PRACTICES FOR EVALUATION AND APPROVAL
OF ANNUAL CONFERENCE CE COURSES

Draft Report Submitted by the Professional Development Committee

Background

The Professional Development Committee has been given direction by the Board of Directors to work with SLA staff in creating guidelines to be used for the evaluation and approval of continuing education courses to be given at the Annual Conference. Any CE course or workshop given or cosponsored by the Association or any of its duly constituted units may now be schedules at any time during the Annual Conference, except during the General Sessions and the Annual Business Meeting. In order to avoid course duplication and to maintain rigorous standards for all Annual Conference CE courses, the Professional Development Committee will approve the content of such courses prior to when the course is given.

Introduction

As of January 1, 1991 all Annual Conference continuing education offerings must be reviewed and approved by the Professional Development Committee. The Committee's goal is to ensure the presentation of quality courses of interest to members, at a reasonable cost, without duplication.

Definition of Continuing Education Offering

A continuing education offering is any program, course or workshop given or cosponsored by the Association or any of its duly constituted units that is intended to educate an identified target audience according to specified learning objectives. Annual Conference CE courses may be distinguished from regular Annual Conference programming by the following characteristics:

1) Course Content

CE courses cover topics in greater depth than most Conference programs, or cover more aspects of a topic than a Conference program can accomplish. Course content is based on a well-defined set of learning objectives. Association units should concentrate on topics that are consistent with their primary scope of operation, as well as being specific to the learning needs of unit members;

2) Length

CE courses are typically longer than the average Conference program. Any offering of less than four (4) hours would be in competition with regular Conference programming and would thus not be desirable;

3) Instruction

Knowledgeable instructors are directly involved in the development of a CE course, determining learning objectives, planning and conducting the course;

4) Evaluation

Major aspects of each CE course are evaluated by participants, in written format, including evaluation of program content, instructors, and administration;

5) Fees

1. Registration fees, separate and distinct from Conference registration, are charged for CE courses. Fees must be at least equal to those charged by Association headquarters for a program of similar duration, in the previous year.

Evaluation Criteria

Potential Annual Conference CE courses will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1) Course precedents

The Committee will take into consideration the history (if any) of the proposed CE course, including the number of times held and the results of program evaluations. The overall history and quality of the program as determined by participants will be a primary factor in evaluating potential CE courses. The Committee will review:

• Previous offerings
• Evaluation results/track record

It should be noted that written evaluations will be extremely important for future reviews and approval. The components of the evaluation should be clear and comprehensive, in order to maintain consistent and comparable information. The evaluations process should cover major aspects of the CE experience, including organization input, the design, content and operations of the course, and the extent to which intended learning outcomes were achieved;

2) Course content

The topic of the course should be consistent with the overall purpose of the Association unit

involved. It is the Committee's intent to offer the broadest range of CE courses possible, while

avoiding duplication in course content. The Committee will consider:

• Target audience - the program should be planned in response to the identified needs of a target audience
• Learning objectives - the sponsoring unit must have clear and concise written statements of intended learning objectives
• Course outline - the course content and instructional methodologies must be consistent with the stated learning objectives and must permit the participant to exchange and receive feedback
• Uniqueness factor - the degree of overlap or duplication of subject material with other courses will be taken into consideration;

3) Instruction

Knowledgeable instructional personnel should be directly involved in determining he program's goals and learning objectives, as well as conducting the course. A brief statement of qualification, including prior teaching experience and/or subject expertise, together with a list of previous courses/workshops taught must beprovided;

4) Administration

The sponsor of the course must provide or arrange for appropriate educational facilities, instructional aids and equipment consistent with the purpose, design, and intended learning objectives of the program. For the purpose of scheduling courses and maintaining conformity in registration fees, the Committee will review

• Length - a CE course/workshop must be a minimum of 1/2 day in duration, i.e., 4 contact hours
• Time/date preference
• Proposes fee(s)
• Estimated attendance/attendance limits.

The Review Process

The Committee will review CE courses requests each August for the Annual Conference to be held the following year. Requests must be submitted to the Senior Director for Conferences and Professional Development, Special Libraries Association, 1700 Eighteenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009. Deadline for submission of a CE course request is August 1.

The Chair, Professional Development will notify the course contact person and Association headquarters of action taken on CE course requests as soon as possible and no later than September 15 of each year.

Should the course be rejected for whatever reason, the sponsoring unit is entitled to resubmit the course one time for the same Annual Conference. In such a case, the Chair, Professional Development will notify the sponsoring unit as close to the August 1 submission date as is possible. The sponsoring unit will then have the opportunity to resubmit the course request. The Committee will be more than happy to offer guidance to any sponsoring unit whose initial course application has been rejected. All course requests will be returned to their sponsoring units by September 15, in order that the sponsors can meet the November 1 deadline for the Annual Conference Preliminary Program.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE CE COURSE

REQUEST FORM

Title of Course: ___________________________________________

Sponsoring Unit: __________________________________________ Contact Name: ________________________

Business Telephone ___________________

Fax ___________________

Target Audience: _________________________________________

Learning Objectives:

1) ____________________________________________________

2) ____________________________________________________

3) ____________________________________________________

Course Content (Please limit description to 50 words)

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

History (Please attach evaluation results for previous offerings of this course) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Instructional qualifications:

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Duration (If a full day course, please indicate if lunch will be provided): ______________________________________________________

Fees(s): _____________________________

Do you plan to offer Continuing Educations Units (CEUs): Yes ________ No ________

Estimated Attendance/Attendance Limit: _________________________________

Preferred Date: ____________________ Time: from __________ to __________

Alternate Date: ____________________ Time: from __________ to __________

As submitted by: Professional Development

Chair: Judy Macfarlane

Members:

William Fisher
Judy Genesen
Arlyne Jackson
Karen Melville
Cynthia Mitchell
Susan Savage