ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


26 /  C&RL News

The Off-Campus Library Services 
Conference

By Barton M. Lessin
Assistant Director fo r Library Off-Campus 

and Administrative Services
Central Michigan University

Educators from four countries address library services in 
support of non-traditional learning.

T he Off–campus Library Services Conference, 

sponsored by the Central Michigan University Li­
braries and the Institute for Personal and Career 
Development, was held at the Reno Hilton Hotel in 
Reno, Nevada, on O ctober 23-24, 1986, for a 
group of international educators representing the 
United States, Canada, England, and Australia. In 
attendance at this conference, which emphasizes 
the nature of the adult learner and the library ser­
vices necessary to support non-traditional learn­
ing, were librarians, administrators, and faculty 
members who are directly involved with the provi­
sion of academic programs and services to those 
pursuing courses away from the traditional college 
campus.

This m eeting was organized to com bine the 
comments of five invited featured speakers and 
presentations by individual practitioners who had 
had proposals accepted by the conference planning 
committee. Christine Crocker, senior librarian for 
reader services at Deakin University, in Geelong, 
Victoria, Australia, addressed the first plenary ses­
sion and supplied an overview of distance educa­
tion and library service in Australia with her pre­
se n ta tio n  e n title d , “ G e ttin g  it R ight D ow n 
Under.” Providing both historical perspective and 
visuals to support her presentation, Crocker em­
phasized the tremendous progress which has been

achieved during the last several years, but quickly 
admitted that there remains much to be achieved 
in support of the adult learner’s need for access to 
inform ation in Australia. Those in attendance 
were quick to recognize the similarity of problems 
faced by academicians in the U.S., Canada, and 
England in our efforts to assure quality library ser­
vices to off-campus students and faculty.

Ernest Savoie, director of the Employee Devel­
opment office at the Ford Motor Company, dis­
cussed the major role that Ford in concert with the 
UAW is playing in the career line education and 
training of its employees. Ford’s partnership with 
the UAW in affecting innovative educational op­
portunities and tuition assistance programs for 
hourly employees is recognized as a revolutionary 
step in employee education. Ford’s commitment to 
the upgrading of such programs includes education 
for dislocated workers, vocational training, life ed­
ucation, and basic skills enhancement programs. 
Savoie’s comments gave those in attendance in new 
perspective on the magnitude and scope of adult 
educational needs in America.

Robert Trullinger, director of the Institute for 
Personal and C areer Developm ent at C entral 
Michigan University, discussed the worker/student 
and the increasing impact of broad-based private 
sector reimbursement programs on the way aca­



January 1987 /  27

demic institutions offer programs off-campus. He 
predicted th a t in the near future the successful in­
stitutions will be those th a t prom ote lifelong learn­
ing and diversify their methods of delivery courses 
and support services. Trullinger noted th at innova­
tive ideas for conducting educational program s 
were being p u t forw ard by workers, unions, and 
managers who all seem eager to renegotiate some 
of the policies and procedures to which educators 
have adhered. As a p art of his presentation, T ru l­
linger offered suggestions to librarians for enhanc­
ing services to the non-traditional learner and en­
c o u ra g e d  th e  c o n fe re n c e  p a r tic ip a n ts  to be 
aggressive in making every effort to assure first-rate 
library services for all off-campus credit programs.

D r. Joyce Scott, executive vice-president and 
dean of faculty at W ichita State University, con­
structed an overview of higher education and a r­
gued th a t non-traditional programs are basic to its 
very survival. Major aspects of this presentation 
covered: 1) demographics of education, 2) charac­
teristics of students, 3) trends in governance and fi­
nance, and 4) condition of the academy. The pic­
ture painted by Scott was at the same tim e bleak 
and challenging. She noted th at it is incum bent on 
higher education to establish an agenda for change 
based on the lessons we have learned and em pha­
sizing service, innovation, and cooperation.

W illiam A. Gill Jr., chief of the Education Ser­
vices Branch of the D epartm ent of the Air Force’s 
Education Services Division, assisted the confer­
ence participants by putting the growth of adult 
learning into an historical perspective and provid­

ing a dem ographic background to the discussions. 
As more than 400,000 students annually partici­
pate in education program s offered through the Air 
Force, Gill is in an excellent position to assess the 
m arket and the change which is required to make 
off-campus education more qualitatively attrac­
tive. As an example, Gill cited the uneven aca­
demic programs of the 1970s and the Air Force’s ef­
forts to carefully weed out program s which did not 
m eet specific Air Force criteria for quality. He 
noted th a t both w ithin and beyond the m ilitary the 
m arket for non-traditional education is growing 
and th a t colleges and universities need to create 
m ultifaceted and cooperative plans to serve the 
new student.

The concurrent paper session covered a wide 
range of topics, including specific case studies of li­
b rary  support developm ent, perceptions of stu­
dents in regard to library services off-campus, in­
structional resources as a support function of the 
library off-campus, online searching for the off- 
campus student, and the library as a piece of the 
off-campus puzzle. Also discussed in these sessions 
were faculty perspectives, separate library collec­
tions for off-campus sites, models for providing li­
brary services, interactive communications tech­
nology a n d  th e  o ff-c a m p u s s tu d e n t, a n d  th e  
challenges and rewards for the library of working 
w ith part-tim e faculty.

The proceedings of the Off-campus L ibrary Ser­
vices Conference are in preparation at this time 
and will include the com m ents of the featured 
speakers in addition to the concurrent session pre­



28 /  C b R L  News

sentations. The cost will be $15. Those interested in
receiving inform ation about the conference or pro­
ceedings are encouraged to contact: B arton M.

 Lessin, C entral Michigan University, 208 Park L i­
b ra ry , M ount P leasant, MI 48859; (517) 774- 
6419. ■  ■

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