Intangible Factors Influencing the Successful Completion of Graduate LIS Coursework by Non-Traditional Students: A Case of Two IMLS-Funded Scholarship Projects

This paper examines two IMLS-funded scholarship programs that targeted non-traditional LIS students, documenting non-academic aspects of the programs that participating students identified as most important to the successful completion of their academic programs and to their establishment as contributing members of the professional library community. Formative analyses conducted during the programs pointed to the importance of ongoing and extensive administrative and emotional support for participants, and this paper provides an analysis of the value of these intangible sources of student support. Using online surveys and semi-structured interviews of selected participants from both scholarship programs, this study found that multiple forms of intangible support, from multiple sources inside and outside the academy, that surpassed institutional norms, were crucial to the academic and early career success of non-traditional LIS students.