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KU Library Support Staff (KULSS) Exec
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, Feb. 9th, 2006
Art Library Rm 103– 10am-11:30am
PRESENT: Monica Claassen-Wilson (FY06 Chair), Rebecca Claassen (FY06 Vice-Chair), Angie Rathmel (Secretary), Jill Becker (Group 3), Kevin Fussell (Group 2), Denise Swartz (Group 1)
ABSENT: Robert Szabo (Group 4)
Approval of Jan. 26th , 2005 Meeting Minutes
Approval of Jan. 26th , 2005 Meeting Action Items
WHO? BY WHEN? WHAT?
1. Angie: Friday - Send out draft minutes for Group reps to send out
2. Group Reps: Upon above - Send out minutes from Steve Hedden meeting and solicit input/ questions
for the Dean candidate visits.
Committee Reports
Diversity CommitteeCelebrating Black History Month with a panel of speakers to talk about their experiences on campus.
Next Month, Diversity Movie Series is highlighting a local filmmaker who made a film about local Reservations and some concerns raised by the casinos on tribal lands. Hope to have discussion and Q&A with the filmmaker.
In April, we want to have an open house for Diversity Committee with a cultural talent show, updates on previous events, and snack foods. We hope it will raise awareness of our committee and get people to comet o us when they’re involved in cultural events.
University Support Staff (USS) Senate / University Committee on Libraries (UCL) / University Council
USS Senate, Weds 1 Feb and 8 Feb 2006:
Kathy Jansen, President USS Senate and also on the Provost search committee allowed as how all the
Provost candidates thus far are very impressive.
USS Senate may be involved in the Day of Caring in late April. Let Kathy know if you're interested in helping out.
New job titles: even though we may lose the I, II, III after our official (PeopleSoft) job titles, working titles will have a greater flexibility and may help us distinguish ourselves amongst each other. All USS is once again urged to attend at least one Town Hall meeting about the new job titles and salary broad-banding.
Cindy Nitcher (HREO rep who usually attends our Senate meetings) reported that budgeteers (whenever I hear that word, I look for mouse ears) have been told that whoever makes the decision on USS folks' merit raises, and that may not be the direct supervisor, should talk with individuals about what went into the process of making the decisions. This line of communication to budgeteers happened last year as well and for the Libraries, it may be Shannon who gets this information or perhaps we're lumped in with IS budgeting concerns. In any case, I asked, again, why that information is not being sent to personnel-related folks and supervisors and staff. I did not get a good response. Once again we were cautioned that we could do all the extra work in the world, have outstanding evaluations, etc., and still not get the best raise if the administration decides to reward those who have salary compression issues or those who have topped out for many years under the old plan or a market survey says that the accountants among us are way underpaid, etc. Cindy said that she hoped that folks were talking about their merit raise possibilities with their supervisors at the very least during their evaluation reviews. Cindy also pointed out that unclassified and faculty are not told why they got the raises they got and they don't expect to be told the whys and wherefores of it.
The Personnel Committee has been working on a survey to gage interest in pursuing tuition assistance for family members with the University administration. The question arose as to whether we send the brief survey out to just USS or to try to coordinate with the Unclassified Senate and Faculty Senate to send such a survey out to all employees of the University. This question was sent to the PC to resolve with our recommendation that we try to include as many employees of the University as possible right from the start.
SenEx is looking into emeritus status for faculty and how that is awarded.
HREO is accepting reclass requests. They will be reviewing the ones they already have and will accept new ones up until March 3rd. I think that date is related to the KU budget cycle so they can get salary things settled for the budget for next year. I suggest that even if someone has a reclass already pending that they check in with their supervisor and/or Donna to ascertain that his/her reclass is still in consideration and hasn't gotten lost in the cracks.
Election of senators in March, there are 3-4 EEO4 category openings (where most of us reside in the EEO scheme of things). See nomination form in the USS Senate newsletter out this month. I encourage library folks either to nominate themselves or to get someone to nominate you. (We're not as hi-falutin' as provost positions and we really don't care if you nominate yourself.) If you nominate someone other than yourself, you should make sure the nominee is willing to run in the election.
University Committee on Libraries: Met Jan 19th . (Draft minutes below) Won't meet
again until Feb 23rd and then probably only once more in March before the final report is due April
1st to SenEx.
1. Newton (chair) reported that he had received a response from Provost Shulenburger to the Committee’s
memo regarding the reporting line for the new Dean of Libraries. The reporting line will remain as
stated by Vice Provost Stephens and included in the Position Announcement: the Dean of Libraries will
report directly to the Vice Provost for Information Services. Academic matters will be dealt with
in the Provost’s office.
2. Susanne Clement and Richard Fyffe presented a status report on the review of commitments to journal
subscriptions and book allocations in the collections budget. Subjects are allocated a sum for periodicals
and books; the department, working with Libraries’ subject liaison, decides the division between
the two. Each department has a different strategy. Previous budget increases from the tuition enhancement
funds have covered the increased cost of journals each of the last three years. However, FY06 is the
last year Libraries received funds to increase the collections budget through tuition enhancement
funds.
In 2005, a projection was put together of what ‘06, ’07, and ’08 would look like.
If commitments are held constant on ’05 funds, by the end of ’08, collections funds would
be about $550,000 in the red. Book increases from US publishers have increased about 5%, serials about
10%.
Any changes in subscriptions and purchase plans must be sent to publishers by July 2006 for 2007 purchases.
A proposal was made to implement a sliding scale of budget reductions, based on the percentage of
serials in the overall allocation:
with a percentage of serials in the overall allocation of
…less than 75%, reduce the allocation by 5% instead of 7%
…less than 50%, reduce the allocation by 4%
…less than 25%, reduce the allocation by 3%
A chart was distributed which lists the subject funds, total allocation, amount of 7% reduction, the
tiered reduction (if any), average price of titles proposed for cancellation, and number of titles
“saved” based on average price of titles proposed for cancellation FY07. The proposed
tiered approach would result in savings of about $30,000.
Motion (Newton), seconded (Hanzlik) - approved for the library to send out the proposed tier approach
to all faculty and to request feedback to the Library Committee. Passed.
After further discussion on how to best get the information to faculty, it was decided to put the
information on the libraries’ web site, to set up an email account for comments to the Committee,
and to send an email to all faculty explaining the proposal and requesting comments. The cover letter
will explain that the proposed sliding scale will save about 20% of the serials budget. [later: the
following information was included in the email to all faculty]
UCSCL is inviting you to comment on this proposal and send these to: librarycommittee@ku.edu
or to any member of the Committee (http://www.lib.ku.edu/serialsreview/libcommitteeinfo.shtml for
names and contacts).
Comments will be requested by February 20, and the Committee will meet soon after that to review and
discuss them.
University Council: met Feb 9th.
Jim Carothers as President of University Council noted that the KS legislature was in session and
that a watchful eye was being kept on it. There doesn't seem to be a way for the Regents' crumbling
classroom initiative to be brought forth this year as it will require a tax increase in an election
year.
Nick Sterner, President of the Student Body, reported that representatives from the Student Senate met with legislators last Tuesday in Topeka. The Student Senate is working on student health concerns and landlord/tenant issues. They're also planning for the "Day on the Hill" in April.
Mark Nesbitt-Daly, President of the Unclassified Senate, noted that the US is working on a survey to learn the demographics and concerns of the 1866 unclassified personnel on campus. Representatives from the US will travel to Topeka next Tuesday to meet with legislators and show broad support for higher education.
Reports from the Presidents of the USS Senate and University SenEx were sent to Council members before the meeting -- see below*.
The major agenda item was consideration of the procedures for reviewing the Council's actions. This is part of the restructuring plan of our university governance system. Rick Levy, chairperson of the Council's Organization and Administration Committee, led the discussion and I believe that the notice and comment procedures were chosen without the referendum possibility. I'm not sure what happens next, i.e., whether this last bit of the governance restructuring being resolved means that the entire plan goes to the Provost and the Chancellor for approval or if there needs to be some other kind of vote within the Council.
Rick also chaired a task force to review tenure document collections. A checklist and guidelines have been generated.
*Kathy Jansen, President of USS Senate, was not able to attend this meeting due to Provost candidate
meetings so she sent this report:
USS senate is gearing up for their elections later in the spring. We continue to work on an expanded
tuition assistance program to potentially include spouses and dependents.
The focus groups concerning the restructuring of the old civil service classification system have
been held. Over the next several weeks Town Hall meeting will be held to explain the changes in the
new system to take effect in late March.
*Joe Heppert, SenEx Chair, was also unable to attend the meeting and sent along this report:
Report to University Council February 9, 2006
I apologize for my absence from this meeting, but I have been asked to testify before the National
Science Board in Boulder, CO about issues relating to science education.
The main activities of SenEx over the break have been an attempt to address issues associated with
the Libraries and to participate in interviews with the visiting candidates for Provost.
Library Issues
Faculty in the Humanities and Area Studies programs, in particular have expressed many pointed concerns
about staffing, collections, funding and space allocations in the Libraries. A few of the issues that
have been raised are:
? Deletion of over 600 titles from Humanities and Area Studies periodicals over the next two years (totaling a 7 percent cut in future holdings),Discussions of both the character of these issues and the intensity and pervasiveness of faculty concerns in the Humanities and Area Studies programs have been the subject of discussions with the administration.
? Choice of materials to be archived from collections,
? Re-tasking of responsibilities for reference library personnel,
? Expansion of user facilities in Watson Library at a cost of collections spaces, and
? Reassignment of carrel spaces on Spencer Library to materials preparation and conservation uses.
Representatives of Governance and the Library Committee collaborated to summarize many of the Library issues in a brief document that was shared, along with statements and demands from other groups of faculty, in a discussion with the Dean of Libraries on Tuesday. Among the outcomes of that discussion, the Library Dean agreed that developing a regular library newsletter (akin to Teaching Matters or the Hall Center Bulletin) would be a useful and potentially more effective method to establish ongoing communication about short-term priorities and long-term plans for change in services, spaces, collections and staffing. We also discussed establishing a task force representative of all the stakeholders in the Libraries whose purpose would be to propose the establishment of site councils for each of the Libraries. These site councils would form a bridge between individual departments and the University Library Committee, funneling information about concerns and needs to the Library Committee, the Library administration and the departments. SenEx plans to discuss this proposal with representatives of the Library committee next week.
Provost Candidates
SenEx has had the opportunity to meet with all of the candidates for Provost and will provide detailed feedback to the Provost Search Committee. We have been very impressed by the quality of the candidates for the position. SenEx commends the Provost Search Committee for developing a very capable candidate pool.
Planning and Resources Committee (PRC)
N/A
Staff Development Committee (SDC)
Judith Emde, (LFA-Exec chair) emailed Denise Stephens for an update on the IS-wide Staff Development
Committee. There was second-hand information of plans to bring in a consultant to advise on how to
structure such a program. Judith provided background on the past and current status of the Libraries
Staff Development Committee. Monica (KULSS-Exec chair) added her voice to these comments requesting
Denise keep both groups informed of the progress. Denise Stephen’s reply was essentially:
- transition issues, time to assess the IS environment hasn’t provided the time/opportunity
to address this yet
- no specific plans now to bring in a consultant, but likely at some point in the calendar year.
- need to resolving question of administrative responsibility for an IS-wide SDC before bringing in
a consultant Hope to address some of this in the coming weeks.
- also need to address specific library faculty development needs in the larger staff development
picture.
- Will need ongoing commitment to involve the new Dean of Libraries and collaboration with others
in the libraries.
- Hope to have something more concrete before Summer.
InfoMatters – comments/concerns
Monica will send feedback to Allison.
Meeting with Ola – planning, publicity, questions Feb 23, 2005 KULSS Meeting.
Flyer mailed to/from reps. Monica will send flagged reminder email. Ola will do an intro and answer questions people have.
Discussion of Dean Hedden meeting and possible questions for Dean Candidates.
LFA meeting had a lot of comments regarding the qualities they want to see in a candidate. KULSS didn’t get to that much, though good questions were asked. Focus group did send recommendations to HR on job summaries. May have been too specific. Probably need to make it more broad. It is being hurried along due to budget. Ask Ola about decision on LAssociate and LA Senior.
KU Info Update
See LJ World article http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/feb/06/revival_ku_info_will_be_welcome_news_students/
Collaborative Leadership: Scott Walters, Information Services (IS) & Michelle Eodice, Student
Success (SS)
Program Director: Curtis Marsh (hired Dec 5th, 2005)
Coordinating Committee: Members of IS (both LIB and IT side), Members of SS, Student representation:
currently just Sadie Robb (the only KU Info student still on staff at the moment)*
*Plans are to include fuller student representation once the core group is re-hired loser to the launch
of KU Info.
Rhonda Sharp did some research into the history and mission of KU Info and passed the info on to
Susan Twombly.
- Began in 1970 as rumor control during the Vietnam Era when clear and trusted communication was needed.
- Transferred in 2002 to KU Libraries when the budget went to Student Affairs
- In 2004 it was integrated into the Peer-Tier Reference
- Developed as a combination/culmination of a variety of Task Forces all with the aim of a “peer
based model of information service” There was lots of planning and input to and from these task
forces.
o SS Priority Help Desk
o HVC2 Quality Services
o Peer Tier Reference
o IS for Students
- First experiment in the new KU Info model was the I-Enroll program, sponsored by HVC2.
o Students working on new online enrollment wanted to get help where they were, not stop in the middle
of the process, etc.
o Positive: online tutorial developed by Tami Albin is used by Registrar for Orientations.
o Negative: Special training for student to offer evening face to face enrollment help in Anschutz,
no one used this service.
o Both positive and negative worked to inform broader issues the KU Info may address.
- Ultimate goal/mission and mission from its inception was to help students navigate among confusing
and difficult to find information, not necessarily answer all their questions.
o Scott’s: “right answer from the right place at the right time”
- Another key historical piece was the students did feel a personal connection to key information.
Having the peer approach addresses this, whether the information is from that peer or directed to
the key source from that peer.
2006 Priorities
1) Networking
- Identify departments across campus both for referrals (training on when to refer) and for key information
for KU Info database (FAQ)
- Curtis Marsh will be actively working with campus offices to identify the line between referral
and answer, get their top 5 FAQs, and relevant links, etc.
- If departments know of info or new info (alerts) they would like to give KU Info, can now contact
Curtis.
2) Reestablish face-to-face via the current JayTech booth in the KS Union
- Target events for this service are Fall enrollment, commencement, final four
- Goals to launch Apr 3, 2006.
3) Phone service updated and staffed
- Curtis and Sadie also updating the phone tree that is currently operating this number.
- Will not know yet what hours this service will be staffed. Will require experimentation.
- Goal to launch with face-to-face service, Apr 3, 2006.
4) Launch revamped website
- Curtis and Sadie currently working to weed out old info, add links to relevant department pages.
- Hope to have KU Info icon available for other webpages.
- Goal to launch Jun 2006
Q: Is KU Info looking to create a master calendar?
A: We are currently using the University Calendar and will not create a new one.
Q: Will there be the ability to set expiration dates to hide old irrelevant information?
A: The result of that is the goal, to not have old info, but whether it will be a technological tool
to do this or a personal clean-up/review is TBD.
Q: Why is it taking so long to launch?
A: The networking component is key to get quality information. We want the guidelines for all our
answers to be set by the departments. This takes time, footwork. Now that Curtis Marsh is on board
things are moving faster.
Q: Will there be a “feedback” component for when questions aren’t answered (say
because of a poorly designed department website). This is especially important if you are referring
the complex questions and the referral fails.
A: Networking will be a key component. And the hope is to get a link on KU info “Did you not
find your answer?” It is also the hope that the whole process will serve to improve information
University wide.
Please visit the current KU Info website http://kuinfo.ku.edu/ and call the number (4x3506) to see how it is transforming. Feel free to contact Curtis Marsh cmarsh@ku.edu with comments and questions.
Group Reports
Grp1
§ N/a
Grp2
§ 3 LAIs starting on Monday. Fully staffed department!!!
Grp3
§ New microform machine and training of staff to use.
§ Watson Coffee cart, lots of traffic
§ New comment box and board of posted answers.
Grp4
§ KU Info Update on Wednesday 9:30 am in Spencer (see above)
§ Did you know about the circ policy in Mus/Dance that c. 1 of scores have a 1-week loan, c.
2 are regular loans? Hopes to cut down on these items “walking”
Agenda items for Dean/HR Officer meeting (Feb. 22)
Cancelled.Action Items for next meeting:
WHO? BY WHEN? WHAT?
Group Reps: ongoing - Solicit input/ questions for the Dean candidate visits.
Kevin & Angie: Friday - Develop flyer for mailing re: Ola meeting.
Angie: Monday - Forward comments re: InfoMatters to Monica to send to Allison Rose Lopez.
Monica: Upon above - Send InfoMatters comments on behalf of KULSS to editor Allison Rose Lopez.
The next meeting of KULSS-Exec will be Feb 23, 2005 (with Ola Faucher) in Watson Conference Room A/B 10:00-11:30am
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