Judy Russell, Dean ofUniversity Libraries, and Joe Aufmuth, Chair of the Library Faculty Assemby, wish to annouce the creation of a jointly appointed and reporting committee concerning the Smathers Libraries reorganization. As the process progresses you will be hearing more from the committee. We hope you will give the committee your full support as they go through a very difficult and time consuming task. Your comments and suggestions to date have greatly guided the formation of the committee and are influencing the path the process is taking. We look forward to your continued participation in the process. Please continue to provide those professional comments, suggestions, and ideas, through every communication channel available to you.
As you may know, the Library Faculty Assembly was directed by its members to form a committee on reorganization and to appoint 2 faculty members from each Library Division where Faculty currently reside, and 1 member of staff from each of those divisions. Those divisions were Collections, Public Services, Technical Services, and Support Services. The consensus of the LFA was that faculty members who serve already be tenured. Patrick Reakes is not tenured, but his packet has passed through the Library process; he is willing to serve, has the full support of the LFA, and is a Faculty Senator. Also, there is only 1 member from Technical Services and not 2. There are only 3 TS tenured or Associate In faculty, 2 of them declined for various reasons. Consequently we looked towards an alternate individual from the Collections Division to fill the TS seat. Dean Russell has concurred with the names submitted.
Reporting:
The Committee will jointly report to Dean of the Libraries, Judy Russell and to the Chair of the LFA, Joe Aufmuth.
Charge:
The Committee's charge as approved by the LFA membership and in consultation with Library Administration is: To solicit and collect proposals and comments from faculty, staff, and administration; to analyze and synthesize organizational functions and structure; and, to make recommendations on reorganization to the Dean and the Chair of the Library Faculty Assembly.
Chair:
To be elected by the committee members.
Membership:
James Cusick, Collections
Carl Van Ness, Collections
Blake Landor, Collections
Jana Ronan, Public Services
Patrick Reakes, Public Services
Stephanie Haas, Support Services
Jimmie Lundgren, Technical Services
Priscilla Williams, Technical Services
Adrian Zeck, Collections
Jim Stevens, Public Services
Amy Polk, Support Services
Raimonda Margjoni, Technical Services
Brian Keith, Ex Officio
Background:
Several factors are contributing to the need for reorganization which you will discover as you proceed. But the greatest pressure on the timing of the process, not the reason for the process, is the impending budgetary difficulties the University faces. If deeper budget cuts are required in fiscal year 2008-2009, there may be more hiring freezes, or a continuation of current freezes. Since there are no written hiring guarantees, Dean Russell desires to complete, or have in the hiring process new Associate Dean positions. We have a choice to either try and hire ADs with no specific organizational structure or have an agreeable structure which is supported by administration, faculty, staff, and the UF Faculty Senate. It was recognized by the LFA membership that having a structure would make hiring the new ADs easier.
In order to achieve UF Senate approval this spring the following schedule must be met. For both information and action items to be presented for approval at a single Senate meeting on April 17th we will need to present at the Senate Steering Committee meeting on April 3rd, which in turn means presenting at the March 17th Infrastructure Policy Council meeting for approval. Prior to the IPC meeting the Senate’s University Library Committee will have to meet and approve a proposal as would the LFA and any Library units that are proposed for elimination, aggregation, or creation.
Proposed Schedule and Deliverables:
March 5th Participate in Town Hall meeting concerning Reorganization
March 6th Dean Russell and LFA Chair Aufmuth present progress report to Senate Steering Committee
March 11th Present/distribute final reorganization proposal for consideration
March 13th Vote by affected faculty and LFA membership, Special Called LFA meeting
March 14th Consideration by University Library Committee, Special Called ULC meeting
March 17th Consideration by Infrastructure Policy Council
April 3rd Consideration by Senate Steering Committee
April 17th Presentation to UF Faculty Senate for information and consideration
We recognize the schedule is very aggressive. There are 13 work days until March 5th and 17 work days until March 11th. The Sunshine Law meeting notice requirements that guide LFA Officers and the committee appointment process has also impacted the schedule. While the LFA membership did not agree to this schedule, there was an LFA consensus that any reorganization committee should work in good faith to meet the schedule. We and the committee will keep you informed of their progress.
Thank you for your efforts, comments, and suggestions in the reorganization process.
Judy Russell, Dean of Libraries
Joe Aufmuth, Chair LFA
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The first meeting of the Committee will be held on Tuesday, February 19th, from 1 to 2 p.m., in Smathers Room 1A. The second meeting will be held on Friday, February 22nd, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in Marston 107.
To: All Library Staff
From: Joint Committee on University Library Reorganization
Requesting: Your assistance and participation in the committee’s work
Please take the time to send comments, questions, or concerns about library reorganization to the joint committee on library reorganization.
If you have specific input about our current organizational structure, why we should reorganize, or how we should reorganize, please forward it. Or give us some input on the following general questions:
What are the current issues with the way the library is organized?
What works well with our current organization and what does not work well?
How could we reorganize to improve things at the library (communication, reporting structure, service, workloads, etc.)?
To send comments or questions you can:
Reply to one or more of the committee members listed below
–or-
Post here at the blog.
We would appreciate receiving your input by Thursday afternoon as our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 22, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Marston.
There will be additional times to send input, but committee members would especially appreciate feedback and questions now as they start their meetings.
Committee Members:
Stephanie Haas, Support Services (co-chair)
James Cusick, Collections (co-chair)
Carl Van Ness, Collections
Blake Landor, Collections
Jana Ronan, Public Services
Patrick Reakes, Public Services
Jimmie Lundgren, Technical Services
Priscilla Williams, Technical Services
Adrian Zeck, Collections
Jim Stevens, Public Services
Amy Polk, Support Services
Raimonda Margjoni, Technical Services
Brian Keith, ex oficio
Committee Charge:
The Committee's charge as approved by the LFA membership and in consultation with Library Administration is: To solicit and collect proposals and comments from faculty, staff, and administration; to analyze and synthesize organizational functions and structure; and, to make recommendations on reorganization to the Dean and the Chair of the Library Faculty Assembly.
Please note: The next meeting is Friday, February 22 not March 22 as reported above. My apologies, Stephanie
Dear Group,
There is a lot of discussion concerning tenure homes so I would like to ask for feedback on a couple points.
First, do you think we can agree that a department with one or two people on faculty lines does not provide an adequate evaluative body for tenure/promotion decisions?
Second, would those who are presently in such departments be willing to accept a larger grouping of colleagues for tenure/promotion decisions?
Third, does a division, e.g., Information Technologies, Research Collections, etc. seem a reasonable unit for tenure homes?
Thanks for your thoughts on this,
Stephanie
All,
As the only current faculty member of the Preservation tenure home, (I believe Erich Kesse has his tenure in Preservation but he is now in the DLC) I agree with Stephanie that this is not an adequate evaluative body. I would be fine with a larger group of faculty reviewing and voting on my eventual tenure and promotion. However, what I am not sure about is who would be appropriate to be in my larger group. Looking at it objectively, I assume/suppose that if I put together a good enough packet, that any faculty member in my division should be able to vote knowledgably on my candidacy.
Subjectively, the whole tenure thing still gives me the willies. :-)
At the Faculty Senate Steering Committee meeting, Rick Yost informed me that the College of Nursing and the College of Law have a single tenure home for the college. I don't know how the size of their faculty compares to ours, but it another model already in use here at UF for us to consider.
I agree with Cathy that the idea of a larger group evaluating out packets is not really a problem. What concerns me slightly more is the the transmittal letters. One of the advantages of smaller tenure homes is that the transmittal letter is written by somebody with intimate knowledge of the activities and progress of the candidate. Having larger groups may reduce the personal touch, which might counteract any additional cache gained by having had 20+ people vote on one's packet.
I was fortunate to attend yesterday's meeting of the Reorganization Committee as an observer. I was highly impressed with the manner in which the committee conducted its business. Dean Russell was in attendance and was able to provide insight into the development of the original organization chart. She answered questions posed by the committee as well as by the observers. It was educational for all attendees. I left convinced that the committee will come up with a report that correctly reflects the concerns of the faculty and staff. Keep up the good work!
Oops...In case you're wondering who GAINESVILLE GLORY is, it's Jan who manages her daughter's soccer team's (Gainesville Glory) blog.
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