The University of Kansas Libraries

KU Libraries Support Staff

KULSS Executive Meeting
Thursday, September 23, 10:00-11:30
Art & Architecture, Room 104

Present: Jill Becker (Chair), Kristin Zachrel (Secretary), Adam Reilly (Group 2), Julie Warrick (Group 3), Robert Szabo (Group 4)

Absent: Meredith Huff (Vice-Chair)

Guests: Mark Swails, Mary Ann Baker

Previous Meeting's Action Items

Miscellaneous

Jill provided an overview for Mark, the new Operations Manager in Art & Architecture, of what KULSS is about and what we do.

Staff Picnic:

• Only about 20 people came to the staff picnic on September 18. Deb Ludwig was the only administrator that came. Overall it was a poor turnout. Dean Haricombe expressed her apologies for not being able to attend.
• Jill Becker got stuck with all the leftover brats and veggie dogs this year. She plans to bring them in to work so staff can take them home.
• Maybe for next year request that staff RSVP. Or perhaps it should be considered not to have a staff picnic next year.
• Consider having it a Broken Arrow Park next time.
• Robert proposed that we have it later in September and later in the afternoon next time. This year it was held from 10:00-3:00.

Group Changes:

• Group 1 will officially be divided into the other groups and the names of the groups will change. The new groups are as follows:
  • Group 1 (Adam): Cataloging, Facilities, Preservation, Reference.
  • Group 2 (Julie): Circulation, ILL, Mail Room, Acquisitions.
  • Group 3 (Robert): Branch Libraries, Administration.
• Group Reps should send out an e-mail to welcome their new members and to inform everyone of the group name changes.
• The Code states that the Executive Board can choose the distribution of the groups. We will need to create an addendum but we do not need to add these changes to the ballot for a vote. Jill will consult Monica about writing an addendum.

Job Title Summaries (Mary Ann Baker):

• Library Assistants used to be classified in Category 5 (Paraprofessional/Technical) about 5 decades ago. In the last decade they were switched over to Category 4 (Secretarial/Clerical) without getting input from anyone regarding this change. Getting Library Assistant and Associate positions switched back over to Category 5 is something we might want to consider investigating.
• Jill questioned the best way to proceed. Mary Ann suggested we invite HR to visit with us to explain the information in the columns on the Category sheet, to get suggestions on how to proceed, and the appropriate steps we should take.
• Jill received a link from Mike Broadwell with similar information and language about the job categories to the sheet Mary Ann supplied, but they are not the same. The hiring level in these documents is not EEO. We need to find an explanation for the discrepancies in the document Mary Ann retrieved from an Access database, which is not available on the web, and the web resource Mike supplied. Jill will discuss these documents with Mike before communicating with the University's HR rep (Ola Faucher).
• The term paraprofessional is not currently widely used. It is unclear if the shift in categories came from the federal government. Jill will address this issue with Mike.

Workshop Brainstorming:

• Perhaps have a session on Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory to identify what kind of learner you are (Accommodator, Diverger, Converger, or Assimilator). It's useful to know how you work and how that fits in with your coworkers.
• Kristin got some ideas from a session at ALA for fun activities:
  • Library Olympics where a group tries to load a microfilm machine or non-circulation staff compete to arrange a truck of books in LC order.
  • Photo Contests (match staff to toddler picture, or to pictures of their pets; staff vacation photos where you have to try to guess the location; have staff take photos of campus and the best wins).
  • Scavenger hunts
  • Staff crossword puzzle with clues about various staff members and their names are the answers.
• Robert can talk to the campus nutritionist to see if she would be available to speak at the conference.
• Review what we've done in the past and identify what was most successful, but don't repeat the exact same sessions.
• Think about restructuring the day (simultaneous sessions vs. non-simultaneous sessions.)
• Keep thinking about sessions and activities.

Other:

• Jayhawk of the Month: It was brought up that this award is supposed to be a surprise, but some people have been asked beforehand if they want to receive it.
• There was an open meeting with the Provost the week of September 20th. He described his focus on research support, but didn't have much to say about teaching and instruction. There is a difference of opinion about the purpose of library faculty: some feel their focus should be on research while others think it should be on instruction.
• The Chancellor is interested in being more involved in academics.

Group Reports

Group 1:

• 2 Library Assistant positions in Acquisitions have been approved and the search is in process.
• Group 1 has officially been dissolved into the other groups.

Group 2 (Adam):

• Alison Lansing has submitted her resignation. A surprise going away party is being thrown for her in Anschutz.

Group 3 (Julie): Nothing to report.

Group 4 (Robert):

• The Annex is not as busy as it had been.
• Engineering is having some computer problems.
• There are lots of tours going on in Anschutz with the hope of finding people of interest to donate. The installation of the Information Desk is finished with the exception of the metal letters. New furniture is being acquired. The circulation desk is the wrong color. Other furniture was purchased to match the circulation desk. Instead of fixing the color of the desk the new furniture is going to be recolored so everything matches. This will not be at our expense, but will be covered by the person responsible for the circulation desk.

Committee Reports

Support Staff Senate:

• Faculty Senate will be addressing enhanced faculty sabbaticals.
• Student Body President reported on his presentation before the Board of Regents, which centered around a proposal to make videos of KU students explaining what a KU education has done for them and how they plan to give back to the State of Kansas.
• Unclassified Senate is forming an unclassified staff council that will report to the Regents semi-annually. They will be joined by the unclassified staff at Wichita State to attempt to recruit unclassified staff at other Regents institutions to participate. KU Unclassified Senate will distribute professional development funds for their electorate to attend conferences, workshops, etc. They also obtained funding from HREO and the Provost's Office to assist 12 people with $4500.
• University Support Staff Senate noted that the task force to review the Code has completed its first draft and it has been forwarded to the full Senate for approval to forward to the electorate. They have sponsored a mini-wheat state tour. The USS Work Group is formulating its goals and it's hoped that the Disciplinary Action Board members from the past will be interviewed to learn how well the process is working. The Senate is also attempting to have some "effective meeting" training from HREO.
• SenEx members reviewed a draft proposal for the name and charges to a new task force to be formed to investigate Faculty and Staff and their dependants being able to get some form of tuition assistance. Once the draft has been approved by SenEx it will be sent to the University Senate for review.
• SenEx reviewed a proposed policy on the use of video technologies for safety and security purposes and approved some technical changes to the University Senate Code.

University Committee on Libraries: Nothing to report.

Planning & Resources Committee (PRC):

• Jill will attend the LFPA meeting today and report back on their discussion on the possible suspension of PRC and how to address this in the Code.

Mentoring Committee: Nothing to report.

Meeting Updates

Dean's Council (next: 9/24): The last meeting was cancelled so nothing to report.

Management Council (next 10/20): September 15 Minutes

• A formal announcement was sent out regarding changes in the Provost's office in the Provost eNews.
• The general education requirements are being considered for revision and there is a survey about the outcomes of these requirements available through September 27 that everyone is welcome to answer. The requirements effect graduation and retention, which is why they are under review. This is an open-ended survey to identify the goals of the general education requirements. These requirements effects the libraries so please respond to the survey with your input.
• In the Spring of 2007 a ClimQual survey was distributed addressing diversity and organizational climate. Management Council is looking at this again and considering distributing another similar survey. There might be some surveys coming out soon by department or by area. Some suggested the surveys should be more targeted to specific departments but the Dean suggested they be more broad.
• The Connecting to KU Teaching and Research Departments task force report is available. This report is shared library wide and the Dean will also take it to other places.

Dean's KULSS (next: 11/2):

• Jill met with Kent about the break room. He agreed that a use survey could go out to staff in Watson asking questions such as: Do you know the break room is there? If it was clean would you use it? Do you use it? and so on.
• Kent is willing to make funds available to put new furniture in the break room (new tables and chairs, couch-like furniture). He also agreed to take down the cubicle wall.
• He is on the same page with us about removing some of the items KULSA stores in the break room such as the Christmas tree, but keeping things like the wrapping paper.
• Improvements to the break room needs to be a group effort. Jill volunteered to help and others would as well. The people who use it need to develop a monthly or weekly cleanup of the fridge.
• It's possible the code to enter the break room will be changed so everyone will have an individual code to gauge who uses the room. If you have a code for room 225 or other rooms it would be the same code used for the break room.
• Jill will send Kent a reminder e-mail asking if we can get recycling bins for the break room. It may not be possible to give the recycling pickup the code, but if we knew what day/time they were coming someone could let them in.
• The idea of having the break room on the 5th floor is a lot further down the road because it will involve moving walls and expanding the kitchen, so Kent is pushing to improve the existing room since this can be accomplished much sooner.
• Maybe we can also get a new microwave to replace the ancient one.

Concerns to Bring up with the Dean:

• There was a concern about the way people are rewarded and that some people don't like surprises.

Action Items for Next Meeting

Parking Lot
(Items to be aware of for the future, not necessarily discussed in current meeting)

Next Meeting: October 7, 10:00-11:30 at Watson 503A.