March 10, 2014 Meeting of Executive Committee

Agenda not yet available.

John Wilkin, chair; Bill Mischo, vice-chair; John Wagstaff, secretary; Tim Cole, Mary Laskowski, Carissa Phillips, Chris Prom, Jennifer Teper

1. Steve Witt: Plans and vision for IAS

Steve talked about his current position requests for the IAS library, and about some broader issues. He is trying to build an “outward-facing” reference model, for example covering STEM and other subjects. The IAS library needs to continue to maintain high-quality collections as well as services if it is maintain its high reputation. Steve was asked to come up with some figures comparing IAS with similar services at other institutions, and to provide some more historical background on issues such as Title VIII-funded IAS positions, in order to help EC to deliberate further.

 

2. Approve Minutes from March 3

The Minutes were accepted by a motion from Chris Prom, seconded by Jennifer Teper.

 

3. Question Time

1. Bill asked about the document Employment Guidelines for Specialized Faculty holding Non-Tenure System Positions, which was originally discussed by EC on March 3. The document will be introduced and discussed at the upcoming Library Faculty meeting on March 12. John Wilkin and Bill will lead that discussion.

 

2. John Wilkin reported on the following issues:

(i) space in room 220 (currently occupied by CAM). John recently showed this space to Charles Tucker (Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Innovation), who is looking for library space to house the university’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning [CITL]. It’s possible that room 220 could be used to serve as a service point for both CITL and Scholarly Commons. No decisions have been taken yet.

 

(ii) he likes the look of the “UIUC Library Repository Management Team” document, which is currently being shared among the AULs. We need to bring appropriate focus to this project in order to keep it moving forward. It was suggested that adding the word “Digital” to the title of the document might help clarify its scope and purpose. John recognizes the implications for other areas of IT that the new AUL for IT will have to address.

 

(iii) there will be a new newsletter for library faculty and staff, which will be managed by Heather Murphy and will appear monthly, probably from April 1, 2014.

 

3. Chris asked about the revised position description for the Archives and Literary Manuscript Specialist. No further changes were suggested, and the description was approved with its current set of changes [i.e. in its iteration under EC “meeting documents” for March 10.]

 

4. Budget

John Wilkin introduced the two budget documents previously sent to EC by e-mail. A question was asked about a possible $500K of recurring funding to do with digitization, which had been contingent on spending out a similar amount this current year, but no-one seemed to have any recollection of it.

It was noted that our current budget balances are currently quite high in some cases; John Wilkin wants to spend these down. He asked for further feedback.

 

5. “Unionization of Faculty” document

The College of Engineering executive committee prepared a document on unionization that was received by EC. The general feeling was that this is a fair and balanced document that merits wider circulation via LIBFAC, together with a clear statement that it is being sent for information only, and does not seek to express the University Library’s official viewpoint on the matter. It is entirely up to individuals in the library to decide for themselves upon this issue.