SIS Policies

Section 1: Meetings

  1. Meetings of the faculty will be open to the public, but only members of the faculty and invited guests are eligible to speak.
  2. The faculty reserves the right, upon majority vote, to go into closed session if sensitive or personnel items are to be discussed, but no final action can be taken in closed session.
  3. The Director will notify all faculty of the scheduled regular meetings of a semester no later than the first week of the semester.

Section 2: Agenda and Order of Business

  1. The Director will circulate a draft agenda and relevant documents to all faculty in advance of regular meetings.
  2. By a majority vote, the faculty can change the order of business of the agenda.

Section 3: Minutes—Reports of Committees

  1. Standing and special committees will submit regular minutes to the Director for inclusion in the agenda of the next faculty meeting which follows the committee meeting.

Section 4: Committees

  1. Appointment and Terms of Membership
    1. Members of faculty committees shall be determined first on a volunteer basis and second by Director’s appointment.
    2. Terms shall be two years with new faculty members appointed upon their arrival
    3. Committee terms shall follow the calendar year beginning in January 2022.
    4. The Director is ex-officio on all standing committees except Academic Personnel and Policy, and cannot serve in any other capacity on standing committees.
  2. Special Committees and their Members (ad-hoc)
    1. A Special Committee may be proposed by any faculty member, including the Director.
    2. Special Committees will be formed at the request of the director or by majority vote of the faculty.
    3. Members of Special Committees shall be determined first on a volunteer basis, and second by Director’s appointment.
  3. General Provisions for all standing Committees
    1. An ex officio member of a standing committee will be non-voting, and will not serve as Chair.
    2. All committees will include a Chair & Vice-Chair. It shall be the duty of the Chair to determine a yearly meeting schedule, lead discussions on committee goals and objectives, prepare minutes, maintain committee files, and report to the faculty on committee business. The Vice-Chair will serve in the Chair’s absence or incapacity and perform such duties as assigned by the Chair. If the Chairship becomes vacant, the Vice-Chair becomes Chair for the remainder of that term and the succeeding term. 
    3. Vice-chairs will succeed the current Chairship at the start of the subsequent two-year term. Upon completing his/her two-year Chairship, the outgoing Chair will rotate off the committee for at least one term (except for the Academic Personnel Committee).
    4. Committee Chairs will serve as the SIS representative on the CHSE committees associated with the SIS committee.
    5. Committees will elect a new Vice-Chair at the first meeting of the committee during its two-year term. In the event of a tied vote during Vice-Chair elections, the tied candidates will draw lots to determine the Vice-Chair. [Note: For the start of the updated policy in January 2022, the committees will all elect a chair and vice-chair.]
    6. Unless otherwise specified, a simple majority of voting members shall comprise a quorum. A faculty member on sabbatical or leave of absence shall not count towards the total number of potential voting members for meeting quorum.
    7. The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the proceedings and the conduct of the meetings of the faculty and its committees, in all cases to which they are applicable and which are not covered in or by the bylaws.
  4. The Standing Committees of the Faculty:

Academic Personnel Charges

    1. To administer the promotion and tenure procedures
Membership

The committee consists of all full-time tenured faculty members.

Admissions and Scholarship Charges

    1. To advise the Director and faculty on matters concerning admission policies and procedures
    2. To make recommendations regarding the admission of applicants to the program
    3. To create and review scholarship application procedures
    4. To award scholarships
Membership

The committee consists of a Chair and at least two additional faculty members.

 

Curriculum Charges

    1. To review proposed changes to courses and curricula
    2. To conduct continuing review of courses and curricula, and to make recommendations to the faculty concerning changes to courses and curricula.
Membership

The committee consists of a Chair and at least two additional faculty members.

 

Policy Charges

    1. To periodically review existing policies of the School
    2. To develop and/or revise policy statements as the need arises
    3. To advise the Director as to interpretation and application of School policy
    4. To review the performance of the Director pursuant to a majority vote of the faculty
Membership

The committee consists of a Chair and at least two additional faculty members.

 

Recruitment and Marketing Charges

    1. To develop, review, and revise student recruitment and School marketing strategies
    2. To coordinate student recruitment and School marketing efforts with internal and external staff
    3. To advise the Director and faculty on recruitment and marketing activities
Membership

The committee consists of at least two faculty members and one staff member who is a full voting member.

 

Approved October 17, 1985.

Revised September 2001.

Revised February 19, 2016.

Revised August 26, 2016.

Revised April 17, 2020.

Revised October 16, 2020.

Revised October 15, 2021.

Revised May 4, 2023.

Revised October 13, 2023.

When a student has been admitted to SIS, the Director will appoint a faculty adviser, basing the decision on the student’s admission application statement. The faculty adviser is the student’s primary contact with the program and is to provide the student with advice on such professional matters as the student may require. Occasionally, a student may desire to change advisers. The student can accomplish such a change by getting the consent of the new adviser, informing the former adviser, and notifying the SIS office of the change. The SIS office shall maintain a record of such changes in the student’s file.

Approved, December 17, 1985.

Revised, September 2001.

Revised, October 15, 2004.

Revised, September 21, 2018.

Revised May 4, 2023.

Each core course of all SIS degree programs must be completed with a grade of “B” or better. Students failing to meet this minimum requirement in any of these courses must repeat the course.

Students may repeat a core course only once. If the student still does not earn a grade of “B” or better, the student will not be eligible for the degree.

Approved, December 17, 1985.

Revised, September 2001.

Revised, April 2004.

Revised, September 2012.

Revised, March 2015.

Revised, September 21, 2018.

Revised May 4, 2023.

Students who wish to minor in library and information science at the graduate level will need to obtain approval of the officially designated advisor in their major academic field. SIS will then assign an advisor to advise the student of appropriate library and information science courses.

A minor in library and information science requires twelve graduate hours of courses from an ALA accredited program, at least six of which must be taken at LSU.

Approved, October 6, 1989.

Revised, September 2001.

Revised, September 21, 2018.

Revised May 4, 2023.

Evaluation of each course, offered in any fall, spring, summer semesters, or intersession period will be completed at the end of each semester.

Approved, May 8, 1992.

Revised, September 2001.

Revised May 4, 2023.

This policy sets the voting rights for all members of the SIS faculty.

All members of the faculty are welcome to attend faculty meetings. Only tenure-track and tenured faculty, and Professors of Professional Practice may be included in executive sessions.

Tenure-track and tenured faculty, and Professors of Professional Practice have the right to vote on all matters of policy and procedure, including but not limited to personnel decisions and curricular decisions.

Adjunct faculty, part-time, temporary instructors (including visiting faculty) and faculty emeriti may attend faculty meetings and participate, but without vote.

Approved, March 13, 2015.

Revised, August 21, 2020.

Revised May 4, 2023.

  • SIS Policy 2: Admissions Criteria
  • SIS Policy 3: Residence Requirement
  • SIS Policy 5: Transfer of Credit for Required Courses
  • SIS Policy 6: Transfer of Credit
  • SIS Policy 7: Students Entering on Probation
  • SIS Policy  8: Grade Point Average
  • SIS Policy 9: “C” Grades with Regard to the MLIS Degree
  • SIS Policy 11: Suggested Adjunct Courses
  • SIS Policy 12: Comprehensive Examination for the Master of Library and Information Science Degree
  • SIS Policy 13: Policy Statement on Research
  • SIS Policy 14: Validation of Courses
  • SIS Policy 15: Policy on Visitors to the School
  • SIS Policy 16: LIS 7901 (Issues in Library and Information Science)
  • SIS Policy 18: Attendance Policy
  • SIS Policy 20: Student Work Submitted Late
  • SIS Policy 21: Submission of Work for Incomplete Grades
  • SIS Policy 22: Policy on Teaching MLIS Core Courses