UBC SLAIS/Journalism/Media Studies Merger Not Moving Ahead

April 22, 2017

In a message sent to iSchool students on Friday afternoon, the UBC School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) announced that the proposal to merge SLAIS with the School of Journalism and the Bachelor of Media Studies program to form a new School of Media, Information and Journalism will not be happening at this time.

From: iSchool Information <ischool.info@ubc.ca>
Subject: Integration plan update
Date: April 21, 2017 at 4:23:32 PM PDT

On behalf of Luanne Freund:

Dear students,

As you know, we have been discussing and working towards an integration of the iSchool, the School of Journalism and the Bachelor of Media Studies program over the past year, with the aim of getting approval this spring and merging in the summer. However, in the final round of discussion it became apparent that the proposal lacked sufficient support and therefore the Acting Dean of Arts decided not to take this forward at this time.

As a result, I am sharing the news that the integration will not take place this summer, and SLAIS, the iSchool, will be business as usual for the coming academic year. I want to thank all those who participated in the consultation process, as the input we received was very valuable. We will continue to keep you informed and to solicit input as we carry out strategic planning for the school. All the best for a pleasant and productive summer.

Sincerely,

Luanne Freund

Luanne Freund
Associate Professor and Acting Director
SLAIS, the iSchool @ UBC
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada