Hey, it’s Sabrina, your ALASC blog coordinator! Have you wondered what other LIS programs are like, or how other student organizations run? Check out this interview we conducted with SCALA (Student Chapter of the American Library Association) at ESU (Emporia State University)!
Emporia State University is located in Emporia, Kansas. SCALA is ESU ‘s equivalent of ALASC, and it’s an LIS organization that supports LIS students in their program. Their executive consists of:
Zipporah Brown – President
Interim Vice President/Alumni Coordinator – Lindsey Viets
Treasurer – Chelle Morrison
Social Media Coordinator – Orion Larson
Faculty Advisers – Bobbie Sartin Long
You can check out their executive commit here.
https://emporiascala.wordpress.com/mission/officers-2/
Below is an interview that dives into some of the questions you might have about other LIS programs, other student organizations, or just other LIS students in general!
What type of program is your MLIS? Is it in person or online?
- Our MLS program is completely online
If it’s online or hybrid, how does the student body stay connected?
- The student body stays connected through our weekly SLIM newsletter that goes out every Friday to all of the students’ email, through Canvas, and through our social media pages.
Do you have difficulties recruiting members during election cycles?Â
- We have difficulties recruiting members during all seasons but, from what we have gotten from our faculty advisor and from my own experience being in AECT (Association for Education Communication and Technology) it is hard to recruit people to come to regular Zoom meetings, let alone become an officer.
What types of events does your chapter do for your student body? Are they online or in person? Have you ever organized in person events?
- We do a mix of regular events and special events all online. The regular events happen each month during one week during one day. We have a book club that meets the second Tuesday of each month, a craft club that meets the third Monday of the month, and a game club that meets the last Thursday of the month. Our business meetings take place the second Sunday of each month but all members are welcome to join. Then we hold special events with speakers. Like this past year we held the former ALA president Emily Drabinski. This year we will hold a SLIM Alumni panel, ALA candidate panel, and so much more.
What do you like best about your program?
- Flexibility of the program to navigate around students’ schedules even if you are working a full-time job or have life that comes in the way. Also, communication with professors is excellent here, they are very caring and kind in many different situations, no matter what comes up.
What type of cumulative experience does your program require for graduation?
- The cumulative experience is a digital portfolio in Digication, which is like a website. All students match up their experiences from classes to the learning outcomes of the program to show that in their time they learned what they should have to complete the program.
How long does the LIS program at ESU take to complete?
- It all depends on the student whether they are doing part time or full time, if they do classes in the summer or not. The quickest to get out of the program is in 4 semesters (taking all full-time classes), another way is how our current president is doing with a double masters in IDT (instructional design and technology (offered under the School of Library and Information Science) and extend out 7 semesters.
Are there any notable conferences, archives, or library history in your state or university?
- I could go into extensive detail, but I will point you in the direction of the history page made on our website that gives a timeline, news articles, and names that you need to know about our program. https://emporiascala.wordpress.com/about/history/
