CRSA Annual Report 2018-2019
Committee Name: Committee on Research & Scholarly Activity (CRSA)
Committee Chair: Andi Back (2018-2019)
Members (with terms): Scott Cossel (2018-2020), Karna Younger (2018-2019), Lyn Wolz (2018-2020), and Lynn Ward (2018-2020)
Fiscal Year: 2018-2019
Standing Charges: 3.3.9.1 The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities in keeping with the Libraries’ mission, shall encourage, promote, and support research and scholarly activities of the members of the Library Faculty and Professionals Assembly.
- The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities shall establish and review, on an annual basis, guidelines for the disbursal of funds received from the Dean of Libraries for scholarly pursuits. The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities shall allocate these funds based on those guidelines. The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities shall also administer the University’s General Research Funds based on the established criteria.
- The Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities shall be composed of five members of the Library Faculty and Professionals Assembly, appointed by the Executive Committee, three of whom have the requirement to engage in research and scholarly activities as part of their professional assignment. A reasonable effort will be made to appoint members who represent the various ranks of faculty as well as the different units of the Libraries.
- The appointed members shall serve two-year overlapping terms and shall select a presiding officer and a recording secretary.
Standing Charges Progress Summary (please include progress and/or accomplishments related to Standing Charges):
CRSA approved 18 Library Research Fund (LRF) awards for a total of $5,528.12. LRF funds supported:
| Corinne Forstot-Burke | 465.00 | Registration for the Charleston Library Conference |
| Jill Becker | 399.00 | Registration for the ACRL Conference |
| Marcella Huggard | 262.00 | Registration for the American Association of State and Local History meeting |
| Lynn Ward | 52.34 | Poster Printing for the American Association of State and Local History meeting |
| Jon Giullian | 138.00 | Registration to the ASEEES Convention |
| Lars Leon | 250.00 | Tour of Zappos Organizational Development |
| Angie Rathmel | 300.00 | Registration for the ALA annual conference |
| Brian Moss | 539.00 | Registration for the ACRL conference |
| Marianne Reed | 300.00 | Registration for the Library Publishing Forum |
| Josh Bolick | 470.00 | Writing retreat |
| Carmen Orth-Alfie | 175.00 | Online course fee to attend Library Juice classes |
| Andi Back | 310.00 | Registration for the annual Art Libraries Society of North America Conference |
| Sara Morris | 180.00 | Registration for the Agricultural History Society Annual Conference |
| Jill Becker | 536.58 | Registration for five to present at Kansas Library Association (KLA) College and University Libraries (CULS) conference in Emporia, KS and van rental |
| Rebecca Orozco | 519.00 | Registration for LOEX annual conference |
| Karna Younger | 215.00 | Registration for the ALA annual conference |
| Fran Devlin and Betsaida Reyes | 88.20 | Transcription of audio recordings |
| Marcella Huggard | 329.00 | Registration for the Society of American Archivists' annual meeting |
CRSA received two General Research Fund (GRF) requests which were approved.
- Lars Leon—Is the Current Organizational Structure in Large Academic Libraries Viable for the Future? ($3,500)
- Betsaida Reyes and Fran Devlin—Information Literacy Practices of Domestic Students Majoring in Foreign Language Programs ($2192)
Special Charges: CRSA had no special charges this year.
While there were no special charges, CRSA did promote available funds through email communication and forums.
The use of SharePoint to accept LRF applications is still not a viable option. While the blank LRF application is located on SharePoint, the current chair accepts completed applications via email.
CRSA also worked with Dean Kevin Smith to review and update the LRF guidelines. The CRSA CMS webpage was updated accordingly.
Special Charges Progress Summary: N/A
Recommendations:
CRSA recommends a future discussion take place regarding the standing charges of CRSA and work of the Libraries Organizational Development. At times the two committees seem to have crossover in their work. Due to the complexity of approving LRF and GRF applications CRSA recommends that the promotion of funds and approval of applications be the main priority of CRSA.
CRSA recommends that promotion of the GRF award begin earlier than the fall semester, when KUCR announces departmental award amounts. The KU Libraries currently receives a significantly larger sum of GRF funding than in the past. Given the current state of professional development funding at KU this is one opportunity for funding that has not been used due to confusion of how funds can be used and the lack of early promotion. During an LFA General Assembly many expressed interest in having a session related to writing, ideas, and information about the GRF fund to possibly be held late summer 2019.
The end of the fiscal year in June presents some issue with regards to incoming LRF applications. CRSA recommends applications either not be received the final weeks of May until the next CRSA committee is in place—and/or—LFA consider having the term of CRSA Chair extended beyond one year. There is complexity for incoming CRSA Chairs in understanding the nuances of funding guidelines and processes related to LRF and GRF awards.
CRSA recommends that next year’s committee continue to explore using SharePoint workflows for approving LRF requests. Some system to reduce forwarded email communication and automated recorded keeping is needed.
Potential charges for future Committees: No recommendations at this time
Prepared by: Andi Back, CRSA Chair