Agenda
- Announcements
- Travel
Minutes
(Regrets: Beth,)
1. Announcements:
- Special Collections has recently completed installing an exhibit in the Blair School featuring the Ed Young Opera Collection. An Alexander Heard exhibit is ongoing in Special Collections, and preparations for the Twain and Twang citywide exhibit are currently underway (this exhibit is scheduled from late January through early June and will travel to San Diego later next year). The Frist Center also currently has an exhibit featuring materials from the Bandy Center’s Pascal Pia Collection.
- E-passwords will require annual changes beginning in January.
- The Law School is hiring a new director for their legal writing program. This position works closely with several librarians at the Law Library.
- Fifty people attended the Halloween Storytelling Event on Library Lawn on October 30.
- Dean Dowell is serving on three campus committees: the University Gallery Committee, the Advisory Committee for the Center for Teaching, and the Advisory Committee for the Women’s Center.
- The ASERL Fall Meeting takes place November 17-18. Dean Dowell will share the meeting agenda with Council.
- Dean Dowell updated Council on topics from the November Dean’s Council meeting:
- The University encourages a strong focus on diversity.
- A new Commencement Coordinator is being hired and graduation this academic year is expected to be much different than past years. A Senior Day Speaker will soon be announced.
- April’s quarterly budget information will be due two weeks earlier than originally anticipated.
- Campus fundraising efforts are becoming more centralized with more of an academic focus within alumni chapters and more equitable recognition across campus areas. James Stofan, the new Associate Vice Chancellor of DAR, will be coordinating these efforts.
- Recognition of new endowed chairs will become more consistent across campus areas.
- Dean Dowell is gathering a list of major items over $25,000 (equipment, maintenance/repairs, etc.) for submission to the Provost’s Office for consideration. If you have large purchases such as these that are urgent, please send information to Dean Dowell within the next week.
- The basic infrastructure for RAPID is in place and ILL is getting ready to begin using the service (we can get faster, fee-free access to materials). Thanks to Jody Combs and Dale Poulter for getting holding loads entered for journals.
- The Staff Development Committee will begin scheduling various speakers for library staff meetings, culled from a recent Speakers List. Funding for this will be provided by the Staff Development Fund.
- Arabic books are back from OCLC and have been cataloged.
2. Travel: Dean Dowell thanked the Travel Committee for their work on this project (Holling, Martin, Lisa, Celia, and David – chair). Council reviewed a draft of the charge for a new Travel Committee, whose members will be announced soon. This committee would periodically review and prioritize travel requests and forward them to the Dean for consideration. Council discussed travel funding, and suggested minor changes to the draft. The existing Travel Committee was asked to work further on the new travel request forms and to recommend when the new committee should begin their reviews. For current/upcoming travel supervisors should submit any requests they receive for consideration.
3. Renovation Project Update: Dean Dowell has continued to meet with architects discussing modest revisions and additional proposals to the original plans. She has been consulting widely on campus about the renovations. Detailed costs of the project are expected in the next couple of weeks. Various task groups continue to meet regularly to make preparations for the renovation.
4. Library Access: The Access & Use Policies Project Team has been reviewing policies and has made recommendations for various changes, including elimination of paid access cards, creating language for intended use of workstations, requiring use of VU net ID for logins to public stations, and recommending a consistent set of hours the libraries are open to the public. The project team will work toward writing a draft for Dean Dowell to review with the Provost.
5. Web Content: A redesign of the Library’s web presence is under consideration. Jody proposed that he meet with web editors and others to provide a tool for them to use in determining what content to consider changing. Council approved the idea and efforts will be made to begin this process in the near future. (This review is in keeping with the Provost’s recent request to deans that all web pages be as current, accurate and vibrant as possible.)