Forum Meeting on March 17, 2010

Librarians' Forum
March 17, 2010
Hatcher Gallery
Attendance: approx. 50

The meeting was called to order by Forum Chair Martin Knott at 9:05 a.m.

Introductions

Ataul Usman, Human Resource Generalist, introduced himself.

Announcements

There were no announcements from the floor.

Forum Board Updates

The Board is working with LDG and Business Operations to implement the recommendations of last year's salary data task force report.  We are creating a more formalized process.  To that end, LDG will soon meet with Martin, Donna Hayward, and Jen Green & Beth Strickland (chairs of last year's salary task forces), Theresa Short, and Jane Havens to work out the details.

Nomination Period for Librarian Achievement and Recognition Awards

The nomination period for Nominate a Librarian for University Award is open until April 30. If you know of potentially worthy recipients of either award, please nominate them.

Forum Board Elections

The nominating committee for open Forum Board positions is being formed.  If you are interested in serving on the nominating committee, please let forum.board@umich.edu know by Friday, March 19, 2010.  Elections will be held in April for the following positions: Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Vice-Secretary/Secretary-Elect, two Members-at-Large, and Member of the Committee on Funding for Librarians' Research & Creative Projects.

Coffee Breaks

There are three Forum Coffee Breaks scheduled for the remainder of the semester:

• March 22, 10:30-11:30, at Beansters (Michigan League)
• April 7, 1:30-2:30, at Mujo's (Duderstadt Center)
• April 21, 10:30-11:30, at Beansters (Michigan League)

Report of the Promotion Criteria Task Force

Beau Case, chair of the Promotion Criteria Task Force, reported on the Task Force's work over the past months. While the Task Force was specifically charged with reviewing librarian promotion criteria, they received a great deal of feedback on the process and are making recommendations in that area as well. The full report of the Task Force will be made available soon, after the committee's recommendations have been voted on by the members of Forum (in the next couple weeks).

Recommendations

Specific recommendations are as follows:

1. More sample dossiers available
2. Combine promotion criteria 1 and 2 (Education and Specialization & Expertise)
3. Combine promotion criteria 8 and 9 (Professional Activities and Service)
4. PRC should be more proactive in communicating good promotion techniques throughout the year
5. Require a 2nd year promotion discussion between supervisor and librarian for associate librarians and all other librarians hired into a higher rank
6. Hold informal brown bag lunches with past PRC members and librarians considering promotion
7. Electronic-only dossier submission
8. Create a framework for ad hoc work groups of candidates to work together
9. Require that publications and work samples be annotated by the candidate to explain their significance

Questions

Why electronic-only submissions?
Having either part electronic and part paper, or allowing choice, creates a much more complicated workflow for HR and PRC.

Who ultimately makes the decision on these recommendations?
Once Forum votes on them, they will be forwarded by Forum Board to LDG for approval, and Library Human Resources for implementation.

Were there larger guidelines discussed beyond these specific recommendations?
Yes -- those will be in the final report.

Do the current criteria work for Technical Services jobs -- is this addressed?
Fewer, broader criteria seem to be more applicable, but individuals in non-traditional roles may need to be creative. More sample dossiers reflecting these non-traditional jobs might be helpful to prospective candidates. Communication to librarians would be helpful to ameliorate this sense of poor fit of criteria to individuals.

Was there any discussion about the rules for time in rank?
Yes -- there were comments in both directions (the period is too short, too long).

Discussion of Role of Librarians' Forum in the Library

A vigorous discussion of the role of Librarians' Forum was led by Martin Knott.  The following is a list of the points that were made. Please see the notes of these interactions on the staff site (login required): https://staff.lib.umich.edu/content/discussion-role-librarians-forum-march-17-2010.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 AM.