This article was originally written by a full-time on-campus student in 2011 but has since been updated by two current Simmons students and a recent graduate in 2022. Below are short bios and reasons why we chose Simmons over other programs as a preface to where our opinions are coming from. In sections of this article that ask for personal experiences, we share our individual experiences prefaced by our names.
Macy: I completed the dual MA Children’s Literature/MS Library and Information Science program in January 2022. I started at Simmons in the fall of 2019, thus most of my grad school experience was during the COVID-19 Pandemic. I applied to numerous programs across the country, but ultimately chose Simmons because they’re the only program in the country that offers a dual degree with children’s literature and they also offered me the most financial support through scholarships.
Melissa: I began the MS Library and Information Science program in Fall 2021 with the declared intention to pursue the Information Science and Technology concentration. Since I have a full-time job (plus the pandemic), I decided to complete the program online. Since I work in the Boston area and have co-workers who are also in the program, I only applied to Simmons for library school. I also plan to remain in New England for my career, so there was also the consideration of name-recognition when I chose Simmons.
Paige: I started Simmons’ MLIS program in the Fall 2020 as a full-time online student with a concentration in Cultural Heritage Informatics. I applied to other schools on the East Coast with the intention of moving to go to grad school, but ended up staying in Pennsylvania to complete the program online due to the pandemic. I chose Simmons because of its archives and cultural heritage courses and because Simmons offered me a generous scholarship that made the program cost much less than other schools.
About Simmons
The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) is part of the College of Organizational, Computational, and Information Sciences (COCIS) at Simmons University. Simmons offers classes on their Boston campus, online, and at SLIS West on Mt. Holyoke’s campus in Western Massachusetts. Students can fully complete their degree on either campus or entirely online. Students are also able to take a mix of online and in-person classes.
Simmons is a small university with a small campus. The Palace Road Building houses the SLIS programs and has a student lounge and a tech lab that are specifically designated for SLIS Students. The Main Campus Building has dining options, study space, and the campus bookstore. Beatley Library is expected to reopen in May 2022 after a renovation process and a newly renovated library might be attractive to prospective graduate students.
Boston is essentially one big college town with over 50 institutions of higher education in the metropolitan Boston area. As a student at Simmons, you are also a part of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium and have access to many of the services at the other participating institutions.
Concentrations and dual degree:
Simmons offers several concentrations that allow students to specialize their LIS degree: Archives Management, Cultural Heritage, Information Science and Technology, and School Library Teacher. But if you don’t want one of these specializations, you can do the Design-Your-Own curriculum that allows you to choose exactly what classes you want to take in addition to the three required courses for everyone on information organization, information sources and services, and technology. The Archives program is ranked number one in the country at the time of this post.
For some guidance in between a concentration and DYO program, Simmons faculty have also developed five “tracks,” which won’t appear on your transcript like a concentration would, but can help you select courses according to your particular interests. These five tracks include Information Organization, Management and Leadership, Preservation Management, User Services, and Youth Services.
There are also several degree options through SLIS. The majority of students work towards the Master of Science in Library and Information Science, but other degrees include dual degrees with the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts and Humanities in Archives/History, LIS/Children’s Literature. There is also a BS/MS program and a PhD in LIS. Finally, there are post-Masters certificate programs in Archives Management and the School Library Teacher certificate.
Financial aid:
A single credit at GSLIS currently at the time of this post is $1,335, and most courses are 3 credits each. There is also a single $60 fee per semester. In terms of full cost, $1335 a credit x 3 credits for one class is approximately $4000 per class. There are 12 classes required to graduate (more in a dual degree program), which makes the full cost around $48,000.
All applicants are automatically considered for merit-based scholarships. If you submit your application by the priority deadline, you are considered for the “most competitive awards,” according to the website. You’ll need to take at least two or three courses depending on the level of the award and maintain a 3.0 GPA to hold on to it. Simmons will send you a separate letter outlining your merit scholarship along with your letter of acceptance.
Beyond the regular merit and need-based financial assistance, the program also has several graduate fellowship positions. There are two different types. The first is the Graduate Student Assistantships (GSA). These are awarded to the top five applicants for fall semester (who apply by the early deadline), so as you would imagine, they’re tough to get. You’re notified if you’ve received one when you get your admission letter. It requires you take at least three courses in fall and spring semesters and work for 10-hours per week. It awards you tuition remission for two (of the three) courses as well as hourly pay. The second type of fellowship is even more elite, the Dean’s Fellowships. These need to be applied for specifically (you won’t be considered through just your admission application). These fellowships give you a full tuition scholarship and require 20-hours per week of work. Appointments are typically one year, but may be extended to two. Some examples of these include the Dean’s Fellowships for Social Media and Communications or Information Technology Support.
It’s also a good idea to look at professional associations to look for scholarships. Simmons hosts a list of outside scholarships on this website (scroll to the very bottom). Another place to look is the American Library Association’s scholarships, since there are many and they’re for a variety of applicants. You should also check out if your state professional association has scholarships available (just google “[your state’s name] library association scholarships”). More specific associations offer scholarships as well, for example the American Indian Library Association or the Music Library Association. There’s a lot so if you spend some time digging, you’ll find something that applies to you.
Coursework:
At SLIS, we have 9 credit hour core courses that we must take. The degree is a 36 credit-hour program, which takes about 2 years to complete if you go to school full-time (three classes per semester for four semesters).
- Information Sources and Services
- Information Organization
- Technology for Information Professionals
You must take these classes within your first twelve hours of coursework in the program but many of the electives require that you’ve already taken certain ones. Like other programs, the electives can be tailored to your own interests. If you are in a concentration or a dual degree program, you will have more core classes and fewer electives to choose from. Simmons also offers WISE courses which are online courses from other library and information science programs at schools across the country. These course options change every semester.
We all have different experiences with core courses and elective options based on the programs we’ve selected and find it best to discuss them individually.
Macy: Being in a dual degree program is more limiting to your class schedule than other programs, so I primarily took the four youth services courses offered at Simmons (Collections and Materials for Children, Collections and Materials for Young Adults, Programs and Services for Children, and Programs and Services for Young Adults) in addition to Storytelling and Public Libraries. The youth services courses feel a little repetitive if you take all of them, and I wish that there were more youth services offerings that cover a more broad array of subjects. Though not part of LIS, I really enjoyed my Children’s Literature courses and they complimented my LIS classes well. The capstone course for the program did feel a bit lacking. So if you’re interested in a dual-degree program it might be worthwhile to find out how the coursework of both degrees might intersect and what kind of culminating experience there is.
Melissa: Like I mentioned above, I’m doing the Information Science and Technology concentration. I’ve only finished one semester, so I’ve just been working at completing the program requirements (I did Information Sources & Services and Information Organization). This semester, I’m beginning to chip away at concentration requirements. There are three classes you must take in this concentration: Theories of Information Science, Introduction to Programming, and Database Management. In addition to those, you must complete two from a wide variety of options (too many to list here), but some of which are: Data Interoperability, Web Development and Information Architecture, Social Informatics, or Digital Libraries. After those, you have four electives. Prospectively, I plan to take elective courses such as Academic Libraries, Principles of Management, etc.
Paige: Though I initially applied to Simmons on the general “Design Your Own” track to have the most flexibility with elective options, I quickly realized that the Cultural Heritage Informatics concentration (which is a few years old now) fit all my interests while still providing the opportunity to take all the electives I wanted. While I was interested in archives, I didn’t want to commit to taking almost exclusively archives courses that the archives concentration entails. The Cultural Heritage concentration, on the other hand, combines a bit of archives, while also focusing on all kinds of institutions (libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, etc.) and digital collections management. The CHI curriculum requires an introductory Concepts in Cultural Heritage, Intro to Archives, Digital Asset Management, and at least one Preservation course, and also allowed me to take a variety of electives in courses like Metadata, Digital Libraries, and Rare Books and Special Collections.
Internship availability:
Students in Intro to Archives (which is required for both the Archives and Cultural Heritage concentrations) are required to participate in a 60-hour internship field experience. Students in the School Library Teacher program are also required to undertake field experience and a practicum totaling 75 hours of fieldwork and at least 300 hours of professional experience.
For those not in either of those programs, there is the course LIS 512 Advanced Field Experience which is an internship course requiring some online coursework and a 130-hour internship. This course is available for students in all fields and Simmons helps find internship placements for students in this course. For example, there is a dedicated internship position at the Boston Public Library in teen services for someone enrolled in the field experience course. It is important to note that both the required field experiences and LIS 512 involve unpaid work.
There are also resources for students looking for internship opportunities on their own. The COCIS Jobline, a job board run by Simmons adds new postings regularly and students get a rundown of the postings sent weekly to their student emails. The career center has a LibGuide on library and archives careers to use as a starting point and the Career Education Center offers support in various ways to both students and alumni. Simmons annually holds a spring career fair for SLIS students as well.
Student Involvement:
There are numerous student groups at SLIS including multiple student chapters of large professional groups such as the American Library Association, The Society of American Archivists, and the Association for Information Science and Technology. A full list of the student groups can be found by following this link.
Some of the groups are more active than others and much in terms of how these groups operate and interact has changed due to COVID-19. These groups may also be inaccessible to online students.
LISSA, the Library and Information Sciences Student Association, is perhaps the most active student group and serves as a communicatory body between students and faculty as well as planning many social events. SLIS West has their own student association for this purpose—LISSA West.
In terms of student involvement and support, SLIS also offers student professional development funds on a first-come, first-serve basis. The amount is usually $200 per person, but is subject to change. These funds can be used to pay for membership for professional associations, conference registration fees, or other forms of professional development. You must apply ahead of time to get your funds approved, but SLIS sends an email reminder each semester and the process is pretty straight forward. Due to COVID-19 these funds currently can’t be used for travel fees, but that may change again moving forward.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Below we discuss individual strengths and weaknesses we see with Simmons.
Macy: In terms of strengths, the dual degree program with Children’s Literature is a well-rounded program. I loved my children’s lit classes and the way I was able to connect the two pieces of the program. I will say that the children’s lit classes felt more rigorous than the library science classes, though one is an academic degree and one is a professional degree. My answers may be skewed as I learn best in-person though due to the pandemic, I did a majority of my program online. All of my on-campus experiences felt like they were worth the cost of tuition.
When considering weaknesses, I don’t know if I can say Simmons was worth the cost, especially if you’re interested in youth services. The youth services track is really just four youth services courses taught by two professors (neither of which has much recent experience in a public library) and there is a lot of overlap in the content of these courses. These courses are also primarily offered as evening courses so if you don’t want to be on campus or on a computer until 9 PM, I would take that into account. I did get a job right after completing my degree, but I don’t think that a Simmons education in particular contributed to that, other than, perhaps, my second masters in Children’s Literature.
I’m glad I studied at Simmons, but I don’t think I would have chosen the program if not for the dual degree program that I wanted. In terms of COVID, I think Simmons handled the situation relatively well and if I were entering grad school now, I would definitely want to know about how the school had handled the initial pandemic and the return to in-person learning. When Simmons announced that everyone would have to test weekly in the fall of 2021, there were some flaws with their communication that disappointed me, but other than that I have no major complaints about how the pandemic has been handled.
Melissa: Since I work full-time, the online-program was the only viable option for me. I come from a teaching background, so I was deeply concerned that the online classes would lack rigor and be disorganized and/or glitchy. I have been impressed so far with how well Simmons has adapted its program to work well in an online environment. You know how sometimes online classes can just be in-person classes that have been stuffed into a digital setting? This is NOT what happens at Simmons. The classes were designed from top-to-bottom to be online by professors in concert with Simmons’ Technology Specialists. Moreover, the program is almost entirely asynchronous. This flexibility is the only reason I can do this degree and keep my job at the same time.
The professors/staff I’ve encountered so far have also been respectful and supportive. When I got sick a few times in the first semester, my professors were patient and understanding. I’ve also had dealings with the technology, admissions, and student services departments. Every department was 1.) polite, 2.) helpful, 3.) responsive. Two-factor authentication not working? Fixed that day. Need an email sent for a scholarship? Sent within the hour. Want to switch into a different course? Handled before classes started. I’ve been shocked by how good Simmons’ customer service has been so far (but my expectations may have been kind of low!).
In terms of weaknesses, since I haven’t been here very long, I don’t see many. The only thing I could gripe about is the group-work aspect. Let me preface, I get why professors have us do it. It’s good for us to meet people (especially if you’re online) and collaborating is so helpful in the learning process. The professors also try to structure assignments to be as fair as possible. The issue is human nature. For every. single. one. of my group projects, I was the first person to make contact. Most of the time, I was responsible for setting up logistics (meeting times, zoom links, document sharing, etc.). There were even times when it was clear that my partner was just copying my work by saying they had the same answers. I get that everyone learns and works differently, but, honestly, it would get to me sometimes. I don’t have a good answer to how to solve this issue.
Paige: As I start my final semester at Simmons, I’ve been pleased with the curriculum and course offerings that match my personal interests in various topics like special collections, digitization, preservation, cataloging, and metadata. I was able to set up a course plan with my advisor before my first semester and stick with it all the way through. My advisor was helpful and approachable during my time at Simmons—and I would say the majority of the professors were as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to email a professor to find out more about their classes before selecting courses to register for. I also had a better time communicating with Simmons’ admissions and financial aid departments (especially compared to much larger schools’ admissions back when I was applying to other schools). At Simmons, we’re given individual financial aid officers, so I knew who to contact when I wanted to redistribute my scholarship to take a summer class, for instance.
Like Melissa mentioned, most of the online classes are very structured and thoughtful as online classes—not just thrown together online because of the pandemic. Though I’ve only taken online classes, they could be quite varied depending on if they were totally asynchronous or if they had synchronous sessions once a week. I’m grateful to have had a variety of async and synchronous classes, however, because both have their pros and cons. Asynchronous classes often lacked personal contact—unless you were meeting regularly with classmates for group work—and some relied too heavily on repetitive discussion board posts. On the other hand, synchronous classes were often very draining three-hour Zoom sessions that didn’t have as much flexibility in terms of scheduling (most were scheduled in the evenings from 6 to 9 pm).
Group projects are very common—usually at least one per class. One of my classes was even a semester-long group project with each person organized into two committees to divide up the work for the semester. These projects were sometimes frustrating and sometimes rewarding—they’re hard to avoid in grad school, so just be prepared. I did appreciate how most course assignments focused on projects that I could discuss and show off to potential employers. Instead of just exams and papers (though there were some research papers), I’ve created Omeka exhibits, recorded individual and group presentations, created tutorials, coded a personal website, and built a digital library. Though some people complain about the emphasis on theory in MLIS programs, I’ve been pretty happy with the fairly realistic projects I’ve been assigned.
Categories: Hack Your Program
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