 Last
updated:
September 8, 2003
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Executive Summary
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: INTRODUCTION The Claremont University Consortium (CUC) is the central coordinating and support organization for The Claremont Colleges, located in Southern California. The Claremont Colleges is a cluster of five undergraduate colleges and two graduate schools. Pomona College, Claremont Graduate University, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Pitzer College are on adjoining campuses. The Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences is located on a nearby campus also in Claremont. Originally established in 1925 as part of Claremont University Center, in July 2000, CUC incorporated as a freestanding organization. CUC is a nationally recognized model for academic, student, and institutional support services that meet the needs of over 6,000 students and over 3,000 faculty and staff. Among these services are the Libraries of The Claremont Colleges. As one of the academic support services of CUC, the Libraries function in a complex and challenging environment. We are strong in our determination to uphold the tradition of the Libraries as a central unifying entity and an active educational force at The Colleges. The proponents of this tradition included The Colleges' founders and it is upheld in the library operating agreement (1971). We are in the position also of being dependent upon the support of all of the member colleges and yet not belonging to any one. A defining concept of Claremont's consortial environment is economies of scale; that is, each of the colleges receives more in the way of resources and services than each would be able to afford on its own. The extent of the Libraries' resources and services exceed what many small, private liberal arts colleges individually are able to afford. As a central service supported financially by each of the seven institutions, the Libraries strive to provide resources and services equitably to all of the colleges. Our efforts can encounter inherent contradictions; for instance, each independent college expects to receive individual and personalized services aligned with its special focus while at the same time it benefits from the advantages of economies of scale afforded by the consortial arrangement. Furthermore, the consortium collectively expects the Libraries to address diverse and competing interests among the seven institutions, across disciplines, and between undergraduate and graduate levels. The Libraries' challenge is to meet this complex set of expectations at the same high level of excellence for all. To measure our successes, as part of the CUC plan for assessing all of the Consortium's services, in July 2002, the Chief Executive Officer of CUC and the Director of Libraries agreed to conduct a self study in preparation for an external review by a Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) visiting team. This review of the Libraries will be the most extensive that we have conducted, and the first WASC review that is not undertaken as part of a reaffirmation visit to one of The Claremont Colleges. An External Review Steering Committee and four subcommittees were organized to conduct the self-study and prepare the written report, including four reflective essays, and the web portfolio. The four subcommittees were organized around the four focal points of our reflective essays: Collaboration with Faculty to Enhance Student Learning; The Libraries and Their Collections; Developing The Claremont Colleges Digital Library; and Library Spaces for Study, Research, Collaboration, and Reflection. The study was conducted over a period of approximately one year. In the first part of the self-study report we have described the context of The Claremont Colleges and the Libraries of The Claremont Colleges as well as the significant resources, services, and activities of the Libraries. In each of the four reflective essays we have examined our successes and challenges in order to assess how well we support the learning, teaching, and research activities at The Colleges. This work is a result of the dedication of the self study steering committee and subcommittee members. The hours spent in intense discussion and debate in order to develop the self study documents brought to light issues and ideas that we do not often have the opportunity to explore in the course of our daily routines and during our regular meetings. |