pm-4pm).
The
meeting adjourned at 4pm.
Submitted
by:
Edward
Owusu-Ansah