University Librarian's Cabinet: Minutes of the January 15, 2002 Meeting

Present:

Agnew, Boyle, Fultz, Gaunt, Golden, Mullins, Puniello, Sewell, Soong, Toyama

University Librarian's Report - Gaunt

• Discussed Senate resolution about FASIP awards; choice will be made at the unit level as to the extent FASIP information is revealed; information will be available for appropriate faculty to see. Awards will not be known for a couple of months.
• Public Access legislation was passed in New Jersey. Rutgers, as a public institution, will have to make more of its records publicly accessible on request. Certain personnel records will remain confidential.
• Vice President Seneca discussed the budget and prognosis. Rutgers will be awarded the second quarter salary increase payment. University is still $8M in arrears. Preliminary budget in March but will not be final until June 30; Dr. Seneca suggested we begin considering modeling budget reduction scenarios now.
• Deans asked to review University Web Policy and send any comments to Paul Snyder. Boyle and Agnew will review from public services and technical services end.
• Dr. Seneca urged deans to continue with their leadership in a very positive way.
• VALE retreat to be held in February. Exact date hinges on facilitator availability.
• Handouts distributed at Deans Council: A list of the major Instructional Technology Initiative Projects funded by grants from the TEC, and a shared PowerPoint presentation by Gary Gigliotti and Joe Delaney on assessing these projects. The purpose of the funding is to improve teaching and learning in courses and departments with major enrollment impact across the disciplines. Gigliotti spoke on the assessment of these IT projects as part of a Mellon grant.
• A Scholarly Communications Symposium sponsored by the Office of the VP for Academic Affairs, the Faculty Council, the Office of Academic Leadership, and the Libraries will be held May 9 in the Fiber Optics Auditorium on Busch Campus. Final arrangements are being made.

RIAS Update - Hendrickson

• Presented an update on RIAS (Rutgers Integrated Administrative System), a multi-year, multi-phase initiative to improve Rutgers efficiency and effectiveness by replacing outdated administrative systems and related processes. The system will be web based and integrated, be brought up in stages initially, and will eventually include all aspects of administrative services. Procurement and Accounts Payable will be up July 1, 2002. The Libraries did 1,150 purchase orders last year; with RIAS, the University is now empowering us with purchasing procedures, and it will be our responsibility to meet University policies and procedures. Basic Internet training will be offered through the Teaching Excellence Center in January and February on each campus. Policies and procedures training will be done in March. Oracle training will be done in May and June. Henrickson will oversee Libraries training with the assistance of Purchasing and the RIAS Implementation Team. Training is planned for two half-day sessions; total training a whole day. Training will be offered many times on each campus hoping to incorporate internal library procedures in each session.

Information Technology Strategy Planning - Agnew

• Presentation by Agnew on where she sees the Libraries in terms of the digital libraries initiative and her role in the process, which she envisions as more of facilitator and coordinator. Objective is to integrate diversity with Cabinet setting a model for integration. Core principles would embody an easy application of core standards and technologies in the areas of digitizing, structuring, describing, indexing, displaying, and sharing data. This evolution would involve the management of several key areas: interoperable data architecture, collection development, collection management, core digital publishing tools, network and storage architecture, facilities, intellectual property rights, sustainability, staffing and training, and display and use. There is a need for collaborative leadership - more than one person can be working on one key area. Cabinet will put this back on the agenda after it has been looked at in terms of broader organization/management and prioritization.

Budget Planning Scenarios - Gaunt

• Cabinet discussed potential budget cuts within the University. Vice President Seneca recommended that regardless of whether something happens this academic year, all units should think about priorities and guidelines overall as to how we make decisions and then start modeling some scenarios. Based on that, Cabinet decided to model a 5% budget reduction scenario. In the past we have protected our collections and user services; cuts have been made in administrative areas. Overall we need to look at personnel, collections, and operating expenses; external support through fundraising can be used to make up for the state budget shortfall. We will continue discussions at our next meeting and also set aside a separate meeting to finalize scenarios. Soong will provide Cabinet with overall budget data for planning. As we plan for budget reductions, we must also consider how we can use information technology to make our processes less labor intensive and more effective.

Announcements:

Soong:

• Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Information Session to be held January 15, 2002 at 12:15 p.m. in the Pane Room. Donna Foster, Research Contract/Grant Specialist will provide information on applying for grant funding to support librarian projects.
• Purchase order for public workstations obtained from ELF funds has been sent out. Libraries will get 73 more than originally planned. Montanaro will work with Agnew to come up with a procedure for deploying the additional workstations. Will discuss at next Cabinet meeting.
• New employee orientation to be held January 28, 2002 in the Scholarly Communications Center at 9:00 a.m.
• A full-day Leadership Institute, led by ALA consultant, Abigail Hubbard, Ph.D. will be offered on Tuesday, February 19 and Wednesday, February 20, 2002 from 9:00-4:00 p.m. in the Scholarly Communications Center. The same program will be offered both days. Please contact Marilyn Wilt for further information. Princeton staff has also been invited to participate.

Toyama:

• Eileen Stec will be the coordinator and lead instructor for a University College Honors Program Course on Research Methodology titled " Research for the Rest of Your Life." Ryan Womack, Hector Perez-Gilbe, Leslie Murtha, Martin Kesselman, Tricia Libutti, Triveni Kuchi and Stephanie Tama-Bartel will also participate in team teaching this 3-credit course. Compensation money from University College to the Libraries will be spent for upgrading instructional infrastructure at Douglass.
• Farewell and Welcome in January: Three NBL members will leave (Scott Hines, Uma Swamy, Penny Weniger) and three new staff will join (Marzeler Moore, Jill Nathanson, Jeffrey Triggs). More information will be in the next Agenda.
• Mary Fraser has joined the School of Management and Labor Relations Library. She reports to Dean Barbara Lee (SMLR) and will work closely with RUL/NBL.
• News from New Brunswick Academic Coordinating Council: SCILS will no longer offer a minor in Communications. Three new courses are being offered by SMLR, all of which can be taken without a prerequisite: Labor Relations in Professional Sports, Contingent and Nonstandard Work, and Organizational Behavior and Work. Major requirement for American Studies will be re-worked.