Dean's Council Minutes: February 28, 2012

I. SIP Strategic Initiatives Project

SVFA stands for “Strategic Value and Financial Attractiveness,” which is the SIP-related mechanism in which an academic department is given an index number that balances how strong/large a department is with its financial value to the institution.

The work of the SIP teams—D and I; Gen Ed; and S3; and TRI and Research—will come to specific recommendations with resource implications – investment or revenue – for BOT meeting in May and input of new president.

II. Social Media Policy

The Libraries have been experimenting with Social Media tools informally over the past three years. Those efforts have evolved into disperse participation model. The Council agrees that the time has come to set a policy with guidelines and to define the overarching goals of social media. An ad hoc group will be formed.

III. Post-Offer, Pre-Employment (P.O.P.E.)

Because some library jobs can be physically demanding, such as shelving, driving, pushing carts, etc., the Libraries in conjunction with Risk Management, will begin advertising positions with the notice of a post-offer, pre-evaluation test to verify ability to meet these physical demands. This development will not affect current staff. External evaluators will be visiting the Libraries in April to establish baselines for positions and may need the cooperation and participation of current employees.

IV. Academic Tech Planning

On February 12, Mara gave a presentation during the Board of Trustees meeting about the priorities that have emerged from the Academic Tech Planning group. Those priorities are research tech, instruction tech and tech support. At issue, what it will take to enact those priorities in terms of financial and human resources? The Libraries may need to lead the conversation about research data management and institutional repositories.

V. Distance Learning Initiatives

Online professional degrees, if offered by UVM, will become an increasingly important question for the Libraries. Four degree programs are on the list to be fully online master’s degrees: public health; speech and language pathology; environmental leadership; education; and EDD. How do we support online students? In addition to degrees, how do we support any and all online classes?

VI. Update from Library Faculty Meeting

The President and Provost will attend the next Libraries’ faculty meeting in late April.

VII. PRIMO

The work on PRIMO continues. Another view will be ready soon. A name is still needed for this discovery tool. Mara and Selene will coordinate about naming process.

VIII. USAIN Conference May 4-8, 2014

The Libraries put in a bid to host United States Agriculture Information Network’s Annual Conference and will be hosting in 2014. This is a prestigious event, and will require much preparation.

IX. UVM Library Conference

Hold August 7, 2012 for the second annual Libraries Conference. Alison noted that this year the word “research” is not part of the title, thereby indicating a wider call for participation.

X. Voyager

There will be a significant upgrade to Voyager in May, during the intersession. More info forthcoming.