Benchmark Exercise

Agnes Wnuk

ILS560 - College and University Libraries

Southern Connecticut State University 

March 23, 2008

Introduction

There are currently 60 all women’s undergraduate schools in the United States

(University of Louisianna ). Of those fifteen are Roman Catholic affiliated. In the

Carnegie Classification of Northern Master’s schools in the first tier there are five

Roman Catholic all women’s schools: Saint Joseph College in Connecticut, College of

Notre Dame in Maryland, Rosemont College in Pennsylvania, College of Saint

Elizabeth in New Jersey and Regis College in Massachusetts (Burke, 2006). Although

comparable each has different strengths and weaknesses. With Regis College

admitting men this year Saint Joseph College will be the only Catholic women’s

college in New England. This puts Saint Joseph College in a unique position and

provides an opportunity to analyze the library, its effectiveness and role in

supporting the school’s mission. Comparing Pope Pius XII Library at Saint Joseph

College to the four other school libraries illustrates how well it is doing vis-à-vis

comparable libraries and ideas for attainable improvements (See Table 3). 

Analysis of Pope Pius XII Library at Saint Joseph College   

Pope Pius XII has a forty-eight year history.  Just as The Gengras Center and the

School for Young Children support the needs of students by giving them a place to

learn hands on about Education, Social Work, Nursing, Psychology and the Carol

Autorino Center supports the needs of art students the library supports the undergraduate,

graduate, continuing studies and online students. The strength of the collection lies in

materials that support the Catholic Studies, Social Work, Nursing,  Women’s Studies

and Education Departments.  The special collection of children’s books and school

textbooks in the Curriculum Materials Center supports the Education Department.

The archive contains materials concerning the college’s seventy-five year history.

Assessment of Pope Pius XII Library Statistics

A review of the Pope Pius Library statistics from 2000 to 2006 shows a troubling

trend. As the enrollment has increased in that period there has been a decrease in

the number of librarians and student assistants in terms of staff, in the number of

periodical subscriptions, books, circulation and reference transactions (see Table 1).

The ratio of collection per student has decreased as has the ratio of librarians and

general staff to each student. Have these decreases in collection and staff influenced

the decrease in gate count and effect overall service?  The increase in use of online

resources may have influenced the gate count . Even if that is correct there should

be an increase in staff to help support online resource usage.

*All information in table #1 from Saint Joseph College page on the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. IES National Center for Education Statistics, Retrieved March 2, 2008, from: http://nces.ed.gov/

 Viewing the library expenditures for the last six years a downward trend is obvious

in some areas and a complete lack of funding in others. These include the most

important areas for all students whether using in person or online resources,

namely technology, electronic materials and serials (see Table 2). These resources

crucial for today’s student, require the most funding and attention. In terms of

technology there has been no funding for hardware and software. Although a

wireless network is available upgrades in technology are constantly necessary for

online access and speed of access.  There is no funding for online books necessary

for distance education courses.

*All information in table #2 from saint joseph College Library Page on Institute of education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. IES National Center for Education Statistics, Retrieved March 2, 2008, from:  http://nces.ed.gov/

Assessment of Comparable Colleges

There are five comparable comprehensive Catholic women’s colleges in the first tier

of master’s colleges in the Northeastern region. They are all similar in rank although

only three are selective while two are less selective.  Two have a comparable

enrollment of about two thousand while two others have about one thousand each.

All have very similar basic programs, with an emphasis on education, nursing, social

work and women’s studies. All provide graduate level programs that cater to both

men and women with careers.

Never-the-less, only four are truly on the same level however, Saint Joseph College,

Rosemont College, Regis College and College of Saint Elizabeth. While those four

colleges all grant masters degrees and certificates of higher education only the

College of Notre Dame of Maryland bestows doctoral degrees (American Library, p.

916). It has considerably more students with over three thousand. Also, the College

of Notre Dame’s Library is shared with Loyola University. As a result  of both of

these factors it has a larger budget and more resources to support the programs of

both institutions.

Of the four schools the College of Saint Elizabeth is the closest to Saint Joseph

College in many ways. In terms of enrollment, faculty, faculty to student ratio,

endowment and accreditation they are on par.  Their libraries are very similar as

will be examined in the next section. Also, they are the closest in proximity, both

being in the tri-state area. The biggest difference is that one is selective and the

other is less selective.

However, it is beneficial to look at all four comparable schools and their libraries for

examples of excellence in service and resources because each has a particular

strength (see tables 3, 4 and 5).  Pope Pius XII library at Saint Joseph College can

only benefit by looking at what these other schools have to offer.

1.     USNews.com: America’s Best colleges. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/

2.     (2008) Tabular Data. The College Blue Book, 35^th edition New Haven, CT : Thomson/Gale, pp.  110, 275, 299, 393, 566.

3.     Individual School Websites (see References)

4.     (2008) Narrative descriptions. The College Blue Book, 35^th edition New Haven, CT : Thomson/Gale, 521,

5.     McDonough, B. (2004) American Library Directory 2004-2005. Libraries in the United States. 57^th ed., v.1. Medford, NJ: Information today, Inc., pp.341,  916, 1034, 1357, 1918.

 Evaluation of Comparable Libraries

When comparing the libraries of the College of Saint Elizabeth to Saint Joseph

College both have similar print, periodical and audio visual collections in terms of

numbers. Saint Elizabeth has considerably more microforms (table 4). However,

more importantly, for nearly the same amount of students the College of Saint

Elizabeth has more librarians and staff overall, making the ratio of staff to students

higher. This could have a significant effect on service both in person and online.

Also, the College of Saint Catherine has a larger budget overall and spends more on

library resources than Saint Joseph College, by about one hundred dollars per

student (see tables 4 and 5).

Moreover, it is significant that Saint Elizabeth’s library has seventeen workstations,

eight of which have Microsoft Office (www.cse.edu). Saint Joseph offers Microsoft

Office in a computer lab in another building (www.sjc.edu). This is important for

students without a laptop that need to do research and write a paper. There are

resources that need to be used in the library and  a lack of computers for writing

purposes can hamper a student who needs to combine both research and writing. 

Workstations may bring in more students who might not otherwise come to the

library and who might then benefit from other library resources.

Saint Elizabeth’s library also offers more in terms of group, individual and tutorial

instruction both on ground and online(see table 4). This is significant in terms of

supporting the mission of the institution and providing excellence in service.  Online

tutorials especially benefit distance and graduate students who can devote less time

to using the physical library due to work and family commitments.

Saint Joseph College library has the advantage of more hours of operation while

Saint Elizabeth’s library has a larger website with many more online services which

again helps distance students but traditional undergraduates as well. 

*All information in Tables 4 and 5 is taken from Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. IES National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/ except for information in Table 4 concerning Technology and Instruction, information which was compiled from the individual school library websites (see Reference). All information with subscript refers to cited references found in Table 3 (see table 3).

RECOMMENDATIONS

Statistics show fewer students using the library. Is it because current resources and

services are not equal to students’ needs? Nor equal to comparable college libraries. Five

main points need to be addressed at the Saint Joseph College library: staffing, hours

instruction, technology and reference. These crucial resources are currently either lacking

or non-existent due to funding. Analyzing comparable college libraries shows that these

resources are available and budgeted. To fully support programs the library needs

financial support to achieve the high standards our students require.

To stay competitive and to support undergraduate, graduate and distance students the

library needs four specialized librarians, on par with Saint Elizabeth: One to support the

nursing, one to support education and one to support humanities programs. The fourth

would provide online reference and support to distance students.

Research instruction is an important component of today’s college experience. Saint

Joseph has two instruction librarians but the website makes only tutorials available.

Group and individual instruction should also be offered to faculty and students as on the

Saint Elizabeth library website.

Upgrades to hardware and software are crucial. The library must provide more computers

to make it a viable resource for today’s students like Rosemont and Saint Elizabeth does.

This includes an expanded library website with more online resources.

Currently only telephone, email and a link to an external reference utility are offered.

Libraries like College of Notre Dame are using IM and chat technology. These resources

could benefit our own students.

For graduate and continuing education students who have multiple commitments hours of

operation and digital support resources need adjustment. Notre Dame and Regis offer

extensive library hours. To better serve constituents we need to canvas their opinions,

preferably in an online survey to provide an opportunity for as many students as possible

to share their needs.

REFERENCES

College of Notre Dame of Maryland. 4701 North Charles St. Baltimore, MD http://www.ndm.edu/

College of Saint Elizabeth, 2 Convent Rd., Morristown, NJ http://www.cse.edu/

Regis College. 235 Wellesley St. Weston, MA 02493, http://www.regiscollege.edu/

Rosemont College. Montgomery Ave, Rosemont, PA   http://www.rosemont.edu/

Saint Joseph College. 1678 Asylum Ave., West Hartford, CT. http://www.sjc.edu/

Statistical Reference Materials

Burke, J. (2006) 2006 Higher Education Directory. Falls Church, VA:Higher Education Publications. Pp 83, 200, 221, 281, 411,  

(2008) Narrative Descriptions. The College Blue Book, 35^th edition, v. 1. New Haven, CT : Thomson/Gale.

(2008) Tabular Data. The College Blue Book, 35^th edition, v. 2. New Haven, CT : Thomson/Gale.

McDonough, B. (2004) American Library Directory 2004-2005. Libraries in the United States. 57^th ed., v.1. Medford, NJ: Information today, Inc., pp.341,  916, 1034, 1357, 1918.

Online Statistical Resources

College Navigator. (2008) Institute of Education Sciences. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from: http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=mount+saint+mary+college&s=NY&id=193353

Academic Library Statistics (2008) Institute of Education Sciences. U.S. Department of Education.Retrieved  March 1, 2008, from: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/compare/Index.asp?LibraryType=Academic

Association of College and Research Libraries (2004) Standards for Libraries in Higher Education. Retrieved March 21, 2008, from: http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/standardslibraries.cfm

University of Louisiana, Lafayette. (2008) College Scholarships, Colleges and Online Degrees. 2007 Colleges for Women. Retrieved March 21, 2008, from: http://www.college-scholarships.com/women_colleges.htm

USNews.com: America’s Best colleges 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_1409_brief.php