The University of Kansas Libraries

KU Libraries Support Staff

KULSS Executive Meeting
Thursday, February 4, 11:00-12:00
Spencer 327

Present: Julie Warrick (chair), Nancy Hawkins (vice-chair), Kristin Zachrel (secretary), Adam Reilly (Group 2), Sheila Orth (Group 3), Meredith Huff (Group 4)

Absent: Kyle Sederstrom (Group 1)

Previous Meeting's Action Items

Spring Event:
-Alderson Auditorium confirmed for March 17 from 8:30-noon.
-Budget approved by Dean for event. Our budget was estimated at $211 for food. Dean approved us for $250 so we have a little bit of extra funds.
-Tracy Russo has been confirmed to present. Alderson already has overheads & microphones so Tracy will probably just need to bring her laptop.
-Courtney Foat agreed to help with PR & to design a poster advertising the conference. We need to decide what to call the event & what information to include on the poster. The Dean requested we include information that this is a professional development day.

Group Reports

Group 1 (Kyle): Nothing to report.

Group 2 (Adam):
-Kerry Chapman  in cataloging will be retiring on March 31. There will be a party to celebrate her retirement but no date has been set yet.
-There was a unit meeting in which the deadline for the sound archive was discussed. The sound archive must be out of its current space by June. A cage is being built in Anschutz to house the archives.

Group 3 (Sheila): The Dean thanked ILL Lending and brought candy congratulating them on the recent GWLA datapoints.

Group 4 (Meredith):
-The police arrested a man in Spencer who was behaving incoherently and refused to leave when asked.
-Spencer acquired 2 new color printers.
-Interviews are complete for the Manuscript Processor position. A report is being submitted for recommendation.
-Job descriptions are being reviewed for Head of Reader Services and Head of Special Collections in Spencer.
-Robert Szabo won employee of the month. Congratulations Robert!

Committee Reports

Support Staff Senate:
-Provost candidates will be meeting with the University Senate Executive Committee. The committee is in the process of formulating questions to ask each candidate. Please contact Mary Ann Baker if there are any questions you would like SenEx to ask the candidates.
-University Senate's Athletics Committee attended the January 19 SenEx meeting to discuss a new Football Policy for Faculty, Staff, and Retirees who have full season tickets. Kansas Athletics Inc. wants a policy similar to the policy for basketball full season ticket holders noting eligibility, seating, and the roles of governance. SenEx members requested a few minor changes be made to the policy.
-The Provost hasn't responded to the 11/4/09 interim report of the University Committee on Libraries.
- No new budget information is available.
-Task force on domestic partnership benefits will submit a report soon.
-Chancellor will meet with SenEx at the March 23rd meeting.
-Kansas Board of Regents is meeting the week of January 19th but faculty have not been asked to report.
-Provost search committee has narrowed the candidate list and hopes to have 3-5 candidates visit campus in late February. SenEx hopes to be on the candidates schedules.
-Student Senate is reviewing requests for equal opportunity funding (scholarships, etc.). The students will report to the Board of Regents this week about plans to support higher education initiatives with the Kansas Legislature.
-Unclassified Senate hosted brown bag luncheon with local area legislatures; urged friends and family not associated with Regents Institutions to contact legislators with their support of higher education.
-Members of the Unclassified Senate visited members of the legislature on January 21st.
-USS Senate notes that people associated with Junior Colleges need to become involved in supporting higher education initiatives.
-USS Senate visited members of the legislature on January 26th.

University Committee on Libraries:

Planning & Resources Committee (PRC):
-Discussed Day on the Job at KU event (April 23), where Emporia State University SLIM faculty and students visit. There will be more information provided as the planning moves forward.
-Medical Center tour is April 9. More information about this event to come.
-McCorison Rosenbloom Award will be funding equipment this year.

Mentoring Committee: Meeting on February 12th.

Meeting Updates

Dean's Council (next: 2/19): Minutes from the January 22nd meeting: http://www.lib.ku.edu/staff/docs/Notes/
-Scott Hanrath was hired for the Web Services Manager position. Monica Claassen-Wilson will now report to Scott and her job description will be changing.
-Open house for the new 4th floor Center for Digital Scholarship space is scheduled for March. Ada Emmitt and Deborah Ludwig will be located in this new space dedicated to faculty and graduate scholar services. Evaluations are in process so if you were contacted to give feedback please do so.
-Phased retirement has been moved from 5 years to 3 years.
-Upcoming awards: USS Employee of the Year, Unclassified Professional Excellence Award (new), Dean's Award for Student Employee Excellence (new award; $500 award will be presented to 2 student employees), Budig Distinguished Librarian. Committees for these awards have just begun to meet.
-Annex will soon have the 1 million celebration.
-KState is going to stop sending things in June.

Management Council (next: 2/?): Hasn't met yet.

Dean's KULSS Meeting (next: 3/2):
-Dean will send email to all staff and supervisors encouraging staff attendance at the Spring Event.
-Opening remarks at the Spring Event will be made by Dean Haricombe and possibly Mike Broadwell. Think about how to involve Mike in the conference because he is available this year.
-Dean noted that she has always received positive feedback about these workshops.

Spring Event:
What are we calling it this year?
What specifically do we want from Tami Albin and Sarah Kanning?
Consider getting a gift for Tracy Russo for presenting.

Employee Evaluations:
-Support Staff are encouraged to fill out the Employee Evaluation Feedback form located at: http://www.hreo.ku.edu/documents/performance_evaluations/university_support_staff
-Questions were raised about supervisor evaluations: what is the protocol for support staff to offer input to supervisors about departmental workflows, supervisor expectations, supervisor/staff communication? Need to discuss these issues with Mike Broadwell and also inquire with Mary Ann Baker.

**Volunteers Needed**
-Volunteers are needed to participate on the committee for the Support Staff Employee of the Year Award. 3 support staff members and 1 non-voting LSS Executive Board Member are needed. If you nominate someone, you can not be on the committee.

Concerns to Bring up with the Dean: Evaluations...
-Consider that there should be sufficient time allotted to review the written evaluation before meeting with the supervisor for discussion.
-Discuss supervisory evaluation protocols with Mike.
-Present idea to involve 3rd person (ie. head of departments, AD's) to sit in on evaluation discussions to observe the communication between support staff and supervisors.

Action Items for Next Meeting:

Parking Lot
(Items to be aware of for the future, not necessarily discussed in current meeting)

-Grievance Committee Task Force / Action on hold

Next Meeting: February 18, 11:00-12:00 at Music & Dance
Consider increasing meeting frequency to weekly or having email meetings leading up to the conference.