Programmatic Performance and Student Achievement

Background

Queens College is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), which serves a diverse student body, by providing affordable, quality education. Queens College’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies (GSLIS) is primarily a part time master’s degree program. Currently we have more than 300 students, most of them working full time and attending our graduate program part time.

Graduation Rate

On average, we expect students to be able to finish the degree within 4 years. We are able to achieve this expectation (see table 1).

Table 1: Percentage of 2014 - 2020 MLS students graduated within 4 years

The actual time needed to complete the degree for students who have graduated in the past few years is between two and a half years to three years (see table 2).  

Table 2: Number of years to completion for MLS students who graduated 2017 - 2024 

Retention Rate

Table 3, below, illustrates the retention rate for our students. 

Table 3: Retention rate from 2015 to 2023. * 

*Due to the nature of our part time student body, in the above table, students who have skipped a semester then resumed matriculation status are still counted as continuing students in the retention rate.

Job Placement

Employment surveys with our graduates, along with LinkedIn data are used to determine the extent to which our graduates are holding positions relevant to the MLS degree after graduation. Survey results among graduates from 2017 to 2023 are summarized below, in Table 4. These results indicate that greater than most of our graduates were holding positions relevant to the MLS degree within 12 months after graduation.

Table 4: Survey results among graduates, from 2017 to 2023. *

*We participated in Library Journal's Placement and Salary survey in May 2022. The related data collected from our 2021 (Calendar Year) graduates who participated in the survey generally agree with our job placement survey results as reported in Table 4: Of the total 46 participants, 39 had jobs, with 37 employed either by a library/information science institution or in a library/information science capacity and only 2 employed outside of the LIS field. 

Archives Certificate Graduates 

• Employment data for graduates who received the Archives Certificate shows success similar to that of the MLS program as a whole.

• Based on the data we collected, 87% Archives Certificate graduates are currently or were formerly employed in a LIS-related field.

• The Archives Certificate graduates successfully find employment in a LIS-related field following graduation at a rate of 79.3%.

Student and Alumni Accomplishment

We post students and alumni accomplishment regularly in our departmental web site. See https://sites.google.com/view/qcgslis/news-events/blog-archive

GSLIS Alumni can continue their lifelong learning and can help support current and future GSLIS students in the process by engaging in the following activities:

• Guest Lectures & Presentations – GSLIS alumni are welcome to explore the possibilities of giving a presentation or serving as a guest lecturer in a specific LIS area of expertise.

• Professional Development Workshops – GSLIS alumni are welcome to explore the possibilities of conducting professional development workshop(s) in a specific LIS area of expertise.

• Recruitment – GSLIS alumni are poised to be the best recruiting tool available for the discipline and the profession. As such GSLIS alumni are encouraged to share their experiences with co-workers, friends and family and to put prospective students in contact with the GSLIS graduate advisor for admissions.

• Mentoring – GSLIS alumni are encouraged to assist current students by providing insights into competencies required in various professional areas, assessing current skill sets and suggesting possible projects and activities for enhancement, and establishing the beginnings of a professional network.

• Practicum, Internship & Placement – GSLIS alumni are encouraged to facilitate practicums and internships as a means for current students to gain relevant professional work experience prior to graduating and entering the workforce. Likewise as alumni in the workforce seek new staff for their organizations GSLIS remains a prime source for potential candidates. Our Internship Course Coordinator can facilitate arranging an internship and can also assist in posting job openings and career opportunities.