INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

Library Faculty Assembly Minutes

LFA 10/05-4 Approved: January 26, 2006

November 30, 2005

Room 028

Present: Susan Frey, Steve Hardin, Mike Jarrell, Juliet Kerico, Anthony Kaiser, Christopher Mehrens, Marsha Miller, Maribeth Slebodnik, Elizabeth Wright

Ex-Officio: Myrna McCallister

Guests: Karen Evans, Kathy Gaul, Betsy Hine, Amy Jackson, Tina Muyumba, David Vancil

I. Call to order and approval of agenda

Chair C. Mehrens called the meeting to order at 1:01 pm. S. Hardin moved and M. Miller seconded approval of the agenda. The agenda was approved.

II. Approval of minutes LFA 10/05-3 (October 26, 2005)

M. Miller moved and S. Hardin seconded approval of the minutes from the October 26, 2005 LFA meeting. The minutes were approved.

II. Chair’s announcements/reports

Chair Mehrens reminded all that flu vaccine shots would be available on October 27 on campus and that a Writers Salon was going to be hosted by the library on October 26. C. Mehrens read out a personal statement (attached.)

IV. 15-minute open discussion

None.

V. Remarks of the Dean of Library Services

Dean McCallister announced that R. Gabbard is back from his trip to China and Thailand and that the library has signed two agreements of understanding with overseas universities and that there is a possibility that we will be able to conduct some exchanges and engage in other types of cooperative activities. A new partner in our Wabash Valley Visions and Voices project is the Clabber Girl Museum. There is a university hiring freeze which affects our bi-weekly temp. positions. Because of the hiring freeze, the library may have to address how to handle work flow issues due to resignations and etc. Dean McCallister asked for input on how we could encourage more staff involvement in library events. M. Slebodnik suggested that a call for volunteers for each event be posted. C. Mehrens stated that for some people, the issue of not volunteering to participate in an event is due to scheduling conflicts. M. Miller suggested using a modified pool of candidates, similar to the jury duty pool used by local government.

VI. Report of the Faculty Senator

M. Miller reported on the resignation statement made by Jake Jakaitis, as coordinator of Gen Ed, at the November 17 Senate meeting. The Center for Teaching & Learning has sent a memo to the President asking for information on their reassignment to OIT.

VII. Remarks from Library Support Staff Representative

None.

VIII. Committee Reports

A. Library Administrative Affairs

J. Kerico reported that the fines policy that was passed in LFA was not passed by the Senate. The Dean asks that the policy be reviewed. The issue of overdue DVD fines will have to go to the board. Currently the committee is waiting on J. Evans for the calendar.

B. Library Faculty Affairs Committee

M. Slebodnik reported that the committee will be examining what has been done last year and in previous years with the promotion and tenure documents in order to propose possible changes. The committee will be meeting with the Dean to discuss this issue.

C. Personnel Committee

M. Miller reported that the committee has reviewed the second-year faculty and will be soon reviewing the first-year faculty. The committee maintains that the Digital Measures forms are confusing.

D. Reports from other Committees

K. Gaul stated that she was on vacation and did not attend the latest meeting of the FEBC. C. Mehrens stated that UAEC is meeting in secret sessions right now and has nothing to report. M. Slebodnik reported that the URC is evaluating applications for grants for the 1^st semester and reminded us that those who sit on URC cannot apply to this committee for a grant.

E. Report from Gen Ed Council representative

J. Kerico reported that the council invited the Provost to discuss some of the issues Jake Jakaitis raised in Senate regarding his resignation and to ask how best to proceed in the absence of a coordinator.

IX. Old Business

C. Mehrens reported that he is following through with his charges. M. Miller stated that LFA needs to finish examining and approving PTOC and that this issue needs to be on next agenda. C. Mehrens is having LFAC review these documents. B. Hines stated that both LFAC and Personnel Committee were working together on this.

X. New Business

None.

XI. Adjournment

M. Slebodnik moved and E. Wright seconded adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 1:33 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Frey,

Secretary

(Attachment)

Attachment to the minutes of the Library Faculty Assembly 10/05-4

(November 30, 2005) meeting as read by C. Mehrens:

On November 17, 2005, Steven W. Lamb, Chair of the Faculty Senate, made the following statement as part of his Chair Report.

“Once again, I report to nobody’s surprise that the institution is under stress.  It needs to be able to respond quickly and appropriately to a variety of pressures. In order to respond effectively, careful attention must be paid to the governance process.  If we purposefully or inadvertently circumvent the process, the backlash may be harmful.”

At this time I would like to make a simple request; please let us all endeavor to start a respectful dialogue when it comes to matters regarding the library. That dialogue begins with understanding. Understanding begins with the role that the Library Faculty shall have in establishing the goals and philosophy of the Indiana State University Library as outlined in the Library Faculty Manual. Should we arrive at an impasse, we have in our governance structure means to remedy this situation – up to and including the Grievance Committee. We need to come together as a library and university faculty governance unit. I feel that failure to do so could ultimately jeopardize our legitimacy.

To conclude, I think it is appropriate to cite a quote often attributed to Benjamin Franklin – “We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

Remember that only in unity is there strength.