SLIS Admissions

The School of Library and Information Sciences (SLIS) at NCCU offers various programs that meet the emerging needs of 21st century information professionals.  We offer two degrees, five joint degrees, and three certificates (see the SLIS Ecatalog for more details).

SLIS graduate degrees are versatile and meet critical workforce needs.  We are looking for students from all fields, with interests in a variety of areas, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Information behavior: health information behavior, the use of information and technology by individuals of all ages, and scholarly communication.
2. Digital youth: the interactions of young adults and children with technology and libraries, digital literacy and practices, makerspaces, social media, and digital ethics.
3. Social and cultural studies: all aspects of archival research and practice, marginalized and unrepresented communities, multicultural librarianship, social justice, history, race and gender studies, and libraries and society.
4. Leading and managing libraries: global librarianship, digital librarianship, metadata, collection development, selection and use of information sources, digital preservation, resources for specialized areas and user groups, and marketing and branding for libraries.
5. Digital humanities: use of computational tools and methods to explore humanities-based questions, user-centered design of digital humanities online resources, and developing collaborative spaces and practices to facilitate digital humanities scholarship.
6. Digital STEM for health: use of computational tools and methods to explore STEM-based questions to address healthcare issues, innovative approaches to health informatics, discovery of patterns in health disparities, and development of mobile health solutions.
7. Information systems: information retrieval; data analytics, informetrics, bibliometrics, and informatics; knowledge management; artificial intelligence and expert systems; text mining; and   information security and information privacy.
8. Information policy: philosophy of information, information theory development and diffusion, the information industry, law and information, and intellectual property and information systems.

Please adhere to the following deadlines for acceptance into our degree programs:

• April 30 for Summer admission
• July 1 for Fall admission
• November 1 for Spring admission

1. Online graduate admission application: Applicants need to create an account in the NCCU online application system. Please note that your application cannot be completed until all required materials and a non-refundable application fee ($50.00) are received.
2. Degree: At least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in the US.
3. GPA/grades: Cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of at least 2.75 (“A”= 4.0) on all undergraduate work (exceptions to the 2.75 GPA requirement may be made for applicants with relevant professional experience).
4. Official transcripts: Official copies of transcripts from all colleges and universities attended (must be received in sealed university envelopes).
5. Letters of recommendation: At least two relevant professional or academic letters of recommendation (access forms through the online application; recommenders need to upload letters of recommendation)
6. Statement of purpose:
   • This statement should be approximately 700–800 words (2–3 pages)
   • Please discuss the following in the statement:
     • How your personal, academic and work experiences have influenced you to apply for this program.
     • What your professional objectives are and how you want to arrive at them.
     • How you hope to contribute to positive change in the field, especially in light of the School’s mission “to prepare professionals to become leaders who can advance the library and information sciences in a diverse and global society.”
7. Resume or curriculum vitae (CV):
   • This document should be less than 2 pages long.
   • Please include work experience related to the library and information professions, as well as other types of employment experience, and volunteer or community activities. 
8. International applicants may have additional requirements such as TOEFL scores or a financial statement as well as different application deadlines. Please refer to the information on the International Applicants page [ADD LINK] for more detailed information.

The SLIS Admissions Committee reviews each applicant’s complete application and supporting documents.  Each item in the complete application package is important and is reviewed holistically to determine an admission decision.

If you have questions about application procedures, please contact Dr. Patrick Roughen, chair of the SLIS Admissions Committee ([email protected]).

If you wish to return to the SLIS after an absence of more than one semester, please contact Dr. Eun Young Yoo-Lee, SLIS program director for Student Affairs, ([email protected]) to discuss the re-enrollment process.  Depending on how you stepped out of the program, you may need to reapply through “Apply Yourself” to be readmitted to the program.  The readmission deadlines are the same as the regular admission deadlines listed above.