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Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveDecember 11, 1991
These minutes were approved with one correction at the ULC meeting on January 15, 1992. (The reference "while Dr. Roselle was Vice President" should be "Provost"). UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COMMITTEE MINUTES December 11, 1991 PRESENT: Carol Burch-Brown, Provost's OfficeJ. Scott Poole, Architecture Norm Dodl, Education Martha Rose, CSAC Edward Fox, Arts & Sciences Mark Smith, Veterinary Medicine Paul Gherman, Library Cortney Vargo, GSA Megan Hilt, SGA James Yardley, Business Gerald Luttrell, Engineering Rodney Young, Ag. & Life Sciences Ken McCleary, Human Resources GUESTS: Joanne Eustis, Library Bruce Obenhaus, Library Glenn McMullen, Library Frances Painter, Library Paul Metz, Library ABSENT: Darrell Clowes, Faculty Senate MEETING SUMMARY: The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. The November minutes were approved as submitted. The proposed policy resolution on archiving University publications was tabled until the January meeting. There was discussion about attachments to the minutes which are sent to University Council, and further discussion about the library's reporting structure within the university. LIBRARY ANNOUNCEMENTS (P. Gherman): Newspaper Index: In the Profs system, under University Information and then under the Library, there is a new newspaper database, which indexes over 37,000 articles from Spectrum, the Roanoke Times, and other local newspapers, dealing with Tech people and events. Type in any keyword to use the system, which indexes words from headlines and titles. The system gives citations for articles. New Books List: The New Books List, which contains the past month's cataloged titles, is currently being tested within the library. It should be available in about a month. You can enter on approximately 50 menu entries, or you can enter the call number stream at any point desired. OLD BUSINESS 1. PROPOSED POLICY CONCERNING UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS (G. McMullen): The revised proposal, now written in standard university policy format, was distributed. G. McMullen explained that the library currently receives approximately 75 to 80 percent of all university publications; the problem for the library is the 20 to 25 percent we do not receive. We are sent everything printed by the Tech Print Shop. The policy requests departments to send to the library copies of official publications produced under their imprint, but which are printed somewhere other than the Print Shop. A committee member asked that time be allowed for him to solicit comments from his college's library committee. A motion to table until the next meeting was passed. 2. ATTACHMENTS TO MINUTES SUBMITTED TO UNIVERSITY COUNCIL (N. Dodl): N. Dodl informed the committee that the University Council may place on their agenda the question of whether attachments to minutes should be included with the minutes sent to them. In some instances, attachments have been included for informational purposes; more often, not. Consensus of the committee was again that we will continue as before until a policy change requires otherwise. Some additional comments from members of the ULC: 1) if required, it should become a formal policy, and apply to all committees' minutes; 2) many items shared with committees are not ready for distribution. They are works in progress. Therefore, if required, only final documents should be submitted; 3) a suggestion that attachments be kept in a notebook available to anyone interested in seeing them. 3. REPORTING STRUCTURE OF THE LIBRARY WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY (N. Dodl): Dr. Carlisle has agreed to meet with N. Dodl and another committee member to discuss, on an informational basis, the library's reporting structure within the university; however, a meeting time has not yet been set. At the last meeting, a request was made for information on the position of the library faculty regarding the reporting and governance structure. In response, the President of the Library Faculty Association distributed two 1989 memorandums (sent by the Library Faculty Association to the Task Force on University Council, Commissions, and Committees), and a current memorandum addressed to ULC. A majority of library faculty, then and now, favor having the library report to the Provost. This introduced further discussion about tenured, as opposed to continued appointment status. Within the university, both contain similar protections and security. A greater emphasis is placed on service in the guidelines for continued appointment. Library faculty promotion and continued appointment are considered by the Provost and a special committee as are other extra-collegiate faculty, such as those in extension. This is a peripheral issue to the question of reporting structure. The ULC is not at this time pursuing any change in the current reporting structure nor in the status of library faculty. It was suggested that future discussion of the reporting structure address five areas of concern: 1) the governance structure, 2) how a change in reporting structure would affect the search for, and the position of, Vice President for Information Systems, 3) how the library relates to the colleges, to the technical units on campus, and to administrative units, 4) does where the library fits in the organization of the university affect its funding, and 5) to whom should the University Librarian report. The first of these questions is already resolved; the library will report to the Commission on Research in the new governance structure. Point 3 will be put on an early agenda. Further discussion reviewed recent history of the library's place in the reporting structure. While Dr. Roselle was Vice President, the University Librarian participated in the Dean's Council, but that was not continued after Dr. Heterick became Vice President. Lacking that forum, some members question whether or not the library has a clear communication link with the academic units on campus, especially in the planning process, where library support is expected for academic programs. This is perceived by some as a limitation of the current system. The ULC will continue its discussions and hopes to formulate a position and/or recommendations within the next two or three months. The meeting was adjourned at 5 p.m. The January meeting will be on the third Wednesday, January 15, 1992.
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Last modified on: Tuesday, 25-Sep-2001 13:57:52 EDT