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Scheduled for completion in 2003, the University of North Texas Library and Information Agencies Management Certificate Program will be the first American Library Association accredited online management certificate program in the U.S. It will enable librarians from any location, who are working full-time to easily obtain required continuing education. It is designed not only to educate Master’s students, but also to prepare working professionals to effectively lead their organizations in this, the information millennium.

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) just proposed a policy that will require departmental chairs and divisional coordinators to complete 12 or more hours of management courses to qualify as unit heads. The policy, if adopted, will be effective July 1, 2003. The Library and Information Agencies Management Certificate Program would be an ideal avenue for these librarians from anywhere in the U.S. to conform to the new ACRL policy.

The professional student will receive a comprehensive working knowledge of the fundamental principles of library and information agency management, marketing, human resources, accounting, finance and economics. Graduates who obtain the certificate will have the skills to customize information services to meet the unique information needs of clients while promptly and efficiently diagnosing their needs. Graduates will not only be able to effectively and economically oversee the retrieval, the appropriate repackaging, and economic delivery of relevant information, but also add value to information by providing missing information. Graduates will learn to effectively organize their library or information agency’s internal resources for improved accessibility and productivity.

The Library and Information Agencies Management Certificate Program will be highly marketed via flyers and advertisements in the Texas Library Journal, the Texas Association of School Librarians Newsletter, and the Texas Association of Computer and Media Personnel, Call Number, American Libraries, and Library Journal.

The Library and Information Agencies Management Certificate Program will consist of four courses:

1. SLIS 5300, Management of Libraries and Information Agencies

2. SLIS 5302, Advanced Management of Information Agencies

3. SLIS 5303, Financial and Human Resource Management in Information Agencies

4. One of the following courses:

SLIS 5320, Public Libraries;

SLIS 5330, Academic Libraries; OR

SLIS 5340, Learning Resources Centers and Services.

To meet the requirements of SLIS 5300, students can either complete the coursework or pass a comprehensive proficiency exam with a score of at least 70%. After meeting the SLIS 5300 requirement, in one of the two ways mentioned above, students will enroll in a cohort to complete SLIS 5302 and SLIS 5303. The cohort of no more than 20 students will meet for one weekend to cover course content and technology training for the Web portion of the courses. The cohort will then take the remainder of the two courses online. After successfully completing the requirements for 5300, 5302, and 5303, students will select their fourth course in their chosen specialty area: public (SLIS 5320), academic (SLIS 5330), or school (SLIS 5340) libraries.