LAUC-B Executive Committee
Meeting No. 1997/98 (9)
21 April 1998
9:05 - 11:20 am, 119 Moses Hall
MINUTES
Present: Terry Huwe, Corliss Lee, Virginia Shih, Deborah Sommer (Chair),
Christina Tarr, Linda Vida (Secretary), Jack Von Euw, Beth Weil
Absent: Terry Dean, Marlene Harmon, Andrea Sevetson
Handouts: Agenda, Draft Minutes 3/17/98, Draft Internal Recruitment Procedures,
Excerpts from LAUC-Irvine 9/8/97 Minutes
I. Announcements - D. Sommer
a) The External Advisors Report will only be distributed in paper
per an agreement with the External Advisors. However, D. Sommer
will deposit copies at all of the places where CU News is available.
b) The Spring Assembly was held April 16, 1998 in the Goldberg
Room. There were a large number of attendees and the discussions
were excellent, but more time was needed. There were comments that
the room was hard to find and detailed directions should have been
included in the email announcement.
c) The Affiliated Assembly will be held May 12, 1998 in the Goldberg
Room. Beverlee French, of the California Digital Library, will speak.
II. The MINUTES from the 3/17/98 (8) meeting were approved with
corrections. L. Vida will send these MINUTES out on the LAUC-B
reflector, have them mounted on the LAUC-B website and send an
announcement to Patsy Inouye.
III. Spring Assembly Minutes-preliminary review
Discussion on this item was postponed.
IV. New Business - D. Sommer
Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) Report discussion - D. Sommer
D. Sommer led a discussion summarizing comments made at the
Spring Assembly. In general, response to the BRC Report was positive,
although it seemed that many people had not read the External Advisors
Report. There was also the sense that some would have preferred more
emphasis on staffing needs. The BRC Report accurately reflects the
problems and strengths of The Library and could provide a strong basis
of asking for more support from the Executive Vice Chancellor. The
Report places an emphasis on The Library as the intellectual center of
the campus, although, many users now experience the campus remotely.
Do we need the physical plant as much as we used to?
LAUC-B will prepare a written response to the Report. What areas
should LAUC-B respond to?
Concern was expressed about remarks on the Librarian advancement
process, as addressed on p. 31 of the BRC report. The report recom-
mends that librarians should be able to advance within the Librarian
series based on outstanding performance in their primary assignment,
and should not over-emphasize national service when time and resources
are so scarce. It appears that many librarians expressed concern to
the BRC that their accomplishments on campus in their primary job
responsibilities are not sufficiently valued.
T. Huwe commented that CAPA intends to write a letter addressing
some professional and peer review issues raised by the BRC report.
T. Huwe stated that the APM remains a durable document, and it
clearly enables librarians to work with review initiators to develop
a variety of career paths. Communication between review initiators
and librarians, and allocation of support are key issues that influence
advancement. Faculty and external reviewers may not be fully aware
of the important interplay between professional practice on campus and
interaction at the national level. CAPA agrees with the BRC that
excellence in the primary assignment must be given proper weight,
but believes that it is not possible to completely "decouple" national
service and local practice. D. Sommer noted that support for broader
professional activities varies among units, which may account for
some of the concerns that were raised. Moreover, the workload is
higher across the board, making national service much more challeng-
ing to integrate into the overall workload.
T. Huwe noted that CAPA has received comments from members who
feel that service on LAUC-B is not viewed positively in advancement
decisions. In 1997, past CAPA Chair Ginny Irving conducted a statistical
analysis that indicated that LAUC-B service was viewed favorably by final
decisions, in contrast to this sentiment. T. Huwe said that CAPA would
correspond with The Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost to reaffirm
the basic framework for librarian review, as outlined in the APM and
Berkeley Guidelines. Discussion also touched upon strategies for
allocation of funds. LAUC-B should emphasize rational allocation
of funds as discussed on p. 21.
Discussion LAUC Statewide Professional Governance Survey - T. Huwe
and D. Sommer
D. Sommer and T. Huwe discussed the LAUC Statewide Professional
Governance Survey, which explores the possibility of adding steps to the
Librarian series. Most LAUC members assumed that the fifth step would
not be reserved for "distinguished" service if more steps were added.
In the faculty series, the eighth step is the distinguished step, and their
series has the provision for "off-scale" compensation. Some political argu-
ments have been made to have the top step in an enlarged full Librarian
rank be a "distinguished step". However, there are salary and morale
issues associated with the continuation of this practice. Various aspects
of advancement and salary issues were discussed. Retention of quality
staff is a concern since UC salaries are currently not competitive. Discussion
ensued about language in the APM concerning the "distinguished" status
of the fifth step. There are a wide variety of opinions about the usefulness
of the "distinguished" step, during an era when our salary scale lags and
many librarians are approaching this level. T. Huwe commented that the
APM can be interpreted very broadly and that to advance a librarian at
the full Librarian level, he or she must demonstrate superior performance
in any or all of the four criteria set forth by the APM. While national
leadership is not explicitly given as a single criterion for advancement
to Librarian Step V, final decision-makers tend to look for national dis-
tinction as an important identifying characteristic. Discussion ensued
about national service as a requirement to advance to the fifth step,
and whether UC University Librarians follow a similar pattern in reviewing
dossiers at this level. It was also noted that in order to add more steps to
the Librarian series, LAUC might need to rescind LAUC Position Paper
No. 1, and then consider re-introducing the concept of a higher step as
a "distinguished" step. This may require a change in the By-laws and
a vote by the membership.
Internal Reassignment Procedures discussion - T. Huwe (CAPA, Chair)
A. Sevetson and T. Huwe attended a meeting of the Library Planning
Group to discuss guidelines for internal reassignments. D. Sommer was
unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict. T. Huwe asked the Executive
Committee (Ex Comm) to review these guidelines and send comments to him.
The meeting was the result of correspondence between CAPA, the University
Librarian, and LPG. CAPA has concluded that librarian reassignment oppor-
tunities could be handled more effectively if there were uniform procedures
in place that would give interested librarians a framework for making expres-
sions of interest in opportunities. Under the proposed guidelines, CAPA
would review the job description for a reassignment, and interview interested
individuals. LHRDand the Library Administration, which would consider CAPA's
recommendations, would handle reassignment decisions. Proposed guidelines
regarding internal reassignment procedures were drafted by Janice Dost.
Discussion ensued about clarifying some of the language in the guidelines,
and the merits of CAPA's involvement in the interview process. T. Huwe
indicated that no date for approving and activating the proposed guidelines
has been given.
ACTION) T. Huwe will send the guidelines out on the Ex Comm reflector and
solicit additional comments.
Report from LAUC Executive Board Meeting - D. Sommer
Discussion was postponed.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 am.
