October 11, 2021 Meeting of Executive Committee

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

AGENDA

October 11, 2021

1:30-3:00pm

Zoom Meeting

 

1. Approve minutes – October 4, 2021
2. Question Time
3. Discuss Tenured Faculty Agenda items
   
4. Innovation Funds Next Round Timing
5. STEM Entrepreneurship and Business Librarian job description
6. 2-2:30 AUL’s/Director
   1. Building Project Update
   2. MUGLI Working Groups Updates
7. Proposal for Library Student-Focused Spaces Team
8. Proposal for Teaching and Learning Task Force
   
9. Task Force on Research Support Next Steps
   1. Diversity and Recruitment

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Minutes

October 11, 2021

1:30-3:00 pm

Zoom Conference Call

 

Attendees: John Wilkin (Chair); Mara Thacker (Vice-Chair); Bill Maher, Peg Burnette, Dan Tracy, Chris Wiley, Joe Lenkart, and Kelli Trei. Lucretia Williams; Recording

 

AULs/Director present: Tom Teper, Chris Prom, Sara Holder, and David Ward.

 

 

1. Approve Minutes for October 4, 2021 – EC Minutes were approved with minor edits upon the motion from Kelli Trei, seconded by Chris Wiley.

 

2. Question time – Dean Wilkin updated EC:

• Eligibility of library civil service employees to have hybrid and remote work plans. Dean Wilkin does not believe that it is appropriate to exclude entire classes of employees without regard to the nature of the work that they do. There have been fact-finding communications with IHR at this point, to make sure we know what the case is, and what might be possible. This exclusion was directed by the university. There are also discussions about hybrid/remote work eligibility going on right now in union negotiations. Susan Breakenridge is working with IHR and others to determine what might be possible for us. Dean Wilkin will continue to keep EC in the loop with this topic.
• Update on the Academic Program Review – There has been a long list of names assembled for people to serve as external evaluators. There continues to be discussions about those individuals and the expertise they bring and the needs that we have. Dean Wilkin will continue to give EC updates on the Academic Program Review. In October, library administration will finalize the list for Staci Provezis.
• The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, led by a small number of university presidents have started a conversation on open scholarship, and efforts our institutions can make to advance open scholarship. Each institution has been asked to identify a representative, appointed by the President. Dean Wilkin was appointed for Illinois. All the other participants are library directors or senior research officers (e.g., Vice Presidents, or Vice Chancellors for Research). The plans will be moving toward coordinated effort in early 2022.
• The work on revisions to Provost Communication #9 continues to move forward at the campus level. Revisions are taking place now based on the feedback that’s been given, and those revisions will be disseminated again to colleges for feedback very soon. They hope to have the feedback from a second round incorporated late this semester, but they’re not going to force an artificial deadline to that timetable.
• The Library Board of Advocates met and discussed several things but primarily the Library Building Project fundraising and the ways that they can be helpful in advancing our interests there.

 

3. Discuss Tenured Faculty Agenda items – Mara Thacker will send an email to LibFac with a call for agenda items for the tenured faculty meeting to balance those suggested by EC previously.

 

4. Innovation Funds Next Round Timing – EC discussed the Innovation Funds and will continue as scheduled with a deadline of December 13, 2021. The Vice Chair will send an announcement.

 

5. STEM Entrepreneurship and Business Librarian job description – EC discussed the language of the STEM Entrepreneurship and Business Librarian job description and suggested a minor adjustment for clarity, but otherwise felt it was ready. The Dean will communicate the adjustment with Bill Mischo and Sara Holder.

 

6. 2-2:30 AULs/Directors –

 

• Building Project Update – Tom Teper gave EC an update on the Building Project. There was a meeting with the Library’s Board of Advocates with very positive conversations about the status of the project and where things are going. We are due to receive a draft schematic design for the special collections and archives project on October 15. We will have two weeks to develop and submit comments, and then a final version will come back from the architect and engineering firm. In the meantime, this month there will be meetings with the Architectural Review Board the Chancellor’s Design Advisory Committee, and then eventually the final submittal will allow for materials to be prepared for the Board of Trustees for an eventual approval, following a meeting with the President and his Advisory Committee on November 30. We are about a week ahead of the original proposed schedule.
• MUGLI Working Groups Updates –
  • Sara Holder – The Study Space Planning Group met three times this fall to date. After the initial kickoff, the members created a brainstorming document of needs for the first-floor space. In the last two meetings the group has been going through that document and trying decide what from that what to keep and what to address in other areas of the building. The group is awaiting feedback from Tim Newman on the correct floor plan estimates and the development of a process for formal facilities work.
  • David Ward – The instruction group is looking at physical spaces as well as support for online teaching. The Staffing Group has developed position descriptions for the Civil Service transfers and need to initiate the process for matching individuals to positions. There are also some very preliminary conversations about staff workspace in the Main Library building. The Scholarly Commons/Media Commons planning group is devising options for where to put everything. They are looking across the different spaces available on the first, second, and third floor; the studio spaces, staffing, as well as storage for mobile technology and a lot of other items are included in the considerations. The group is also working with Grainger to put the immersive film studio near the IDEA lab. There is hope to have the facilities work to make the necessary changes underway by the spring.
  • Kelli Trei – Updated EC on the Instruction Group. The group is working on fine tuning the needs for 509 to be up to date with campus standards as well as library standards. The group is also trying to figure out how to configure the room for those purposes and more conversations will be scheduled with Tim Newman upon his return.
  • Tom Teper – The Senate Committee on the Library and the University Library are co-sponsoring a forum on November 18, 2021 to talk about the Archives and Special Collections building and the relocation of Undergraduate Library services to the Main Library building. Related to the building project, a member of EC asked if there would be draft reports for the working groups. As most of the work is on implementation, there will not be reports; however, it was suggested that a template email that subject specialists could adapt to share with faculty about the open forum would be helpful.

 

7. Proposal for Library Student-Focused Spaces Team – David Ward explained the rationale that the proposal looks at our spaces from a student-centered perspective. For this to be a feasible effort, it needs to be focused and doing that does not exclude continuing to serve the interests of other constituencies. EC discussed the proposal further with continued disagreement over whether the scope was too narrow in population focus and possibly too encompassing in terms of the spaces. There was also some discussion of exactly what the relationship of the working group’s activities would be to policy proposals, and it was suggested the group would bring policies to EC, AC, and others as proposals. Based on the discussion, the proposal will undergo adjustments and returned to EC for final approval.

 

8. Proposal for Teaching and Learning Task Force – This was tabled to be discussed at the next EC.

 

9. Task Force on Research Support Next Steps – This was tabled to be discussed at the next EC
   • Diversity and Recruitment

 

Meeting adjourned at 3:05pm