Fall registration info

Fall registration begins April 6, 2008 at 10pm! The schedule of classes is available here.

New! Alicia has put together these fabulous tools to help you plan your course of study:

SLMS Course of Studies Planner (pdf)
Coursework for SLMS Certification - On Campus (pdf)
Coursework for SLMS Certification - Online (pdf)

For more info on planning your course of study, check out the Classes page on our RASL website.

Meeting minutes from 3/26/08

Opening Announcements
1. Discussed scholarships available for MLIS students:
- Carol Gordon brought up a scholarship not on the agenda: CISSL scholarship includes working about 5 hours per week as a research assistant for her or another professor in the department- email her if interested in applying (cgordon@scils.rutgers.edu)
-Al Saley Memorial Scholarships- 3 for $750; apply by May 1
(http://www.emanj.org/Awards.htm)
-Phi Beta Mu: check website (www.beta-phi-mu.org/scholarships.html)
-Executive Women of New Jersey (http://www.ewnj.org/scholarships.htm)

2. Fun Events
-NJ Children's/YA Author Panel: register online (http://www.njstatelib.org/News/news_item.php?item_id=932)
-NJLA conference: April 29-May 1; early registration ends on April
4 (then the price goes up!)
-April is School Media Month: check out the ALA website
(www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslissues/aasladvocacy/schoollibrary.cfm)

3. Elections
- Jessica Emili was elected secretary
- Treasurer position is still open

4. Scheduling and advising
-RASL Advisor Carol Gordon offered the following advice: Plan backwards! plan your last semester first so that you have less trouble distributing course work; save your elective for summer session- you will have more options because additional classes are offered through the WISE consortium; suggested electives for the school media concentration are collection development and social networking
-2 professional development courses are offered in the summer- these are online courses: 575 "Management of School Library Programs" and
592 "Field Work" are CO-requisites- plan on taking them together!
-575 is only offered in the spring- there's a possibility of getting into the online class in the fall, but don't count on it as online students have first priority in scheduling
-List of required School media courses was made available at the meeting, as well as a list of when courses are offered
(fall/spring/summer) [This will be posted on the website.]

RASL meeting this week!

Wow! It's that time again already. :-) We're meeting before the colloquium, this Wednesday at 5 pm in the SCILS lounge.

On the agenda this week: Registering for Fall 2008 and Planning Your Course of Studies. Also, Carol Gordon will be speaking with us, and we'll be sharing info re: scholarships and upcoming events.

Pizza will be served. Hope to see you there!

At last... the RASL meeting update!

I enjoyed the first RASL meeting of the semester (my first ever!). I’m in the online program, so it was great to get to campus and meet everyone. Here’s a quick recap of the agenda and what we covered.

Origins of RASL - Check out the RASL website for a brief history of our organization.

NJ Department of Education requirements for School Library Certifications - The most up-to-date information can be found here on the SCILS website.

Plan of Study for SMLS and timing of classes - Did you know that the School Library Medial Specialist track allows only one elective? Did you know that some required courses are offered only in the fall semester or only in the spring semester? Several of our members have run into trouble with the timing of their classes, and strongly recommend faculty advising sessions as you map out your plan of study. We are working to include the timing of classes on the RASL website. In the meantime, the SCILS website lists required courses here.

SLMS jobs - Members talked about various websites that post job openings for school library media specialists. We have a list of job links on the RASL website that we are looking to update. If you know of a job website, please post it as a comment here, or email Renee.

NJASL and other library organizations - "Network, network, network!" was the advice from several of our members. Get involved in RASL and NJASL, NJLA and ALA. Student volunteers can often attend conferences for free or at reduced rates. Links to these and other professional organizations are on the RASL website. Be sure to look for discount student memberships when you join!

Forum: What do you want from RASL? - Everyone had lots of great ideas. Check out Kristie's post below, and please feel free to send your suggestions to us as comments on this blog, or via email.

Next meeting: Thursday, February 21, 5 pm SCILS lounge. Hope to see you then!

Policies and Procedures

Am I NOT allowed to take something? Do I need to get permission for classes? Ask your rules and regulations questions here!

Programs of Study

Have a question about what classes to take? What order to take them in? Ask it here!