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Instituional Research & Assessment

How Does the Library at Southern Utah University Compare?

May 30, 2001 - Office of Institutional Research

The primary purpose of the Sherratt library and its information resources is to support teaching, learning, scholarship and service in ways consistent with, and supportive of, the mission and goals of the University. How does the library compare to standards for college libraries? How does the library compare to peer institutions? This study will become part of the University's assessment plan and may be used as a resource for accreditation self-studies.

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) issued standards in January 2000 that apply to libraries supporting academic programs at the bachelor's and master's degree levels. Appendix A, Standards for College Libraries 2000 Edition, provides the current ACRL standards for assessing libraries such as SUU's.

Table 1 summarizes the input measures as initial points for comparison. Recent library annual reports have not included all input measures in the ACRL standards.

The library should have a mission statement and goals to serve as a framework for its activities. Although not published in the current annual report, the library developed and issued it mission statement in the annual report in 1998-1999. The mission statement is available to the public in other documents. According to ACRL standards, "Annual assessments of the quality and effectiveness of the library should be linked closely with the specific mission and goals of the college." Further, according to ACRL, the planning process for the library is an iterative one of evaluation, updating, and refinement.

Library assessment requires the involvement of all categories of library users. Student perceptions are recorded in institutional surveys of attitudes and of engagement in the learning process. Many assessment tools recommended by ACRL are in use in the Sherratt library: library knowledge "tests" for first-year students, inclusion of library orientation in the student success course and in freshman orientation, evaluation by librarians from other colleges, reviews of specific service areas and/or operations, and invitation to patrons for suggestions to improve library services. Systematic mechanisms for feedback from faculty, focus groups of students and faculty asked to comment on library experiences, and evaluation checklists for feedback could improve the general assessment of library services. A survey of faculty and students is planned for Fall 2001.

ACRL asserts that "outcomes assessment will increasingly measure and affect how library goals and objectives are achieved." In addition to recommending the use of outcomes assessment instruments, ACRL offers a series of questions to evaluate general performance, services, instruction, resources, access, staff, facilities, communication and cooperation, administration, and budget. The rest of this study, provides data to assist in addressing the ACRL questions.

General performance
Seven questions regarding mission, assessment, and comparisons aim at evaluating general performance of the library. Mission and assessment elements were described above. The library compares itself annually with the ten peer institutions designated by the Utah Board of Regents. Comparisons are made in collection size, number of serial subscriptions, and staffing. Table 2 is the latest comparison.

Services
ACRL suggests eight questions to evaluate service levels that optimize patron time and use, provide regular access, and responsive assistance. The Sherratt library is open more than 90 hours per week during the academic year, hours of access exceeding other master-level universities in the nation. Services are designed and provided to assist patrons to take full advantage of the library. A regular newsletter, InterLink, informs patrons of library services. Interlibrary loan, traditionally one of the strongest elements of the library, continues to render timely and competent service.

The library has a proxy server that allows student and faculty access to electronic databases from off-campus sites. Further, through Utah Article Delivery (UTAD) faculty and students may order serial articles on-line with a 48-hour turn-around, if the article is available in Utah. The library also participates in a courier system that provides daily deliveries of books requested from other libraries at Utah campuses.

Instruction
ACRL expects libraries to provide information and instruction to users through multiple avenues, and to facilitate academic success. During the summer of 2000, over 800 students attended freshman orientation and, as part of the orientation, received library instruction. During Fall semester 2000, 348 students (headcount) received instruction in information literacy and the use of the library. Next year the course will be included in Student Support Services freshman cohort groups with student mentors to assist students in completing the course. Additionally, multiple classes in many disciplines required a library tour or visit, or workshops. The library encourages formal and informal opportunities for instructions and provides space for such instruction. Nearly every type of library instruction involves technology and information systems. LM 1010, in fact, is web-based.

Adequacy of library resources to support curricula of the University is described in individual curriculum requests and program reviews and in communications with faculty.

Resources
Table 2 compares the SUU Sherratt library collection and resources to peer institutions. These data, along with data on Table 1, begin addressing ACRL's nine questions on resources.

Essentially the book collection has been flat since 1992-93. From the perspective of comparisons to institutional peer institutions, the cost to bring SUU's collection to the average of the peer institutions is $18 million–an insurmountable figure. From the perspective of library peer institutions–institutions closer to SUU's size, as indicated in Table 3, the cost is $5.3 million. From either perspective, however, costs are increasing each year because, while SUU's collection development remains flat, peer institutions are expanding their collections at a faster pace. Resource comparisons are the foremost indicators of the library's performance.

The number of electronic databases during the same period increased 454%, from 22 to 122. Serials subscriptions are behind the average of peer institutions. The acquisitions budget lags nearly $900,000 per year behind the average of peer institutions. The adequacy of library resources is clearly a serious challenge for the University.

By Fall semester 2001, the library will provide 38 reference computers and 48 open access computers. Because the library is open more than 90 hours per week, it is an ideal site for more open access workstations for students. Library peer institutions provide 100-300 workstations for students. The new library at Winthrop University will have 280 computers.

Access
Another area of library strength is its access. ACRL's nine questions in the access area can be easily addressed at SUU. Library hours per week are comparable to other university libraries in the state. The main collection is all cataloged using the Library of Congress system, rather than the mix of Dewey and Library of Congress systems just a few years ago. The library has a robust presence on the web and on the University's home page. More workstations for electronic access have been added for patrons. A book approval service, Blackwell's Book Services, and intrastate consortia arrangements strengthen acquisitions, borrowing and lending operations. As distance education programs grow at the University, access and service to off-site locations will need increased attention.

Staff
According to ACRL standards, "the staff should be sufficient in size and quality to meet the programmatic and service needs of its primary users. Librarians, including the director, should have a graduate degree from an ALA-accredited program. All library professionals should be responsible for and participate in professional activities. Professional library staff should be covered by a written policy that clearly establishes their status, rights and responsibilities."

The Sherratt Library has 8.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty, 6.3 professional staff, 4.0 classified staff, and 6.0 student employees. Peer institutions average 14.75 FTE with master of library science (or equivalent) credentials. Of the 8.2 FTE faculty in SUU's library, only 5.0 have a graduate degree from an ALA-accredited program. Neither the director nor assistant director, nor anyone with responsibilities for collection development has an ALA-accredited graduate degree. Further, two most-recently hired library faculty have been in instructional media, and do not have ALA-accredited graduate degrees.

The library has an on-going program to train faculty and staff, and, the library supports attendance at workshops, conferences and professional meetings. However, budgetary resources for ongoing training of library staff is limited. The library has about $7,000 each year for travel for 14.5 faculty and professional staff or $483 per person.

Policies regarding library faculty were updated in 1999-2000 to clarify their status, rights and responsibilities.

Facilities
The Sherratt library building, completed in 1996, is well-planned and secure; indeed it's a national award winner for university library facilities. It meets ACRL's eleven standards for a library.

Communication and cooperation
The flow of communication within the library and between the library and the academic departments is the focus of ACRL's eight questions this area. Data are limited on this area of library operations. No surveys of employees or faculty attitudes are known; no feedback or assessment mechanisms are in place to collect this information. Anecdotal and process descriptions may be available from library officials. Technical expertise needed to support or operate library systems is available to the library and its patrons.

In addition to its own newsletter to staff and regular faculty meetings, whose minutes are published to the staff, the library provides a liaison to each academic department, and it sends information campus-wide through campus publications.

Administration
Another strength of the library is the framework for its administrative operation. ACRL has seven questions on library governance and structure, policies, and operating foundation. The library is supervised by the chief academic officer. Policies for the operation of the library are current and accessible. A standing library committee with faculty and student representation advises the library on issues of policy and procedure.

Budget
Within the budgetary resources allotted to it, the library operates with fiscal soundness, and with latitude permitted by the university budget office. Several of ACRL's 12 questions in this area, however, are relevant to other standards addressed in this study:

- Is the budget adequate to meet the needs of the library?
- Is the college's curriculum taken into account when formulating the library's budget?
- Is the budget adequate to maintain an appropriate rate of collection development in fields pertinent to the curriculum?
- Is the size of the student body considered? Does it affect the library budget?
- Is the budget adequate to support an appropriate level of staffing and compensation?
- Does the budget consider support for extended campus programs?

As Table 2 indicates, the acquisitions budget of the Sherratt library is about $900,000 behind the average at peer institutions. Similarly, the total budget of the Sherratt library is $614,000 behind the average at peer institutions.

In 2000-2001, each department had about $5,100 in appropriated dollars for library acquisitions. At an average of $51 per book (to purchase, catalog, process, and shelve), that's 100 books allowed per department or 1,600 books for the University for the year in appropriated funds. Appropriations alone are not adequate. Over the last five years from all funding sources, the library added on average 18, 377 volumes. To bring the collection to the current average of SUU's peer institutions, 362,000 books are needed, one and a half times the size of the current Sherratt library collection. At the average increase over the last five years, it will take nearly 20 years to meet the 2001 peer average.

Requests for budget increases for the library are submitted to the Regents and State Legislature every year–both through the University and through statewide consortia projects. However, the requests are rarely funded. When funding is received, the funding is usually one-time money.

Recommendation

For years, Southern Utah University and Weber State University have used the same set of peer institutions for comparative studies on compensation, salary, staffing, tuition, curriculum, and library. The list of peer institutions is endorsed by the Commissioner's staff and approved by the Utah State Board of Regents. Because analyses of library collections correlate with enrollment and curriculum, it is misleading to make library comparisons to Masters I institutions with enrollments greater than 7,500. Some institutions on the Regents' approved list of peers can be used in comparative studies of libraries. Other institutions are not appropriate for such studies.

Table 3 illustrates size and financial differences when library statistical comparisons are made with 10 "more appropriate" peer institutions. The last page of this study contains a list of proposed peer institutions for non-compensation studies and suggests 15 institutions that could be used in non-compensation analyses. It is recommended that the Provost approve that SUU adopt a special list of peer institutions for library comparisons.

APPENDIX A

Association of College and Research Libraries
Standards for College Libraries 2000 Edition

TABLE 2: LIBRARY STATISTICAL COMPARISON TO INSTITUTIONAL PEERS

Institution	FTE Enrollment	Book Volumes	Volumes per Student	Current Serials	Acquisitions Budget	Total 1999 Budget	Total MLS Staff
Boise State University	10,847	520,947	48.03	3,675	$ 2,009,473	$ 4,867,604	15
California State University, Dominguez Hills	12,054	435,627	36.14	2,200	$ 861,517	$ 2,636,069	16
Clarion University of Pennsylvania	6,028	378,609	62.81	532	$ 361,469	$ 2,015,442	10
Indiana Univ/Purdue Univ at Fort Wayne	6,451	324,929	50.37	1,738	$ 475,097	$ 1,321,660	9
University of North Florida	12,000	704,799	58.73	3,000	$ 1,458,125	$ 3,390,038	20
University of Northern Iowa	13,000	849,241	65.33	3,280	$ 1,874,183	$ 5,576,872
University of Wisconsin at Whitewater	8,663	459,002	52.98	1,891	$ 790,235	$ 1,739,500
Western Carolina University	6,360	585,322	92.03	2,430	$ 1,557,518	$ 3,526,553	16
Western Washington University	11,600	800,000	68.97	4,900	$ 1,586,324	$ 4,356,704	15
Youngstown State University	12,801	591,817	46.23	3,373	$ 1,484,000	$ 3,632,289	17
AVERAGE	9,980	565,029	58.16	2,702	$ 1,245,794	$ 3,306,273	15
Southern Utah University	5,842	202,784	34.71	1,132	$ 346,883	$ 1,222,815	7
Difference from Average		(362,245.30)	-16.66	-1,570	$ (898,911)	$ (614,010)	-7.75
Percent Difference		-178.64%	-40.14%	-138.68%	-259.14%	-50.21%	-52.54%
Unit cost per item		$ 51					$ 35,000
Cost to Bring SUU to Peer Average		$ 18,474,510					$ 271,250
SOURCE: 2000-01 American Library Directory
SUU serials includes electronic, full-text serials.

TABLE 3: LIBRARY STATISTICAL COMPARISON TO LIBRARY PEERS

Institution	FTE Enrollment	Book Volumes	Volumes per Student	Current Serials	Acquisitions Budget	Total 1999 Budget	Total MLS Staff
Tarleton State University	7,433	319,517	42.99	2,208	$ 610,915	$ 1,442,405	12
University of Nebraska at Kearney	6,780	292,585	43.15	1,652	$ 623,384	$ 1,852,467	13
Clarion University of Pennsylvania	6,028	378,609	62.81	532	$ 361,469	$ 2,015,442	10
Indiana Univ/Purdue Univ at Fort Wayne	6,451	324,929	50.37	1,738	$ 475,097	$ 1,321,660	9
Winthrop University (SC)	5,840	361,168	61.84	2,706	$ 611,315	$ 1,986,263	14
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs	6,649	292,499	43.99	2,302	$ 701,039	$ 1,488,322	8
Salisbury State University (MD)	6,060	246,294	40.64	1,662	$ 356,458	$ 1,672,303	12
Western Carolina University	6,360	585,322	92.03	2,430	$ 1,557,518	$ 3,526,553	16
University of Wisconsin, River Falls	5,728	220,892	38.56	1,290			9
CSU--Stanislaus	6,489	329,335	50.75	1,984	$ 905,660	$ 2,312,082	9
AVERAGE	6,382	335,115	52.51	1,850	$ 689,206	$ 1,957,500	11
Southern Utah University	5,842	202,784	34.71	1,132	$ 346,883	$ 1,222,815	7
Difference from Average		132,331	17.80	718	$ 342,323	$ 734,685	4
Percent Difference		-39%	-34%	-39%	-50%	-38%	-37%
Unit cost per item		$ 40					$ 35,000
Cost to Bring SUU to Peer Average		$ 5,293,240					$ 271,250
SOURCE: 2000-01 American Library Directory
SUU serials includes electronic, full-text serials.

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Last Update: Friday, June 06, 2003