Joseph P. Mika, former director of the Library and Information Science Program from 1986 until 1993, has agreed to serve as imerim director of the LIS program after Dian VValster stepped out her role as director and took an open faculty position. "The Dean asked me to consider it and I agreed to do it because I like and respect the Dean very much,'' said Mika.

Mika joined Wayne State University in 1986 when he was recruited as director of the Library and Information Science Program. Mika was pivotal in getting the program its accreditation back, which had been lost. Within 18 months Mika doubled the number of LIS faculty, increased the number of program scholarships from zero to five and brought up student enrollment from only 79 students to 425 by the end of directorialship.

Mika's plan for the LIS program is very similar to vvhat he has accomplished in the past. One of his main goals is to get the program reaccredited in October of this year and continue to build faculty and student enrollment. He is also looking forward to setting up a long-range calendar for the classes in the LIS program to make scheduling classes easier for students "I'd really like us to be more customer oriented," Mika said.