LSA Exec - Annual Report - 2023-2024
Library Governance - LSA Executive Committee
Final Report
Fiscal Year: 2023-24
Committee Name: LSA-Executive
Committee Chair: Marianne Reed
Members (with terms):
Marianne Reed, co-chair
Brian Moss, chair-elect
Eric Bader, secretary
Meredith Phares, member
Shelby Schellenger, member
Tiffany McIntosh, member
Standing Charges:
Ensures the orderly and effective operation of LSA
Is the first point of contact for any matters referred to the attention of LSA, save those which are specifically assigned to standing committees in the Code, and where appropriate, assigns such matters to standing or ad hoc committees
Brings governance issues concerning all faculty and staff to the LFSA Executive Committee
Designates a liaison to the Organizational Development Unit and an ex officio liaison to LFA to ensure communication and information sharing
Monitors KU governance issues that may affect LSA, including the Staff Senate and the University Senate Committee on Libraries
Takes no action contrary to the desires of the LSA
Standing Charges Progress/Accomplishment Summary:
Chair and Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect had monthly meetings with the Dean to advocate for unclassified and university support staff issues and concerns
LSA brought concerns about the wording of existing LRF guidelines to LFSA and worked with CRSA to revise LRF guidelines by providing extensive feedback.
Sponsored “Attending to Our 8 Dimensions of Wellbeing” workshop for staff
Advocated with the Dean for the addition of LSA governance representation on OMF group. As a result, the Chair of LSA was added to the group.
Committee Appointments and Charges:
LSA-Exec. appointed staff to governance committees
LSA Exec issued no special charges to committees
Meetings:
LSA-Exec. met 10 times from July 2023 to June 2024 and held two General Assemblies of the entire LSA body (November 29, 2023 and June 5, 2024). The committee was able to coordinate many tasks via email.
The November General Assembly meeting was coordinated to occur on the same date and at adjacent times to the LFA and LFSA General Assembly meetings. The June General Assembly was scheduled as a standalone meeting.
Minutes for all LSA Exec and General Assembly meetings are on the Libraries Governance Teams site: Minutes
The LSA chair and vice-chair met regularly via Zoom or over email to coordinate meeting times and topics.
A joint meeting of the 2023-24 LSA Exec group and the 2024-25 LSA Exec group is scheduled for June 25.
Special Charges:
There were no special charges given to the current LSA Executive Committee. These were potential charges identified from the 2023-24 LSA Executive Committee Annual Report:
Continue to advocate for staff representation in library leadership groups
Monitor progress at the university and Library levels on the issues that were identified in the UPS and USS staff surveys: https://aire.ku.edu/docking-institute-employee-satisfaction-survey-2022.
The University Senate Committee on Libraries requires appointment of two ex officio library staff members, one UPS and one USS. Since there are now eight USS staff members in LSA, LSA Exec should initiate conversations with USS staff to see if any wish to serve and, if not, discuss with the group the possibility of changing the requirement in the Code to give USS staff the opportunity to serve first, and, if no USS staff wish to serve, elect an unclassified staff member. Any potential changes should be discussed with University Senate.
Consider offering programming re: career paths for staff, including professional development opportunities, and refer interested parties to Sharon for individualized career coaching.
Special Charges Progress/Accomplishment Summary:
Provided feedback for Talent Development process and surveys (formerly Career Pathways) developed by Libraries HR team
The chair of LSA met with USS staff to get ideas from them about how to handle the situation where a USS person is to serve, but a willing candidate is not available. They liked the idea of offering USS staff first chance to run for the position, but to allow UPS staff to run if there were no USS staff that wished to serve.
Other Activities or Accomplishments:
Promoted staff participation in strategic planning processes
Developed Talent Development for Staff web page
LSA Executive Committee proposed changing the Code of Governance re: election vs. the current practice of appointing staff representatives. Proposal was approved at LSA General Assembly and sent to ballot.
Potential Charges for Future Committees/Recommendations:
Consider keeping a single MS Teams site with one channel each for LSA, LFA and LFSA Executive committees, rather than creating a new channel for each year’s committee. Each committee would maintain one body of files over time—perhaps with sub-folders for each year
The University Senate Committee on Libraries requires appointment of two ex officio library staff members, one UPS and one USS. Since there are now eight USS staff members in LSA, LSA Exec should initiate conversations with USS staff to see if any wish to serve and, if not, discuss with LSA the possibility of changing the requirement in the Code to give USS staff the opportunity to serve first, and, if no USS staff wish to serve, elect an unclassified staff member. Any potential changes should be discussed with University Senate.
Work with LFSA Exec to direct CRSA to remove or revise the “requirements” page in the CRSA web space. What is on this page only relates to faculty promotion and tenure processes and does not seem to be part of the charges for the committee.
Continue to focus on advocacy for staff, including funding for talent development and support; explore forming a permanent LSA committee re: staff talent development (programming, advocacy, etc.)
Monitor changes in LRF guidelines and application form and their impact on successful staff applications, suggesting changes as needed.
Advocate for inclusion of both chair and vice-chair/chair elect on library leadership groups, such as OMF
Prepared By: Marianne Reed & Brian Moss