 |
 |
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 06:37:04 -0400 From: "Peterson, Lorna" <[log in to unmask]> 1st call Call for Participation Part-Time and Adjuncts SIG Session TITLE OF PROPOSED SESSION: Casualties and Collateral Damages: A Critical Look at Educational Entrepreneurship. 2013 Convener: Dr. Catherine Closet-Crane, Adjunct, SLIS Kent State University. Co-Convener: Alexa Pearce, Librarian for Journalism, Media, Culture & Communication, Bobst Library, New York University; Adjunct, SILS Pratt Institute. CONTACT: Dr. Catherine Closet-Crane, [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] DEADLINE: Submissions are due by June 24, 2013, midnight. Decisions will be communicated by July 24, 2013. CALL This proposed SIG session seeks to critically examine casualties and collateral damages resulting from market driven educational entrepreneurship in LIS education. In this context, the term entrepreneurship refers to the development of alternative business approaches in the market place. In the literature, the term educational entrepreneurship has been used to describe the invention of alternatives to traditional education aiming to "improve the productivity, quality, and equity of American education" (Levin, 2006). It is conventional knowledge that the positive outcomes of the entrepreneurial spirit in higher education led LIS programs to harness information and communication technologies to innovate with methods of course delivery and attendance, online student participation and faculty/student interaction, the design of online degree programs and virtual campuses, and to open the doors of our programs of study to a geographically distributed body of diverse students. Benefits of educational entrepreneurship are obvious in particular for administrators who rejoice over increased enrollment and for students who revel in the opportunity to earn a degree online while working full time and without uprooting their family. However, we have neglected to take a step back and critically look at the effects of the entrepreneurial approach in LIS education. The time has come to open the proverbial "can of worms" and examine the possible negative outcomes of this approach. We ask, "What are the unintended consequences of educational entrepreneurship?" We invite educators, administrators, and doctoral students interested in participating in a panel discussion to submit a proposal. Our aim is to constitute a panel of four participants who will be asked to present a compelling critical statement in 10 minutes and afterwards answer questions from the audience. Our hope is to be able to pod-cast the session so that adjunct faculty unable to attend ALISE 2014 in person can join in the discussion online. PROPOSALS Due date: June 24, 2013 To submit, go to EasyChair https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=2014parttimeadjuncts Create an account and log-in. Select New Submission. Submit a PDF document including: 1. a cover page with your name, affiliation, contact information, and title of your proposal/ topic you are interested in discussing 2. an essay stating your critical perspective on the topic you are interested in discussing in no more than 500 words. TOPICS Possible topics are suggested below; however we encourage proposals that include other cogent topics. - Effects of "academic capitalism" (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997; Slaughter and Rhoades, 2004) on the hiring of LIS faculty. - The end of tenure and the advent of renewable contracts for all? - Labor conditions for educators outside the tenure track. - Effects of educational entrepreneurship on student recruitment. - How do we evaluate professional readiness of "virtually" socialized librarians (MLS) and scholars (PhD) graduating from online MLS and PhD programs? - Are online communities of scholars, electronically mediated mentorship, and advising of doctoral students adequate in the context of the doctoral research project? - Are we graduating too many students? Are MLS and PhD students prepared for alternate careers outside libraries and academia? References Levin, H. M. (2006, January 11). "Why is educational entrepreneurship so difficult?" Presentation at the 2005 American Enterprise Institute Conference on "Educational Entrepreneurship." Retrieved from http://pocketknowledge.tc.columbia.edu/home.php/viewfile/download/54148/Why_is_educational_entrepreneurship_so_difficult.pdf Slaughter, S. and Leslie, L. L. (1997). Academic Capitalism: Politics, Policies, and the Entrepreneurial University. Baltimore, Md. & London, U.K.: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Slaughter, S. and Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic Capitalism in the New Economy. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press. For information and questions please contact Dr. Catherine Closet-Crane Adjunct/Part-time Faculty SLIS Kent State University [log in to unmask]