The Face of Regional Campus Libraries and Librarianship Off-Campus Library Services Conference Savannah, GA April 26-28, 2006
Introduction Welcome Definition “a campus or site of an educational institution that is not temporary, is located in a community beyond a reasonable commuting distance from its parent institution, and which offers organized programs of study, not just courses.” (NCES, 1992) Background Others studies done, but not since 1988! Methodology Criteria for creating directory, problems with definition
Findings Profile Services Collections Funding Staffing Status Relationships
Profile - Geographic
Services
Collections VolumesCampus n= (6%) 1 – 1,49911 (9%) 1,500 – 4,99915 (13%) 5,000 – 9,99916 (14%) 10,000 – 19,99917 (14%) 20,000 – 49,99924 (20%) 50,000 – 99,99915 (13%) 100,000 and over13 (11%)
Funding and Administration
Staffing
Status of Librarians Regional Campus Librarians are less-likely to have faculty status than their Main Campus counterparts
Differences within the Same Institution When Main Campus Librarians have Tenure-Track Faculty status, over 1/3 rd of their Regional counterparts at the same institution do not.
Relationships Over a third (36%) are staffed by one FTE professional librarian or less Less than half (40%) of Regional Campus Librarians visit the Main Library at least once a month Almost half (46%) are visited once a year or less by Librarians from the Main Campus
Future Research Profiles Definition Directory State-by-State comparisons Services On campus Comparison to main campus Staffing, Status Tenure Professional backgrounds and progression goals Student/staff ratios
Future Research cont’d Collections Physical/Electronic Funding Community Support Colocations Trends Best Practices
Discussion Does your institution have a regional/branch campus? Do you consider the students at that campus “distance learners?” Are you a librarian at a regional campus? Do you consider yourself a “distance librarian?” How much does distance matter? Has this study affected your definition of regional/branch campuses?
Questions?