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Advance Your Career in the Information Age

Certificates are offered for students currently pursuing an SOIS master’s degree or for returning students.

  • Current students pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science degree (MLIS), Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM), or Master of Professional Studies (MPS) can earn a certificate, which provides a credential of specialization.
  • Returning Â鶹´«Ã½ MLIS or MSIM degree students can update their skills and boost their careers by earning a certificate.  Students who graduate with an MLIS or MSIM lacking one or more courses towards a certificate can enroll in the course(s) any time within five years of graduating in order to add the certificate to the MLIS or MSIM. Students must enroll as a student-at-large (credit-bearing), not as an auditor (non-credit-bearing).
  • Students with master’s degrees from accredited institutions, regardless of discipline, are eligible to enroll for the SOIS certificates. Students must enroll as students-at-large (credit-bearing), not as auditors (non-credit-bearing).

Students seeking two certificates may use courses that count toward more than one to fulfill requirements for both certificates. In other words, if a course is eligible for two certificates, the student need only take it once, and may apply its credit toward both. A minimum of 30 credit hours is still required for the Master of Professional Studies in Library and Information Science (MPS) degree, toward which two certificates may be applied.

  • Data and Knowledge Management Certificate (can be done post-baccalaureate as well as with an MLIS/MSIM or post-MLIS/MSIM)
  • Certificate of Special Study (can only be done post-MLIS)
  • Certificate in Executive Library Leadership is designed for library administrators with advanced degrees in non-LIS disciplines
  • The School of Information Studies, in partnership with the Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM), offers students a pathway to becoming a records and information management professional.

Certificate students work in collaboration with a faculty advisor who specializes in the appropriate field of concentration to shape a plan of study. Five three-semester-hour courses are required (15 semester hours total), unless course(s) are applied toward more than one certificate.

To apply to a School of Information Studies certificate program, please submit the following:

  • A completed
  • A personal essay of at least 500 words that addresses your reason for applying to our program and what you hope to gain from the experience
  • Official transcripts from the institution that awarded your bachelor’s degree or higher. Please request that the registrar(s) send the transcript directly to Â鶹´«Ã½, either in paper or electronically. Application-submitted transcripts must be submitted in a sealed envelope, signed across the seal

Accreditation

The certificate programs are accredited by the  (ALA). On January 20, 2023, ALA's Committee on Accreditation voted to continue the Â鶹´«Ã½ MLIS's full accreditation status for another seven-year term. The next comprehensive review will take place in 2029. 


Chicago's Only iSchool

Â鶹´«Ã½ is also a member of the , dedicated to advancing the information field. As Chicago’s only , Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s School of Information Studies has long been a presence on Chicago’s higher education landscape, first offering library science programs in the 1930s.

For more information,
please contact:

Office of Graduate Admission
Enrollment Management
gradinfo@dom.edu

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