Dean's Council Minutes, July 29

A meeting of the Dean's Council was held Tuesday, July 29, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Dean's Conference Room.

Present: Mara Saule, Marianne Burke, Birdie MacLennan, Paul Philbin, Keith Gresham, Nancy Bercaw

Absent: Selene Colburn, Jeff Marshall, Peter Blackmer

I. The libraries’ EBSCO account is being reviewed by the Board of Trustees during an executive session on Monday, August 4. The invoice was first questioned by the new VP for finance because the total is more than $3 million. Mara, Birdie and Albert drafted a memo justifying why we use EBSCO and what the company does. The trustees will consider a resolution to go ahead with EBSCO.

II. Strategic Planning

The Council has developed a working draft of a 5-year strategic plan for the libraries and is considering next steps for library-wide engagement in the process. Possible venues include departmental meetings, a special forum or a half-day retreat.

III. Updates

• The new Writing in the Disciplines Director, Dr. Susanmarie Harrington, begins mid August.
• Brenda, Sandy and Birdie comprise the search committee for Toni’s replacement.
  Access services is deploying 24 new machines on the second floor of B/H. They will feature a “Save your work” message on middle of screen.
• The servers in Bailey/Howe are moving to Tech Park, where environmental and security conditions are more conducive.
• Dana had made a decision in principle to drop ILL fees. Implementation and impact issues are now being considered.
• Enrollment for the fall is higher than anticipated. Some of the social and study space in the dorms has been converted into housing, which could impact the number of students coming to the libraries.