February 18, 2013 Meeting of Administrative Council

1. Policy on Staff Email Use – revise or retire? – Searing
   
2. Division Coordinator Recommendation – Searing
3. Eliminate ½ day cleaning day in January? – Searing
4. 2:15 – Building Emergency Action Plan (BEAP) (pdf) – Teper and Schrader
5. Query about contacting Library Security – Romero

Sue Searing (Chair), Pat Allen, Joann Jacoby, Mary Laskowski, Lynne Rudasill, Chris Quinn, Lisa Romero, Mary Schlembach, Tom Teper

Announcement

Sue Searing announced the Library’s involvement in 2013 Campus Day of Service scheduled for April 20. Lynne Wiley and Zoe Revell are working with Sue to identify and plan projects relevant to library faculty and staff (e.g. public library, books to prisoners project). The Library hopes to use this as a positive team and community building activity. The Library is also looking for current faculty and staff community volunteers to be profiled on the staff development blog. Coordinators can forward names of current volunteers to Sue Searing.

1. Policy on Staff Email Use – Revise or Retire? – Searing
   • Policy ReviewSue Searing is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of all Library policies. Policies will be brought to the AC over the next few months, and Sue Searing hopes to have all policies reviewed by the time the new University Librarian arrives.

     Sue Searing also asked AC for input on how policies should be communicated to patrons and staff. Pat Allen suggested required University Ethics Training as a good opportunity for reviewing these policies with staff. Sandy Wolf asked if these policies (specifically the e-mail policy) are included on the staff new-hire checklist.

   • E-Mail PolicySue Searing explained that the current policy is 11 years-old and noted that many of the provisions of the Library’s policy duplicate provisions in campus policies.

     Discussion focused on issues relating to daily checking of e-mail, appropriate use of technology, inclusion of the FOIA disclaimer, and that such policies often help to encourage good practice for staff.

     Sue Searing also noted that Records and Information Management Policy Advisory Committee (RIMS) is currently developing new policy language concerning e-mail destruction and archiving.

     A consensus was reached that the policy should be retained with revision.

     Sue Searing will follow-up on any questions raised and report back to the AC with her findings. She will forward the AC a draft revised policy, incorporating suggestions from Joanne Kaczmarek, for comment and discussion.

2. Division Coordinator GA Recommendations – SearingA proposal from the EC regarding changes to the current automatic provision of a graduate assistant to each division coordinator, outside of the competitive GA request cycle, was discussed.

   Discussion focused on three areas:

   • How division coordinators currently utilize this GA allocationThere was wide variation on how these GAs are being used by the division coordinators. One unit has been refusing the allocation for several years, while others partly rely on this GA allocation for unit-level user services and special projects. Some see this GA as an unfair ‘entitlement,’ while others see it as necessary, given the extra duties that come with being a division coordinator.

     It was noted, that originally these positions were conceived as providing direct assistance to the division coordinator for division-related matters. In the past, using the GA positions for user services has caused problems when the division coordinator position moved from a unit. Suddenly, the unit was left without a GA who was providing essential services.

     Currently work is being done to clarify what constitutes the duties of division coordinators, and this could help clarify the role of this GA position (or Grad Hourly) in support of each division coordinator.

   • Requesting GAs/grad hourlies, Grad hourly funding pool for Division CoordinatorsUnder the proposed new process, division coordinators would still be able to have GAs, but this request would be tied to the competitive request process for the entire Library. In addition, there would be a separate pool of graduate hourly funds available for allocation to division coordinators based on requests for specific needs.

     Some members believed this hourly pool could be useful in providing flexibility to division coordinators and the library; others saw it as taking away resources; and other as providing few advantages over the current system.

   • Division Coordinator Stipend IncreaseMany council members expressed interest in forgoing the proposed increase in the administrative stipend and adding these funds to the Grad hourly funding pool.

     No consensus was reached, but the EC members serving on the Administrative Council believed they had enough feedback to take back for discussion.

3. Eliminate ½ day cleaning day in January? – SearingSeveral members noted problems associated with having the winter cleaning day so close to reduced-service days and the beginning of the second semester.

   There was consensus to suggest the ½ cleaning day be eliminated in January and possibly moved to later in the year. Sue Searing said she would begin talking with Beth Woodard about how this could affect the scheduling of the Library Retreat.

4. Building Emergency Action Plan – Jennifer TeperJennifer Teper provided a brief overview of the Library’s role in the creation of the campus and FEMA mandated Building Emergency Action Plan (BEAP).

   Currently, the Library is completing the BEAP for the Main Library building. Other Library-controlled buildings will be assessed in the coming months. BEAPs for units primarily in buildings controlled by other units (e.g. Chemistry) will be completed by campus.

   These plans will work with the library’s Employee Emergency Procedures (EEP: http://www.library.illinois.edu/prescons/disaster_response/eep_flipbook/eep_handbook.html) in providing comprehensive information to employees during emergencies. Each unit will be responsible for maintaining a binder including these plans (among other information) in their unit.

   The BEAP program also hopes to begin developing more accountability in disaster response. Now, upon evacuation, faculty and staff will be asked to check-in with a designated member of the emergency team. This could help emergency workers in their efforts.

   The AC gave the work on the BEAP plan general approval.

5. Query about contacting Library Security – RomeroSome units have recently had difficulty contacting security. They attempt to contact the security guards, leave a message, but never receive a response. Other units noted that they have not been having problems.

   There was discussion on the lack of clarity regarding what the expectations of the security guards should be, the difficulty in recruiting and retaining security guards, and ensuring the security guards have functioning equipment.

   Sue Searing said she would speak with Jeff Schrader regarding these issues, and, if necessary, invite him to a future meeting of the AC for further discussion.

Adjourned 2:00 PM

Reporting: Douglas Heintz