Bloomington Library Faculty Council 1999/2000 Report of the Secretary Andrea Singer, 1999/2000 BLFC Secretary August 6, 2000 1999/2000 BLFC membership 1998-2000: Lois Heiser Marilyn Irwin, Continuing Education Committee liaison Andrea Singer, BLFC Secretary Frank Quinn, Elections Committee liaison 1999-2001: Roger Beckman, Salary Equity Committee liaison, Webmaster Emma Dederick-Colon, Collection Development Committee liaison JoAnne Deeken, BLF and BLFC Parliamentarian, Constitution and Bylaws Committee liaison. ( JoAnne replaced Charlotte Hess, who resigned in September.) Julie Nilson, BLF Secretary, Faculty Standards Committee liaison Saundra Taylor, Budgetary Advisory Committee liaison 1999-2000: Elizabeth Johnson, Bloomington Faculty Council liaison 1999-2000 BLFC Committee Chairs Budgetary Advisory Committee: Julie Nilson Collection Development Committee: Julie Bobay, spring semester, and Carolyn Walters, fall semester Constitution and Bylaws Committee: David Lasocki Continuing Education Committee: Elizabeth Hanson Election Committee: Daniel Seldin Faculty Standards Committee: Elizabeth Johnson Salary Equity Review Committee: Taemin Park 1999/2000 IULFC Representatives Roger Beckman Emma Dederick-Colon Lois Heiser For agendas, minutes, committee reports, and other BLFC documents, see http://www.indiana.edu/~libblfc/ This report focuses on the work of the Council as a whole during 1999-2000. Brief summaries of the accomplishments of standing committees work in progress are also included. The Council met 13 times during the year. There was no January meeting but a special meeting was held in April to consider budgetary recommendations, and a special meeting was held in May to consider guidelines for nomination and nominees for the Committee to Review Dean Thorin. BLFC Participation in Interviews and Consultation BLFC members participated in four interviews during the fall semester for the Libraries Human Resources Officer Position. BLFC met with members of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee in October to provide input on the process. During the November meeting, Neil Theobald, co-chair of the Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) Review Committee appointed by President Brand, interviewed the Council about the positive and negative aspects of RCM. Preparation for the meeting included a presentation by Pat Steele on the history of RCM at IU and the results of the previous review. The Budgetary Advisory Committee discussed the Council's response, and Ann Bristow and Julie Bobay contributed to the Council's consideration of RCM issues. Theobald provided his post-interview notes to the Council for revision. BLFC was invited to comment on two documents: Dean Thorin's draft response on the Proposed Undergraduate Campus General Education Requirement. Draft Proposal for the IUB Libraries Intranet BLFC nominated librarians to serve on the Jenkins Award Committee. Review of Dean Thorin Review procedures for campus administrators provide for a survey of the faculty or librarians in the administrator's organization. (See http://www.indiana.edu/~bfc/BFC/policies/review.html) BLFC charged the Faculty Standards Committee with drafting questions for Dean Thorin's review, and the Council approved and sent the questions to the BFC Nomination Committee. The Faculty Standards Committee also prepared a list of librarian nominees for the Review Committee, which BLFC submitted to the Nomination Committee. Faculty Standards and BLFC later add a supplementary list of names at the Nominating Committee's request. Librarians Faculty Review Board In response to the annual report for 1998-1999 of the Bloomington Faculty Council Grievance Committee at the BFC meeting of September 8, 1999, BLFC asked the Faculty Standards Committee to review documents related to Bloomington librarians' avenues for grievance and review. BLFC agreed with the Faculty Standards Committee's recommendation that BLFC recommend to IULFC that it abolish the Librarians Faculty Review Board. (Librarians with grievance and review issues would then have the same recourse and remedies available as other faculty on each campus.) BLFC made the recommendation to IULFC. (During the year Bloomington campus documents were revised in a way that permits librarians to have the choice of paths to follow in a grievance.) Peer Review Committee BLFC charged the Secretary with distributing the summary portion of the Dean's report to the Peer Review Committee to librarians in August, 1999. In August, the Council approved changes in the Peer Review process based on the first year's experience, and the revised document was distributed in paper to Bloomington Librarians. Peer Review Committee Chair Julie Bobay and Faculty Standards Committee Chair Elizabeth Johnson participated in two workshops on writing annual reviews which were sponsored by the Continuing Education Committee in the fall. The 2000 Peer Review Committee, Jian Liu and Jo McClamroch and co-chairs Anne Haynes and Marion Frank-Wilson , completed their work in the spring. The Committee's report was distributed to librarians, and paper distribution of the summary portion of the Dean's report to the Peer Review Committee was accomplished in June. BLFC agreed that the Faculty Standards Committee should keep a close watch on the process. Budgetary Affairs including Salary Issues The Council recommended that Dean Thorin distribute the Salary Distribution Report to librarians this year and in the future, on an annual basis. (Dean Thorin distributed the 1999-2000 report on September 13, 1999.) The Budgetary Advisory Committee's Recommendation for merit salary distribution was approved for operational use for the present year, and the Council recommended a scenario for merit distribution. Ad Hoc Committee for Professional Travel After considering documents and forms for support for professional travel in two BLFC meetings, BLFC appointed Julie Nilson and Frank Quinn to review and rewrite the professional development travel form and policy. Nilson and Quinn 's revisions were discussed with the Council and Budget Office Kathy McCarnes, and approved . Organizational matters The Council discussed the timeline for IULFC appointments, and completed elections and nominations as early as possible. Revisions to the BLFC Manual and Constitution and Bylaws were approved by the Council for consideration at the Bloomington Library Faculty meeting scheduled for August 2000. Committee chairs of standing BLFC committees describe the year's work and fulfillment of charges in individual reports. They also suggest charges BLFC should consider for 2000-2001. This portion of the Secretary's report credits the committees with the accomplishments which have not already been described in the context of the Council's work as a whole, above. Budgetary Advisory Committee The committee advised Dean Thorin on budget issues, and made recommendations for librarians' salary distributions. Collection Development Committee The committee's major accomplishments were recommending the allocation of the library's materials budget and serving as an advisory body to the Director for Collection Development. Technical services issues such as Y2K and end of year decisions made this an especially challenging year. Constitution and Bylaws Committee The committee chair worked closely with the Council to revise documents in the Bloomington Library Faculty Handbook. Continuing Education Committee The committee sponsored two workshops including the important Peer Review Workshop mentioned above, which was attended by 43 librarians and 4 of 9 LMT members. . Election Committee Conducting elections and compiling information on librarians' committee service preferences were the major accomplishments. Faculty Standards Committee In addition to the activities related to peer review, review of the Dean, and avenues for grievance and review described above, the committee served as an advisory committee to the Library Human Resources Officer. Salary Equity Review Committee The committee spent this year, the year prior to an equity review, testing an equity review process on 20% of the Bloomington librarians. Work in progress: Major items for the 2000-2001 Council include: Continuing monitoring the peer review process Continuing roles in the review of Dean Thorin Continuing engagement in budget processes Follow-through on Bloomington Library Faculty Handbook and website revisions Respectfully submitted, Andrea Singer