Library Office Notes

Present:  Paula Kaufman (chair), Bill Brockman, Bob Burger, Margaret Chaplan, Bart Clark, Alan Conrad, Deloris Holiman, Barbara Jones, Lyn Jones, Cindy Kelly, Betsy Kruger, Sara Randall, Paula Watson, Karen Wei, Joyce Wright

Absent:  Tina Chrzastowski, Barb Henigman, Janis Johnston, Jo Kibbee, Nancy O’Brien, Diane Schmidt, Karen Schmidt, Marianna Tax Choldin

Cindy Kelley was welcomed to the Administrative Council.

Catalog Process Task Force Report (Bob Burger):

Both a completed report that is based on recommendations for changes that were made at the last committee meeting as well as the old report with indications of where things have been changed were sent out to the committee in early June.  Recapped high points of last time the report was discussed.  An area of concern was that people would be going to tech services in order to make use of the tools there, the expertise residing in people so that they would get immediate feedback about questions that they have, and also to avoid moving materials around.  The committee recommended that, instead of doing all that, we should try to get an additional cataloging position for the original cataloging team which Barb Henigman said would then be able to take care of all the current original cataloging that now comes into the library.  Another concern that was raised was the composition of the CPC, some wanting to continue divisional representation for at least some period.  Bob Burger received an e-mail from Mary Mallory urging that it include someone from Government Documents.  It was suggested that an evaluation after the first year to see whether the representation is appropriate to build into the CPC structure.  If Government Documents has been adversely affected, it can be considered that they be incorporated.  The report will be appraised periodically.  The following items will be added:  Evaluation after one year of the CPC to see if the mechanism works as it was designed to work, evaluation of the GA position after a year to see if there is adequate work, and an evaluation of the entire process to see if it is working.  The report and recommendations, as they are now proposed, were accepted.

GA Hiring Procedures (Clark):

Part of a larger plan to look at the whole GA hiring process.  It’s not always clear if a unit has a GA position, how to go about getting the funds, where the candidates are, how to go through the offers.  A set of procedures has been drafted.   Important points to keep in mind are the source of funding, the appointment period, formal practice and formal understanding of what the assistantship entails.   Post-acceptance procedure is to make sure the mechanics are taken care of and that everybody understands what those mechanics are.  All appointments for grad assistants are for one year; it is fair to say that we normally appoint people for more than one year if performance proves satisfactory and funding is available.  There is a general agreement across campus with units, colleges, and schools as to tuition waivers.  It is always verified when they go through the Personnel Office.  Most colleges and departments honor each other’s assistantships. The form Bart distributed serves the purpose of getting permission to hire the assistant, facilitates in tracking the positions, and avoids confusion when positions wind up being funded temporarily. Once it is determined that the position is available, then the interviewing process begins.   It was recommended that a session be held so that everyone who is potentially going to hire a GA hears the same thing.

Budget Report (Kaufman):

Managed to distribute money across most of the sectors that were proposed.  Budget highlights:   Salary pool of 5.4%; GA starting salary will be $12,957 for the first year, an increase of 15%, someone coming back for a second year will receive an additional $500, and someone coming back for a third year will receive yet another $500; student wages have gone from $5.15 an hour to $5.50 an hour; able to fund the e-reserves project; able to fund the request from the Cataloging Task Force Report; travel support has been increased to $1,000 for each faculty member (including Visiting Faculty) and academic professional; $900,000 to the collection budget; still have one undesignated staff position and one librarian position (Executive Committee will be looking at these); services budget went up by $105,000; the systems budget has gone up by $50,000; when a faculty member goes to professorial rank, the university gives the library $3,000 and the library is adding another $2,000, so promotion to full professor increases one’s salary by $5,000; increasing stipends to people who are interim or in acting positions by 50% to $3,600 per year; increasing stipends to division coordinators by 50% to $3,800; general plant increased by $40,500.

Possible staff retreat (Kaufman):

Request from LSSC for a half-day retreat for staff.  The request is unclear as to the purpose of the retreat.  Not supportive of staff retreat to identify complaints.   Is supportive of retreat that has outcomes that are specific and more positive-oriented.  The issue is will it be possible to keep the units open while the staff has a retreat.  All agreed.  Paula Kaufman has been asked to facilitate the retreat.

Meeting adjourned at 315 p.m.

Administrative Council Meeting Minutes
July 17, 2000

Present:  Paula Kaufman, Chair; Margaret Chaplan, Tina Chrzastowski, Bart Clark, Alan Conrad, Barbara Henigman, Deloris Holiman, Barbara Jones, Lyn Jones, Cindy Kelly, Sara Randall, Diane Schmidt, Karen Schmidt, Paula Watson, Joyce Wright

Absent:  Bill Brockman, Bob Burger, Marianna Choldin, Janis Johnston, Betsy Kruger, Karen Wei

1. GEO Court Ruling (Kaufman)

The latest GEO Court decision was discussed.

2. Job Descriptions for Division Coordinators (Henigman, Chrzastowski)

Tina Chrzastowski and Barb Henigman led a discussion of the "Draft of Division Coordinator Description" that was distributed before the meeting.  In drafting the document, their main concern was accountability at many levels.  Most of the wording of the first half of the new document came from the Library Bylaws.  Paula and AC strongly recommended that Division Coordinators should be selected from tenured faculty.  AC asked the committee to refer to the old Library job description of a Division Coordinator, write a contextual piece to say why we have division coordinators, insert ideas presented in the discussion or forwarded later, and bring a revised document back for further discussion.

Bart Clark pointed out that the job description should be consistent with those developed by Affirmative Action and Human Resources and should involve consideration of financial remuneration and other support consistent with Campus.

The committee recommended developing a Unit Head job description with points that would be common across units.

3. Proxies at AC Meetings

At the November meeting, it was decided that no proxies would attend AC meetings.   Some members were concerned that, when they miss a meeting, their unit is not represented at the table.  This becomes a problem if several consecutive meetings are missed.  It was pointed out that team building forms and decision-making capability increases with consistent membership.  AC asked for a ballot vote on the question:   Can divisions be represented by one designated proxy? (Yes or No) Paula will draw up the ballot and send it out.

4. E-Mail from Public Workstations (Randall)

Sara Randall reported that Campus has changed its Kerberos software version.   Consequently, e-mail from public stations isn’t working.  It will take about two weeks to do an upgrade, and Sara asked if AC wanted Systems to spend two weeks on this project.  AC voted unanimously not to spend the time to upgrade.   However, Systems will keep the equipment available to upgrade later if it is necessary.

5. Web Interface to Online Catalog (Randall)

Sara Randall reported that the Library is moving to the Web as its primary interface.   The Telnet version will still be available, but it won’t be used as much.   The web version has significant improvements.  The PAC Committee is doing a series of training sessions to explain the new system in instructor-led and self-help sessions.  Systems will begin making changes in the next couple of weeks.  They will preannounce changes, and others can change their links as well.

6. Announcements and Updates

LSSC has confirmed a Staff Retreat on Thursday, August 10, 9:00 a.m. through lunch.   The retreat will provide Library Civil Service employees with knowledge of the Strategic Plan and increase involvement in its completion.  LSSC also hopes to increase staff awareness of the roles that other staff play in the functioning of the Library and increase Civil Service Staff voice and participation in the daily functions of the Library.  Paula and Bob Burger will attend and help facilitate the retreat.   Name tags will be issued to confirm attendance.

The UIUC Library has been invited to membership in the Digital Library Federation.   LIT will be informing our library community about it.  We are responding as an individual library so we will be able to continue working on projects already in progress.

Karen Schmidt reported that four candidates for the Preservation position will be coming to campus beginning August 7.  They will give presentations for anyone interested.

Karen and Greg Youngen are organizing a Forum on the Future, October 26 and 27, sponsored by the Library.  They are lining up an impressive list of speakers.   It will be an opportunity for open discussion about where we are heading in the next five years in terms of the impact of electronic publishing on scholarly communication.  It has a limited enrollment of 200 people.

Tina Chrzastowski reported that there are three candidates for the Math Librarian position.  They will make open presentations in the Grainger Commons at 2:00 p.m. on July 19, 24, and 25.

Joyce Wright reported that 291 Undergrad has just been rewired for a new state-of-the-art projector.  CCSO is upgrading computers in Undergrad and will be finished the first week in August.  There are also renovations moving along in the lower level to accommodate the Mortenson Center.

There will be a Technical Services Open House, July 28.  Watch LIBNews for an announcement, and come see who’s who and what’s going on.

The Library will be featured at the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting.  The Provost is using the Library as representative of what has happened to the institution.   He recently requested ARL statistics.

Cindy Kelly will be visiting informally in the various units of the Library between now and August 10.

Bart Clark reported on several projects going on:  (1) The ACES Library is planning to occupy the new building at the start of next summer.  (2) Approval of the high density storage facility is pending.  The first phase will house one or two million volumes with a future potential capacity of eight million volumes.  It will include space for a preservation/conservation lab and space for grant projects.  (3) The Chemistry Library will be expanded through remodeling when funding is secured.   (4) The Mortenson Center is moving to Undergrad with 2000 sq. ft. of space for a classroom, office for the Director, and space for flexible use.  (5) The DIMTI will eventually occupy space in Undergrad.  (6) A separate space in Archives is being prepared for the Reston Collection.  (7) Reconfiguration of the Main Library is delayed briefly pending a decision on whether or not a sprinkler system will be required in the Stacks.  (8) Room 428 will be remodeled and completed sometime in September.

Cindy Kelly asked for letters of resignation from Graduate Assistants who are resigning early, along with vacation and sick leave remaining.  Regarding new Graduate Assistants, formal letters of offer can be sent to them after they are approved by the Personnel Office, and forms need to be completed for them in her office.  Cindy also needs notices of Graduate Assistants hired early in the Spring who are beginning in the Fall.