Graduate Certificates

Graduate certificates can add additional job credentials to those seeking particular types of positions. They signal to employers that the holders of the certificates have concentrated coursework in that specialty. SLIS currently offers three graduate certificates:

• Archival Studies (G021) - "embedded" certificate with all courses in SLIS
• Digital Humanities (G315) - "interdisciplinary" certificate with courses in different departments
• Data Analytics for Information Professionals (G300) - "embedded" certificate with all courses in SLIS

General information about admissions to graduate certificate programs is available from the OU Graduate College. It includes:

"All students who intend to pursue a graduate certificate must complete the online application for graduate admission. A student who is admitted to a graduate degree program is not automatically granted admission to associated graduate certificate programs (including embedded certificates). Students enrolled in a graduate degree program who intend to pursue a graduate certificate must apply to add the graduate certificate program."  Please ensure you select the correct graduate certificate code when adding it to your program (see the 3 digit code next to the corresponding graduate certificate).

Students admitted solely to graduate certificate programs:

• are not candidates for a degree
• are not assured future admission to a degree program
• are not eligible for financial aid
• are limited to the maximum number of hours required for the graduate certificate"

Applicants must have earned at least a Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited university with a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher. Conditional admission is not allowed for graduate certificates.

The graduate certificate can be pursued in a number of ways:

• For "embedded" certificates, students in the home program can concurrently complete the certificate and the courses will count towards both the degree and the certificate (such as the Archives certificate and the MLIS)
• For "interdisciplinary" certificates, students in other OU graduate programs can concurrently complete the certificate and, depending upon the rules of their graduate program and their advisor's permission, should be able to count up to 9 credit hours from outside their discipline as general electives in their graduate program
• People who are not currently students at OU, but who have a completed a bachelor's or higher degree can pursue the graduate certificate

Additional specific information about graduate certificates is available in this Graduate Bulletin from the Graduate College.

The graduate certificate in Archival Studies will provide a formal indication of training which is imperative for securing an archivist position. It will endorse the abilities and knowledge of the certificate holders, thereby increasing their marketability.

• Most job ads for archivist positions require an MLIS from an ALA accredited program (Which OU SLIS is). They also require that the applicant has completed archival studies course work. The graduate certificate in Archival Studies will be a useful tool for MLIS students who are seeking archivist jobs as it easily verifies for employers that graduates have an archival studies background. 
• Also, the national organization for archivists, the Society of American Archivists (SAA), supports graduate certificates in archival studies citing research that hiring managers view them favorably, and even offering their own SAA certificate programs. http://www2.archivists.org/prof-education/certificate-programs
• While most archivist jobs require an MLIS, many also state “or related degree” with archival coursework. The American Historical Association shows in research on historians’ jobs that some percentage of degreed historians end up working in archives. For those students with related degrees rather than MLIS degrees, the graduate certificate in Archival Studies could be a useful tool for seeking employment in archives. https://www.historians.org/jobs-and-professional-development/career-resources/careers-for-students-of-history/historians-in-archives
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs for archivists, curators, and museum workers will grow at a rate of 7% from 2014 to 2024 (2,100 new jobs) http://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/curators-museum-technicians-and-conservators.htm

Digital Humanities is a rapidly developing multidisciplinary field supporting diverse forms of scholarship, particularly those in which researchers make use of computational power and digitization to interact with source materials in ways that would not be possible otherwise.

The Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities provides a pathway for individuals working in the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences to advance their understanding of how potential transformative methods, tools, models, applications, and theoretical frameworks are being put to use in expanding the scope and scale of inquiry in the humanities disciplines.

REQUIRED COURSE

• HSCI 5613 Issues and Methods in the Digital Humanities

GUIDED ELECTIVES - CHOOSE TWO in consultation with your certificate advisor.

Following are some possibilities for electives. Others may apply with permission.

• A HI 5913 Visual Culture in Theory and Practice 
• C S 5093 Visual Analytics 
• ENGL 5463 Rhetoric & Technology 
• GEOG 5623 Seminar in GIS Design 
• JMC 5970 Digital and Transmedia Theories 
• LIS 5343 Archival Concepts and Traditions 
• LIS 5453 Digital Collections 
• LIS 5613 Dynamic Web Development 
• LIS 5623 Introduction to Data Mining for Information Professionals 
• LIS 5673 Introduction to Information Visualization 
• LIS 5970 Digital Curation

REQUIRED INTERNSHIP: CHOOSE ONE

• HSCI 5623 Practicum/Internship in the Digital Humanities 
• LIS 5823 Internship in Library/Information Centers
• LIS 5940 Directed Project

The graduate certificate in Data Analytics will provide a formal indicator of training in skills currently in great demand by libraries and many other organizations and industries. The certificate curriculum is designed to teach students how to apply data tools to solve workplace problems and is appropriate for people who do not have a background in computer science.

• Students in the MLIS program can concurrently complete the data analytics certificate and the courses will count towards both the degree and the certificate
• Students in other OU graduate programs can concurrently complete the data analytics certificate and, depending upon the rules of their graduate program and their advisor's permission, should be able to apply eligible hours to both the graduate certificate and the degree
• People who are not currently students at OU, but who have completed a bachelor's or higher degree (with a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher), can pursue the graduate certificate