University Librarian's Cabinet: Minutes of the May 18, 2004 Meeting

Present:

Agnew, Boyle, Fultz, Gaunt, Golden, Mullins, Puniello, Sewell, Zapcic

Absent:

Tehrani

University Librarian's Report - Gaunt

• Deans Council did not meet this month.
• The Committee on Standards and Priorities in Academic Development (CSPAD) format will change; in the past its primary purpose was to conduct individual department reviews; now will be a proactive strategic group. Institutional Research and Planning will be divided into two units: Institutional Research and Academic Planning. Rob Heffernan will head Institutional Research reporting to university Vice President for Budgeting Nancy Winterbauer; Carol Goldin will head Academic Planning reporting to Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Furmanski.
• Gaunt received a memo from Vice President Furmanski detailing improvements to the Rutgers Faculty Survey. In the last few years the number of respondents to the current faculty survey has decreased. Improvements to the new survey will be a single point of data entry, a paperless data collection environment, direct retrieval of individual data, data integration, expanded data collection, the creation of a searchable database, and the generation of electronic reports. Implementation is planned for beginning of the coming academic year. While the survey is intended for faculty, Gaunt will ask Vice President Furmanski to consider professional staff accomplishments and code the data appropriately.
• Gaunt asked Cabinet members to submit by June 4 any additional accomplishments they would like considered for annual reviews that were not included in mid-year reports.
• Gaunt has been asked to serve on the search committee for the President of the Rutgers University Foundation and Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations.
• Gaunt received a memo from RLG indicating a change in membership dues based on the member values committee recommendations; dues will be based on operating budget and will be implemented over two years.
• Gaunt distributed handout from VALE Executive Committee meeting on the TechKnowledge Initiative, which will provide entrepreneurs, small business owners, researchers and students with information tools for the 21st Century through web access to Science, Technology, Medical and Business Databases; the projected cost is $6,000,000. There is significant movement taking place to push the Access Edison Project. Gaunt distributed a DRAFT version of a brief survey that is currently under development and will be posted on the Web sites of various business groups and associations and sent to various other listservs with a link to the survey.
• Council of New Jersey College and University Library Deans, University Librarians and Directors will meet Friday, May 21 at Georgian Court University.
• Marty Kesselman is co-project director on a United States Department of Agriculture grant with Geetha Ghai from Cook College. The grant entitled "Virtual Collaboratory for Food Nutrition Business Information" was awarded $94,671.

ARL Meeting Debriefing - Gaunt

Gaunt attended the 144th ARL Membership Meeting and the ARL Board of Directors meetings May 11-14, 2004 in Tucson, Arizona. The theme of the meeting was "Systemic Change in Research Institutions." Program sessions included "Rethinking the Undergraduate Curriculum," "Transformation of Campus-wide Support Services," "A Response to Systemic Changes," "Promotion & Tenure Trends," and "Organizational and Technological Interoperability." ARL governance, a collaborative digitizing project, global resources, and the strategic plan are some initiatives that were discussed. Gaunt distributed the following handouts from the meeting: "Improving Undergraduate Research Skills," by Wendy Edelstein; "Dealing with the Future Now: Principles for Creating a Vital Campus in a Climate of Restricted Resources," by Alan E. Guskin and Mary B. Marcy; "Interoperability between Library Information Services and Learning Environments - Bridging the Gaps: A Joint White Paper on behalf of the IMS Global Learning Consortium and the Coalition for Networked Information," by Neil McLean and Clifford Lynch, and "Scholars Portal Project Report, May 10, 2004."

Organization Review - All

Cabinet discussed how our organizational structure could better support the activities that the Libraries are undertaking now and into the future. Some candidates for the NB Director search mentioned that the Libraries were complex. Does our structure add to that complexity or does it support the way we need to work; what are the important characteristics of an organizational structure; what are the strengths of our existing structure; what challenges does our structure present. Many points were made for each area. It was agreed that a major challenge as well as strength is the fact that we work as a system and that both local and system-wide activities need to be initiated and supported. We have challenges in the sustainability of projects that become permanent activities. Do we have redundancies in activities that can be rethought. This may be more of an issue for the New Brunswick campus because the system-wide units reside on the same campus. Is there a better mix of responsibilities that would use our resources more effectively. Cabinet decided that it would be beneficial to engage a consultant to help plan a library-wide discussion. As we think about the kinds of activities that we will be contemplating for the future, the organizational structure needs to be sufficiently flexible for change. Gaunt agreed to contact Shelia Creth, retired university librarian from Iowa and Tennessee, and former Personnel Officer at Columbia who is now Organization Development & Human Resources Consultant. Sheila has subsequently indicated a willingness to work with us.