Kresge Library Key to a University of Distinction

The Roles of Kresge Library  On-site Collections  Access to External Resources  Place for Study and Collaboration  Providing Instruction in Finding and Evaluating Material  Research Consultation for Students and Faculty  Providing the Foundation for a Distinctive Undergraduate Experience

Status of the Collection The decision not to increase Kresge Library’s budget between 1994 and 2001 has had important implications for the academic infrastructure of Oakland University. As Western, Eastern, and Central have expanded their student populations, they have also increased their library facilities. Although Oakland’s library budget has expanded in the past two years, this spending has not compensated for years of stagnant budgets.

Holdings in Michigan Libraries in (in thousands of volumes) Oakland University is committed to expand to a size comparable to that of Western, Eastern, and Central. However, service to this larger number of students will require substantially greater library resources. At this time, our library infrastructure resembles that of a small institution.

Undergraduate Student Population, in FTE  Differences in the size of the collections can, in part, be explained by differences in undergraduate population.  However, our plans to expand to 20,000 students will require resources equivalent to our sister institutions.  A distinctive educational experience can only be provided with library resources adequate for our growing student population.

Graduate Student Population, in FTE  When considering students in both masters and doctoral programs, Oakland’s population more closely resembles programs at larger universities.  Our graduate programs are sufficiently large to warrant libraries comparable to Western, Eastern, and Central.

Library Budgets FY02 and FY03 (in millions of dollars)  Throughout the 1990s annual spending rates at Central, Eastern, and Western benefited from increases to their base budget allocations.  The greatest growth occurred at Western, where 11% annual increases in the 1990s were then lowered to 8% increases in the 2000s.

Staffing Patterns and Instructional Capabilities Patterns of expenditure for the purchase of library materials were replicated in spending for library staff during this period. As the general library staff of Central, Eastern, and Western continued to grow in the 1990s, the size of Kresge’s staff remained the same. An increasing student population is being served by a library staff designed for a smaller university community.

Library Staff in

Library Instructional Program at Oakland University

Ratios of Enrolled Students to Library Faculty at Oakland

Services That an Appropriately Funded Library Would Provide  Research support for instruction  “Chat” reference service  Librarian support for student research projects  Outreach services for new and transfer students

Resources That an Appropriately Funded Library Would Provide  Stronger collections to support research, learning, and teaching  Access to additional electronic/digital resources  More journal subscriptions  Library funding for new academic programs  Utilize ILL for specialized, rather than basic, materials

Plans for the Future  Continue collaborative efforts of faculty and librarians  Coordinate new program development to provide adequate library resources  Allocate a portion of “overhead” on grants for library support  Coordinate efforts between the College of Arts and Sciences and Kresge Library in the capital campaign

Impact of Inaction  Increasing difficulty in program accreditation  Competitive disadvantages when applying for research funds outside of the university  Difficulty in hiring and retaining faculty who value a research environment  Difficulty in attracting outstanding students and keeping them  Loss of status as a research university