Wednesday, May 9, 2001
Charles E. Young Research Library, Administrative Conference Room

Present: David Cappoli, Alice Kawakami, Linda Maisner, Marion Peters, Michael Oppenheim (recorder), Maureen Russell, Sharon Shafer, Lise Snyder, Ken Wade

Guests: Miki Goral, Esther Grassian, Rhonda Lawrence, Gloria Werner [2:00 PM-3:00 PM]

1. CALL TO ORDER

   Lise Snyder called the meeting to order at 1:05 PM.

2. CHAIR’S REPORT

   The LAUC Spring Assembly took place at the UC Irvine Student Center on Friday, April 27, 2001. From UCLA, attendees included Lise Snyder, Maureen Russell, David Cappoli, Ken Wade (as delegates), and Michael Oppenheim. Lise reported the following highlights from the meeting:

   • The 2001 Fall Assembly will be held at UC Davis.

   • All LAUC Chairs have received a copy of the video about librarians’ values and the maturing of the profession (this was originally shown by LAUC President Cathy Palmer at last November’s Fall Assembly in Berkeley). Lise will speak with LAUC-LA Programs Chair Cathy Brown about arranging a showing of the video.

   • The issue of the impact on libraries of the expanding summer quarters came up in the report made by Gary Peete, LAUC Representative to the Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Advisory Committee (SLASIAC). Gary will shortly be polling all the campuses to gather anecdotal information about this impact; he will compile this information for a report to SLASIAC.
     
     
   • UCOP has approved the LAUC Bylaws which were voted in last January.
     
     
   • Myron Okada, UCOP, Director of Academic Personnel Relations, discussed the COLA status. Possibly there will be a 1.9% COLA for faculty, and a 2% adjustment for non-faculty. A faculty committee is pushing for COLA implementation on July 1, rather than October 1. Discussion of tuition reductions or fee remissions has been postponed to fall. There may be legislative audits of current faculty hires (focusing on the numbers of women in tenure-track positions) and faculty employees who are “casual.”
     
     
   • UC Merced’s new University Librarian, Bruce Miller, recently of UCSD, made an intriguing and humorous presentation. He also offered the UC Merced Library as the host site for the 2004 LAUC Spring Assembly.
     
     
   • Cristina Campbell, Melvyl® Catalog Transition Project Manager (and recently of UCB), made a brief presentation.
     
     
   • Cathy Palmer spoke about the search for a University Librarian for the CDL (and she noted that she is the only female member of the search committee). The search committee is soliciting interview questions from all UC librarians.
     
     
   • The question, “How can LAUC retain its traditional advisory role?” was discussed. It was observed that the LAUC President formerly attended the meetings of University Librarians (one of which was taking place simultaneously, in another room in the UCI Student Center).
     
     
3. SECRETARY'S REPORT:

   The minutes of the meeting of March 22nd were approved, with corrections.

4. OLD BUSINESS:

   1. Peer Review Update

      Maureen Russell reported that 32 actions had been completed to date, with 8 remaining to be finished during the week, and another 8 packets not as yet received. She also reported that 2000-2001 Peer Review Committee member Russell Johnson had resigned from the committee.

   2. LAUC-LA Spring Membership Meeting

      Lise noted that the meeting went well. With regard to the upcoming LAUC elections, there were no nominations from the floor for any of the LAUC-LA offices. The elections (for LAUC-LA and LAUC Statewide offices) will take place during the first week of June. Also at the Spring Membership meeting, Rhonda Lawrence presented a progress report on the changes to the language in LAUC Position Paper No. 1, Criteria for Appointment or Promotion to the Ranks of Associate Librarian and Librarian and Advancement to Librarian Step V, that the Statewide Professional Governance Committee has been working on. The meeting concluded with the awarding of the 2001 LAUC-LA Librarian of the Year to Norma Corral.

   3. Other LAUC Divisions Round Robin
      
      Ken Wade reported that LAUC-SC has completed the conversion of its handbook into electronic format. LAUC-SC is also working on revision of its bylaws. LAUC-SF is interested in having other UC campuses participate in their peer review—something which can happen, and has. (Inasmuch as there are only 9 UCSF librarians, it can be difficult to maintain confidentiality.)
      
      

5. NEW BUSINESS

   Lise will attend this year’s third meeting of the Senate Committee on Library (COL) on May 16; she has not yet seen an agenda. The Statewide COL Chair [Christoph Schreiner, UCSF] has expressed interest in implementing a required information literacy course for all undergraduates. The Statewide COL is also going to write a response to the January 2, 2001 letter that Judson King, UC Provost and Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs, sent to LAUC Past President Patsy Inouye, in response to the June 1, 2000 LAUC resolution regarding the building of new libraries.
   
   Lise discussed scheduling of the remaining meetings for the 2000-2001 LAUC-LA Executive Board. Establishing—or reestablishing—a fixed, predictable meeting calendar for an entire year at a time is another goal to pursue.
   

6. DISCUSSION WITH GLORIA WERNER

   The following topics were covered at this meeting:.

   1. “State of the Library Address” Follow-Up

      Gloria Werner made this presentation to an overflow crowd at the Faculty Center on Wednesday morning, May 2 [a copy of the full text of her address may be accessed on the Library Staff Intranet]. It was noted that the bulk of the audience questions concerned capital improvements (i.e., refurbishments and/or expansions of various branch libraries, and YRL).

   2. LAUC-LA Motion Concerning the Director of Library Human Resources

      On May 8, Lise posted a message to LAUCTALK-L which included the text of the motion made at the LAUC-LA Spring Membership Meeting on April 19, and a summary of the supporting discussion:
      
      

   Motion

   LAUC-LA, via its Chair and Executive Board, should convey to the University Librarian and the AULs its strong feeling that, since every library policy has some human resource component, the new Director, Library Human Resources, must be an integral, voting member of Excomm.

   Supporting Discussion

   • The importance of the new person having a library degree was discussed, as was the difficulty of finding such a person. Although the membership recognizes that this might not be possible (and it was noted that at this time only three UC library systems have a head of human resources with a library degree), they still felt it was desirable.
   • Discussion shifted to the greater importance of the person in this position being on equal footing with the AULs, especially in terms of involvement and input as a member of Excomm. There was general agreement that any discussion of library issues, policies, and procedures would be likely to touch upon human resources and require the Director’s active participation in the discussion. The viability of having this position revert to being an AUL to insure this level of participation and involvement was also discussed.
   • The membership also expressed their belief that the person hired for this position must have a substantial background in higher education. Along with this, he or she should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of being a strong advocate for all library staff, and show evidence of having been such an adovcate.
     
     

   Gloria stated that she is “perfectly comfortable” with having the new Human Resources Director fully present for Executive Committee (Excomm) meetings, and that the HR Director should certainly have substantial academic experience. The “ability to be a strong advocate for all library staff” is also a highly desirable quality, though difficult to discern in the course of a job interview. Gloria invited members of the LAUC-LA Executive Board to look over the job posting before it goes out this summer.

   3. Sabbaticals, Leaves with Pay, and Release Time as Possible Elements of a Renewed Staff Development Program
      
      

Gloria pointed out that UCLA librarians have long had available the option of submitting requests for leaves with pay to their unit heads. (Of course, the unit head may deny the request at the outset.) Nevertheless, in the last ten years, eight or nine such leaves (of three months’duration) have been granted—almost always for the purpose of working on, or completing, books. The availability of this option needs to be better, and regularly, publicized.

7. NEXT MEETING / ADJOURNMENT

   The next meeting of the LAUC-LA Executive Board will be scheduled “off-line,” via e-mail, and announced on LAUCTALK-L.

   The meeting was adjourned at 3:08 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Oppenheim
LAUC-LA Secretary