September 30, 2020 Meeting of Library Faculty Meeting

AGENDA

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Library Faculty Meeting Agenda
September 30
3:30-5 pm
Zoom meeting only

 

1. Call or Order
2. Standing Items

2.1   Adoption of the agenda
2.2   Approval of the minutes of the April 2020 Faculty Meeting
2.3   Introduction of New Employees (John Wilkin)
2.4   Executive Committee Report and Discussion (15 minutes – Bill Maher)
2.5   Report of the University Librarian (15 minutes – John Wilkin)

3. Discussion Items

3.1 Faculty Meeting Structure (David Ward)

EC would like to discuss how we might structure faculty meetings differently, in content, manner and frequency to encourage more effective and inclusive input.  Discussion questions include: What topics are most pertinent to Faculty APs?  What topics would better be discussed at the Dean’s monthly all-staff meetings?  What do Faculty and APs require from faculty meetings? How often should we hold faculty meetings now that we have the monthly all-staff meetings?

4. Lightning Talks
5. New Business
6. Announcements

6.1 Omeka S digital exhibit strategy (Spencer Keralis)

7. Adjournment

Minutes –DRAFT

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Library Faculty Meeting Agenda

September 30, 2020

3:30-5:00 pm

Zoom Meeting Only

 

 

1. Call to Order

Meeting called to order at 3:32 pm (76 participants)

 

2. Standing Items

2.1   Adoption of the agenda

Adopted as is.

2.2   Approval of the minutes of the April 2020 Faculty Meeting

The minutes were approved.

2.3   Introduction of New Employees (John Wilkin)

Sarah Williams introduced Mike Dickinson as the new Planning, Landscape Architecture, & Agriculture Librarian (Funk ACES Library).

Dan Tracy introduced Mary Ton as the new Digital Publishing Specialist (Scholarly Communication and Publishing).

2.4   Executive Committee Report and Discussion (15 minutes – Dan Tracy)

Bill Maher had a conflict and could not attend; Dan Tracy spoke in his place. EC typically covers content since the last faculty meeting in April, but Dan didn’t roll into the role until September. Summary from the last three weeks: Conversations regarding topics of inclusion in the library–EC has invited LCAP and LPAC to attend meetings for half an hour to share input. There have been discussions regarding the role of faculty meetings–David talking this more. Approving job positions and committees, submitted material related to Special Collections Building Plan, a recommendation for a DEI task force and a Wellness Committee, and those are still pending. Mara Thacker adds the Outreach and Engagement report and committee since the last period and that will be kicking off.

2.5   Report of the University Librarian (15 minutes – John Wilkin)

Things going on campus: The University has largely dodged the bullet on budget reductions. Saw slightly more than 1% decrease in budget, no salary program, reduced operations budget, no lay-offs or furloughs; we are hiring again and healthy support for collections. Within the University as a whole, the Provost and Vice Provost for Budget and Planning have analyzed the situation, and have a good sense of the long term and the short term and are building a strategy to manage campus impact; we are prepared for many possible eventualities. Reminder that the University weathered the lack of state approval of budgets several years ago and managed to pay off ten years of debt in two years. The Library is doing all it can to make research and teaching at the University possible during the pandemic and has been successful on delivering.

Spring semester planning: We have a likely picture, which depends on a formal proposal to be presented to the Senate (which approves changes to the academic calendar). Will start about a week later, with a staged return of students to manage the two required covid tests before the term begins. The late start will cut off part of what would have been spring break; additinonally, three days scattered throughout to provide breaks but not have students leave campus/the University.

Wilkin wants covid-planning to not subsume everything we do. Planning, collecting feedback, and getting trustee approval for building renovation plan, including efforts to consolidate services and collections for an indefinite period of time. We have secured most of the funding needed for the Special Collections Research Building and planning for shifts of Undergraduate services and collections to the Main Library. The work to replace stacks 1-5 is delayed by the impact on state finances and is not likely to take place in the next five years.

Building a Student Success Center–uncertain where that will be located in the library but seeing lots of support for this from the campus.

Data is very important and keep working on collecting that for the critically important things we’re doing beyond Covid.

DEIA (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Accessibility) efforts in particular will be one of our big efforts and will be charging a task force, and will be hiring a Director of DEIA. Diversity must continue to be a priority in our hiring. Paying attention to our culture and actions will be very important and the task force will be important for this.

Update on SHIELD efforts: Data-driven work that has helped flatten the curve twice through the frequent and fast testing they’ve been doing. New things like SHIELD 30 which is responsible for getting those students who test positive into quarantine within 30 minutes if at all possible. There is a part of the population that has been more problematic that has been instructed to test three times a week because of their situations in the student population. Nearly all of those who tested positive have been undergraduates and there has been no cross-contamination to faculty or staff. Those who are testing positive are also primarily people who are off-campus and not living in the dorms.

Questions:

George E Gottschalk: Some institutions already told to expect additional reductions in January (mid-fiscal year). Wilkin agreed and reported that this is unlikely at Illinois.

Bruce R Schatz: Will the Spring Semester be fully in person or hybrid like now, mostly online for courses? Wilkin: Most likely hybrid with majority online.

Emilee Mathews: What kinds of data are you looking for to promote our visibility? Wilkin: One example library instruction, Susan Avery doing work on how it makes the students better learners. How do we help them to be better in the classroom? Collecting information on things we are doing.

JJ Pionke:Can you talk more about the DEI person that we are hiring?  What will be their focus?  Is this a faculty position?  What kinds of projects will this person work on? Wilkin: This will not be a faculty position and will be an academic professional. This person cannot be solely or primarily responsible for changes in these areas, but they can help coordinate and lead in these areas and vitalize our institution on anti-racism, and our culture and climate.

 

 

3. Discussion Items

3.1 Faculty Meeting Structure (David Ward)

EC would like to discuss how we might structure faculty meetings differently, in content, manner and frequency to encourage more effective and inclusive input.  Discussion questions include: What topics are most pertinent to Faculty APs?  What topics would better be discussed at the Dean’s monthly all-staff meetings?  What do Faculty and APs require from faculty meetings? How often should we hold faculty meetings now that we have the monthly all-staff meetings?

 

Ward throws out example from the past with the ALMA updates with the special meetings as well as updates in the faculty meetings. Some of this could have been done in all-staff meetings.

 

Pionke: Remembering by-laws–do we have those? Ward: We do and we looked at them with regard to this. Our by-laws tie into campus requirements including we are required to have one faculty meeting per semester. Pionke: Make room for broader discussions from “what does it mean to be a faculty member?” and “how do things change with tenure?” versus sharing information and resources on fellowships, grants, etc. Having 1-3 faculty meetings a semester versus 1 a month. Thacker comments in chat that tenure means more meetings and service commitments, Ward agrees.

 

Sara Benson: (in chat) Things that I think are more relevant to Faculty/APs: tenure process+research/ AP Promotion process… I think many other things we discuss are relevant to everyone including staff… (Speaking) Time management issues and who has access to what information, and she doesn’t engage with staff as much as she would like to because of time management. Laskowski: If we could have specific faculty issues at faculty meetings and content for everyone at the more open general meetings.

 

Prom: Have we looked at campus statutes for what is required in faculty meetings versus in other meetings because Libraries are broader than most teaching departments. Ward references the campus faculty by-laws again. Prom adds link in chat: https://www.bot.uillinois.edu/governance/statutes Section 3 discusses College governance and role of faculty. Laskowski in chat: Chris, might you have been thinking about Communication #27, which lays out the guidelines and expectations for shared governance? https://uofi.app.box.com/s/r7g4fxzw8j8vcpjhmy3s17m76g52i1wt Ward in chat: From the statutes: “call and preside at meetings of the executive committee and at meetings of the department faculty of which there shall be not fewer than one in each academic year for consideration of questions of departmental governance and educational policy.”

 

Clara Chu (in chat): Re: Dean’s monthly all-staff meetings, I spoke to John about having group discussion related to our strategic plan.  It would be good to connect in small groups to learn how everyone is doing and whether the SP is part of their work.   If not, why not and what support is needed. (speaking) We have the strategic plan and how to reconnect and what opportunities for change that can be made. (in chat again) We haven’t used our breakout room function in our meetings and I’ve found that this has been fun at other campus meetings.

 

Tracy: There’s more attendance online than in person. Wherever we end up and however often, we should keep meetings online to help boost attendance. Paula Mae Carns in chat:

Many people do not have private offices so Zoom meetings on campus might be difficult for them.

 

Yu points out that if we continue to have faculty meetings that this is a good venue to seriously discuss assessment rather than just brief reports with slideshows.

 

Wilkin: Is there a common perspective on this? Am I hearing that we maybe need less faculty meetings which are more intensely focused on faculty issues? Ward: I think this is what we’re hearing. I’ll repost the questions if anyone wants to follow-up with me afterwards, and EC will continue to have these discussions. Spring would be the earliest implementation of this. Wilkin: Important of avoiding sequestering of information and broadening inclusion as our challenge going forward.

 

4. Lightning Talks

None.

5. New Business

None.

6. Announcements

6.1 Omeka S digital exhibit strategy (Spencer Keralis)

Quick update on our centralized platform for digital exhibits, which is particularly important since we’re not having in-person exhibits right now. Have been working for the last year on consolidating and having a streamlined workflow for digital exhibits and using Omeka S as a stable platform that we can use. Have been working with Ricker, RBML, Archives, and Digitization Services to make  Example exhibit: https://omeka-s.library.illinois.edu/s/illinois-digitization/page/illinoisdigitization and https://iopn.library.illinois.edu/omeka/s/dllacs/page/welcome. What we’d like to do is work with each department that wants one to build a site for them, work on planning and provide a sandbox, working on additional themes, with the goal of having more exhibits and a centralized workflow. Would love to work with everyone to use these to publicize our collections and what we do to contribute to the campus and beyond. Happy to set up department consultations even to brainstorm and think about how this can work for you.

Other announcements: Kyle Rimkus reminds of the candidate presentations for the role of Head of Scholarly Commons. All really strong candidates and the committee will need feedback.

Jessica Ballard on Lazarus Letcher event who will be giving a talk on “Who Gets to be Trans?: Troubling Colonial Archives of BIPOC Lives and Loves Beyond the Gender Binary” as part of the “Becoming A Trans Inclusive Library” events for Fall 2020. Register at https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1039413935?referrer=https://shibboleth.illinois.edu/.

Pionke: The next “To Your Health” lecture will be on Oct. 12, and Save the Date emails will be going out shortly.

Bethan Anderson: The second monthly Women in Science Lecture Series is ongoing and the next lecture, by Dr. Carla Desi-Ann Hunter will be October 13. See: https://distributedmuseum.illinois.edu/about/women-in-science-lecture-series/

7. Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 4:33 pm.