Executive Committee Minutes 1/09/02


January 9, 2002
10:10 am - noon
303 Doe Library

Present: B. Anton (chair), M. Cochran, N. Kobzina, S. Koskinen, C. Lee (recorder), J. McKenzie, B. Ogden, M. Phillip, B. Quigley, N. Robinson, M. Snow

Absent: J. Gallwey

Guests: D. Farrell, M. Mahoney, D. Sommer,

I. Announcements

  • The campus has not yet responded to the LAUC-B budget request.

II. Reports

A. Treasurer's Report (J. McKenzie)

  • The LAUC-B balance is $13,466.
  • LAUC-B members who have invoices to submit should sign them and submit them to J. McKenzie along with the travel reimbursement form which may be found at the Library Business Office web site at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Staff/LBS/ under "Travel/Entertainment/Reimbursement."

B. Meeting with the University Librarian (B. Anton, M. Cochran)

  • There was no meeting in December.

C. Senate Library Committee report (M. Cochran)

  • Budget/hiring freeze and the Library: T. Leonard handed out a set of charts showing the effects of a 10% cut to the Library's operating budget, should a budget cut be required for 2002/2003. Two charts addressed changes in the collections budget and the operations budget since 1994. Two other charts reflect changes in staff since 1989. Total staff is down 17% and librarian staff down 32%. T. Newcomb, T. Leonard, and Professor Len Duhl will bring this issue to the first meeting of the Library Planning Board, January 18.
  • Business & Economics Library space: M. Ternberg gave a history of Business Library space issues. Haas Business School has asked the Library to relinquish space on several occasions. The School administration has been asked to consult with Business and Economics faculty to determine if changes in services and collections could be made to the Library and in turn determine if these changes would result in any space savings. T. Leonard has asked the Haas Administration to discuss their plans with the Academic Senate Library Committee.
  • Educational Technology: Professor Philip Stark described the goal of the Educational Technology Services unit, which is to use technology in order to improve the quality of education and to reduce the administrative burden on faculty. Currently the unit is working to make sure that every course has a base-level web page. P. Stark believes that library resources should be incorporated into these web pages. P. Iannuzzi and G. Handman were present for this part of the meeting. P. Stark was invited to return to a May meeting of the Senate Library committee to give an update.

D. LAUC Fall Assembly (B. Anton, M. Cochran, J. McKenzie, J. Gallwey)

  • At some of the other UC campuses, librarians are exempt from the hiring freeze.

E. Candidate Lunches (N. Robinson)

  • Lunches were numerous in November/December; some were hosted by non-Executive Committee members of LAUC-B.

III. Continuing Action Items

A. Committee recruitment (D. Sommer)

  • D. Sommer discussed the difficulty of recruiting LAUC-B members for committee assignments. She estimated that 75% of those contacted were interested in LAUC-B service but could not add it to all else that they were doing.
  • Suggestions for remedies:
    • change the by-laws to give a range of numbers of members rather than a specific number
    • ask past committee chairs how many members they believe are necessary for the committee to do its work
    • look at whether committee charges are too ambitious
    • make AULs and upper administration aware of the problem
    • emphasize at the peer review workshop where LAUC-B service falls
    • LAUC Statewide will put a committee "on ice" for a year if there are not enough members, or not enough pressing business
    • make use of ad hoc task forces - their limited lifespans might attract more volunteers
    • Executive Committee will discuss the issue further at its next meeting.

B. Forging Partnerships conference wrap-up (M. Mahoney, N. Robinson, J. McKenzie)

  • The conference committee submitted a detailed final report. Evaluations were favorable though attendance was somewhat disappointing, due perhaps to conflicts with other events and a more amorphous theme than those of previous conferences.
  • The existence of a separate planning committee for the conference was considered a factor in its success (as opposed to having the Research and Professional Development committee take on this responsibility).
  • Research and Professional Development committee will survey the membership on preferred conference themes and formats.

IV. New Topics

A. Policy for late dossiers (N. Kobzina)

  • N. Kobzina led a discussion of how CAPA should handle late and non-existent self-evaluations from candidates. It was suggested that when LHRD reminds LAUC-B members of the timing of their reviews they also remind members that they may request deferrals.

B. Announcing "distinguished step" in CU News - discussion postponed.

C. LAUC-B laptop (C. Lee)

  • Action: The draft guidelines will be a future agenda item.


Next Executive Committee meeting: February 13, 2002 at 10:10 am - 12:00 noon, 303 Doe Library.