121421
AU Librarians List and Background Info of Unwritten Customs, Traditions, and Expectations to be Discussed in Future Meetings
*** The vast majority of the notes below were originally written by Librarian Ellen Bahr. Unless otherwise indicated, all personal pronouns reflect Ellen’s perspective.
Related to librarian faculty contracts
Librarian 10-month contracts (instituted at Herrick in 2008) and how they differ from faculty 9-month contracts
Purpose and use of vacation and release days
Dean’s authority in approving librarian time off
Sabbatical start and end dates
How sabbatical time is recorded on attendance reports
Remote work
Relationship between librarian supervisory responsibilities and pay, and supervisory responsibilities and the 10-month contract
Related to promotion and tenure process
Discussion of peer review ratings (excellent, highly effective, effective, less than satisfactory)
What counts as research and scholarship
Expectations for “supporting materials” in years 3, 6, and promotion years
Expectations for “supporting materials” for 5-year reviews
Related to librarian faculty contracts
Librarian 10-month contracts (instituted at Herrick in 2008) and how they differ from faculty 9-month contracts
Background: When the Herrick librarians changed to a 10-month contract, Scholes already had
librarians on a variety of contracts (12, 10, and 9-months?). Prior to switching to a 10-month contract, Herrick librarians followed the academic year calendar and were off when classes weren’t in session (same as other 9-month faculty). Summer work was scheduled and compensated outside of our annual contract, and it was optional. The main impetus for making the change was the poor rate of pay for summer work (at least for assistant librarians), which was paid according to a formula where 1 week equaled one credit, and the credit hour rate was according to rank.
As an aside, in reviewing the faculty handbook, I noticed a phrase in section 5.0 Faculty
Responsibilities, that is in conflict with our 10-month contracts. The handbook says: “Faculty members are expected to conscientiously perform their duties during the academic year. The academic year for full-time faculty occurs from one week before the start of classes in the fall semester through May commencement. Temporary faculty contracts may be written for a specific time-period other than an academic year.” The previous 9-month arrangement, where summer work was contracted separately, was consistent with the handbook.
Purpose and use of vacation and release days
121421 Background: As part of the new 10-month contract, librarians were provided with 44 release days (representing the two months during the summer when we are not working) and 1.75 vacation days per month worked (the statutory side may use a slightly different formula for vacation time). The formula for release and vacation days came, I think, from pre-existing 10-month contracts at the university (primarily, or perhaps solely, 10-month staff). No policy was established regarding how and when vacation and release days should be taken, although I think it was generally understood that we would continue to be present when classes are in session and that vacation and release time would be taken primarily during the summer and academic breaks. The new contract created some new
flexibility when it came to taking time off on days when classes were in session, which is nice. HR doesn’t track release days, so we made an internal decision, at least at Herrick, to note our release days in the comments section of our attendance report. Among the librarians, there may be variability in how release and vacation time is understood, used, and reported.
Dean’s authority in approving librarian time off
Our appointment letters include a phrase that gives the dean authority in determining when librarians can take time off: “The actual dates of the 10-months of service will be coordinated with the schedules of the other librarians and are subject to the final approval of the dean of libraries.” I believe that this phrase was borrowed from Scholes reappointment letters (since they had some librarians who were not 9 months) and that it was not part of our reappointment letters prior to the change. This phrase allows the dean to ensure adequate librarian coverage throughout the year and, as I understand, primarily during times when classes are in session including during the summer. The newer librarians may not be entirely aware of why this phrase exists in our letters.
Sabbatical start and end dates
Fall sabbaticals begin with opening week and end with the semester break. Spring sabbaticals begin after the semester break and end with commencement.
How sabbatical time is recorded on attendance reports
The librarian should make a note in the “Comments” section of the Leave Report that the librarian is on sabbatical.
Remote work
Clarify what should be recorded on the library calendar, what the parameters are around remote work for staff and librarians, and how ensure building coverage if some people are working remotely.
Relationship between librarian supervisory responsibilities and pay, and supervisory responsibilities and the 10-month contract.
Background: When I was hired, I was told that libraries add stipends ($1000-$2000) to salaries for librarians who take on staff supervision responsibilities. When I was asked to supervise, a stipend wasn’t offered and so I asked for it. Eventually, $1000 was added to my base pay. Since joining Alfred, I have consistently supervised 2-3 staff members.
121421 Additional responsibilities that come with supervision, including: approving time off, preparing and updating job descriptions, conducting searches and handling the hiring and training process, assigning work and monitoring progress, providing day-to-day supervision, dealing with performance and personnel issues of all kinds, arranging coverage when staff are absent unexpectedly, answering HR- related questions from staff, supporting staff professional development, completing annual
performance reviews, and acting as go-between with administration on issues of office space, compensation, etc. The more staff you supervise, the more time this requires.
There is some tension between supervision and the 10-month contract, since the tasks listed above need to be attended to during vacation and release time.
How do the other SUNYs handle supervision and academic year librarian contracts? We could try to gather some information from the SUNYLA or SUNY directors’ listservs.
Related to promotion and tenure process
Discussion of peer review ratings (excellent, highly effective, effective, less than satisfactory)
Background: Based on my experience as P&T chair this fall, there is a lot of variation in how the ratings are used. Unless a librarian serves as chair, they don’t know how their peers are using the ratings. I don’t know if we necessarily need consistency, since the P&T chair can use his/her discretion in summarizing peer input, but a discussion might be helpful. If nothing else, we can point the librarians to the description of the ratings that appears at the end of the peer review form.
What counts as research and scholarship
Background: Among the librarians, there are varied understandings about what counts as scholarship. I see two issues here – do our P&T guidelines reflect current definitions of scholarship, and do we have a shared understanding of what counts as research and scholarship?
Expectations for “supporting materials” in years 3, 6, and promotion years
Brian’s view: Although we probably do not want to be overly prescriptive, we have had some discussion of also not wanting to inadvertently cause a “dossier arms race” that leads to rapid unsustainably escalating expectations or standards.
My (Ellen) feeling here is that supporting materials should be required in these decision years, and that candidates can decide how much material to include, in communication with their chair.
Expectations for “supporting materials” for 5-year reviews
Background: Should “supporting materials” be expected for 5-year reviews? It is not listed as a
requirement on our chart on p. 22 of our P&T Documents, but it is suggested in the narrative on p. 10:
“Any additional materials deemed appropriate by the candidate.”
My (Ellen) feeling here is that supplementary materials should not be a requirement for 5-year reviews after tenure, but a candidate can include supplementary materials if they want to.
