Dec. 3, 2001 – The second UVI teleconference meeting to discuss the possibility of a distance learning Masters program in library and information science will be held at 3:30 p.m. Friday. On St. Croix it's in campus room 3012a, and on St. Thomas it's in T-213.
The meeting will recap the initial teleconference, and will inform persons who were unable to attend the Nov. 9 meeting, said a release.
The University of Pittsburgh is considering the possibility of working with a group of students, designated a "cohort", from the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean to facilitate a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree through distance learning. If a group of 15-20 potential students can be formed, Pittsburgh would consider sending faculty to the Virgin Islands to conduct the course work required for the residency portion of the program, thus eliminating the need and expense for travel to Pittsburgh to meet the residency requirement for distance education.
Faculty from the University of Pittsburgh has worked with librarians in the territory on other training projects, and a number of local residents have received Masters or Doctorate degrees from the university. Faculty is willing to cooperate on this endeavor to ensure that it becomes a feasible prospect for Caribbean students.
The beginning date for the next "cohort" of students is May 2002. Persons serious about pursuing this program should begin the process by completing an application for admission available on the Pittsburgh web site.
Information, including application fees, tuition costs and admission requirements, is available at the site.
When the application process is completed, applicants should send a message to Jennifer Jackson, Chancellor of the St. Croix Campus and UVI Director of Libraries atjjackson@uvi.edu. This will enable her to continue the dialogue with the Division Chair at Pittsburgh.
If interested persons are unable to attend this meeting, they may contact Judith V. Rogers, UVI St. Croix Campus Librarian, at 692-4132, or fax (340) 692-4135.
The following sources are recommended to assist persons needing funding to pursue this program. The American Library Association (ALA) site lists available scholarships; the other two search the web for scholarship information.
The American Library Association's scholarship program:
http://www.ala.org/hrdr/scholarship.html
FastWeb: http://www.fastweb.com/ib/ted-1f
CollegeNet: http://mach25.collegenet.com/cgi-bin/M25/index
