University Librarian's Cabinet: Minutes of the September 21, 2004 Meeting

Present:

Agnew, Boyle, Fultz, Gaunt, Puniello, Zapcic

Videoconferenced:

Golden, Mullins

Absent:

Sewell, Tehrani

University Librarian's Report - Gaunt

• Gaunt reminded Cabinet of the University's upcoming charitable campaign and noted that each unit is required to name a solicitor by the end of the month and notify Marilyn Wilt, who will coordinate for the Libraries.
• Several campus and university personnel actions are in progress: Dean Mary Davidson, School of Social Work, will be returning to the faculty and a search process established; the search for University Counsel to replace David Scott is almost completed; the CAIP director replacement will be an internal search; the VP for Research search will start soon; the position of VP for Undergraduate Education will be held until the impact of the recommendations of the committee on student life and learning are assessed related to this position and the VP for Student Services; Chuck Hedrick will be reporting to Executive Vice President Furmanski on academic computing matters.
• The all-funds budgeting approach is being tested in a few units to determine whether changes are needed. Engineering and FAS-Newark are first. Others units will follow.
• Plans are underway to establish a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation for collaboration among UMDNJ, NJIT, and RU. The corporation will make it easier to prepare grants and receive grant funds and corporate contracts. The Libraries will investigate how this may be used for inter-library library collaboration.
• There will be another round of academic excellence grants. Guidelines are forthcoming for the nearly $3 million in funds. The goal of funded projects will be to enhance the university's reputation in strategic areas and to bring cross-unit faculty together to work towards this end.
• FASIP process documents will be out to the units soon. Units were reminded that decisions on how much information each unit wished to share among the peer group related to FASIP awards needs to be sent to Furmanski by October 1.
• Furmanski reviewed the Promotion Review Committee's concerns about outside review letters and reminded deans that the purpose is objective assessment of the individual's record of accomplishment and should not include a preponderance of individuals who have collaborated with the candidate on research and publications nor their mentors or dissertation advisors. He also reviewed the "ten year rule" where faculty in rank may put themselves up for promotion when the balance of criteria may swing to outstanding teaching and service. The main consideration is that no criteria move to "0". Scholarship is still considered even if outstanding service or teaching is reached.
• Gaunt reminded Cabinet that the Communications Audit Forum would be held on Friday in the Lecture Hall.

Rt. 18 Report Review – Puniello

Puniello reviewed with Cabinet the recommendations for collections and staffing from the Rt. 18 Task Force Report that would reduce non-essential travel for library users and staff between campuses. Cabinet endorsed many of the recommendations and will refer them back to the specific units for plans to implement. With others we agreed that we needed to assess the impact of the work before making major changes. This was most important related to flexible workweek. We will most likely not make any specific changes until after January when the impact is known. Our goal is to be as flexible as possible with changes that allow us to meet the needs of the university – class times, weekly schedules, and needed office hours. To that end, the compressed workweek may not be suitable, as it will restrict the number of staff available throughout the week. Specific recommendations will be put on the website with the Rt. 18 report.

Action Steps for Creth Follow-up - Gaunt

Continued the discussion of areas for follow-up on comments made during the Creth visits, and ways to address them. Issues related to local and system-wide needs and activities are critical in moving the Libraries forward and also describing the roles and responsibilities of directors and AULs. Cabinet will have a full-day retreat on this topic and how it affects all library operations. Issues related to training and development will be referred to the Training and Learning Committee and to the PC Working group where an assessment of how we are meeting staff needs for training and professional development. Issues related to assessment will be referred to the Libraries Assessment Committee. Moving on other issues will be discussed at future Cabinet meetings.

Review of ACRL Marketing Symposium - Boyle/Gaunt

This agenda item is tabled for a future Cabinet meeting.

State of the Libraries – Boyle

State of the Libraries will be held November 3, 2004 at the Busch Campus Center. Based on recommendations from the Training and Learning Committee, the theme of this year's event will be "Creating our Future." In addition to breakfast and the showcase of digital projects, the program will include a discussion of how the Libraries strategic planning activities fit into the strategic goals of the university. The university's goals include: Academic Excellence, Students and Campuses, Service and Constituency Relations, Resources for Rutgers, and Leadership and Administration. Cabinet was asked to respond to a chart developed by Boyle by next week suggesting particular library activities to include under each of the university's goals. Staff and librarians who may address these in the program will be selected for a presentation at State of the Libraries.

Announcements

Puniello:

• Puniello passed around for Cabinet perusal the Buildings and Grounds Committee handout highlighting D21.
• Puniello met with the campus bus company; they have agreed to allow advertising about the Libraries services to be displayed on campus buses.
• For two weeks, the Access Services Department will be a presence in the student centers giving information about the Libraries. Thanks to Harry Glazer and Lucye Millerand for their assistance with this project.

Zapcic:

• Zapcic is preparing for November Libraries Recognition Event and the event to honor parent donors.
• Susan Quinn has accepted a position with the Ocean County Public Library, Lakewood Branch. Her last day is September 22.

Agnew:

• Ann Montanaro is a contributing author of the newly published book Celebrating Pop-up and Movable Books. It is a pop-up history of pop-up books.

Mullins:

• ‘One More Once' A Centennial Celebration of the Life and Music of Count Basie website has been completed; it was featured on the University's website. See the website at http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/ijs/cb/
• Rocco Scary: Book Findings Exhibition Opening Reception to be held today; anticipating a large group from Verizon to support him.
• Orientation for new Newark faculty will be held tomorrow and the Libraries will be participating.

Golden:

• The Paul Robeson Library has a new exhibit on display in the entrance entitled: "20th Century Camden Revisited: Camden County, New Jersey" Historical views from the Camden County Historical Society. This exhibit is on loan for the next several weeks.
• RUL has officially signed up to participate in LibQUAL this spring. Susan Beck will lead the study with Golden assisting. See http://www.libqual.org/" for more information.

Boyle:

• There is an increasing demand for paper brochures – we have distributed 18,000 brochures since July.
• Project SAILS continues. Flyers will be distributed in Perspectives in Agriculture and English 101 classes asking for volunteers.
• An agreement has been finalized with UMDNJ for the transfer of data about their faculty and students and our requirements. This is a major accomplishment.