ALUW Fall Quarter Meeting, December 13, 2001
The meeting was called to order by ALUW President John Holmes at 3:25, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001. A business meeting preceded the program.
Fall Quarter Business Meeting
John introduced the ALUW Board members in attendance: Louise Richards (Vice President), Randy Hertzler (Treasurer), Diana Brooking (Secretary), and Doreen Harwood (Junior Trustee).
Randy gave the Treasurer's report. There is a total of $2,962.10 in the ALUW checking and savings accounts. We have an operating budget total of $2,126.91 and a legislative budget total of $835.19. These totals do not yet include this year's member contributions (the checks have not yet been deposited pending a decision about the lobbyist for this year, see below). When those checks are deposited, the totals would be $2,381.91 for the operating budget and $1415.19 for the legislative fund. (The target for the legislative fund is $2500.00.) The member contributions from last year 2000-2001 were $962.00 in membership dues and $2910.00 for the legislative fund. Last year $4,875.00 were paid to our lobbyist Tom Bristow. Randy thanked the membership for the extra donations to the legislative fund last summer to cover the extra sessions in Olympia.
Andy Johnson, the ALUW Legislative Committee Chair, gave a report on what's going on in Olympia. He says that the outlook is one of the bleakest in the last 30 years. The Nov. 20 state revenue forecast predicted at least $1.3 billion shortfall. The Governor will be releasing his proposed budget next week. Word is that it does not include funding for the Washington State Library. And our lobbyist Tom Bristow has resigned effective immediately.
Andy explained that Tom has taken a full-time PERS 1 job for retirement purposes and can no longer be our lobbyist. The ALUW Legislative Committee has met and discussed three options: 1) spend the year looking for a new lobbyist and interviewing candidates (no rush because this is not a budget writing year); 2) try to hire a new lobbyist as soon as possible; and 3) try to hire a new lobbyist before next year, but not right away. The Committee feels that the UW lobbyist Dick Thompson is very supportive of the Libraries and that ALUW could rely on him for this next year. We do not know yet if there will be special sessions, and the next revenue forecast is in February or March. Please let Andy know if you have any opinions on hiring a new lobbyist.
Andy says that we still need money for the legislative fund, even if we do not have a lobbyist right now, since the next legislative biennium will also be very "exciting."
We have been asked to wait for further developments on the Washington State Library. However, you could mention your concern about it if you are in contact with your local legislator.
Andy will soon be sending out information about this year's Legislative Day, Wed., Jan. 30, 2002. This is a chance for ALUW members to go to Olympia, to hear presentations from legislators in the morning, have lunch, then visit with individual legislators in the afternoon. Since this is lobbying, you must take annual leave to participate.
Program
Faculty Senate
Our first guest speakers were Brad Holt, Faculty Senate Chair, and Sandra Silberstein, Faculty Senate Vice Chair. Brad briefly addressed issues before the Faculty Senate that might affect the UW Libraries, for example, changes in the status of distance learning courses, a new proposed copyright policy, the possibility of offering certificates as well as degrees, and a legislative bill that the Faculty Senate and UW Administration are working on about collective bargaining for the faculty.
Brad emphasized that there are a lot of discussions going on now about the budget crisis, and that there are a wide range of possible responses. The crisis will likely extend into the next biennium. The UW has four sources of revenue: state money, student tuitions, indirect cost returns through research, and development funds. So cuts need not be 20% across the board.
Sandy discussed budget issues in more detail. The Governor has said he will "protect, but not exempt" higher education. It is possible the University could get more control over tuition, or that some programs may become self-supporting. Sandy emphasized that people in all units and departments across the campus need to stay involved and informed, as decisions are made and input is needed. All units are supposed to have a "council" that can discuss budget and salary issues with the Administration, but it turns out that many units are not prepared for this.
Brad and Sandy then took questions from the floor.
Are the University's procedures for handling a budget crisis adequate to the task, especially given the short time frame?
They are the only procedures we have, we must make sure that they work. The Faculty Senate wants to ensure a fair process, though it is certain that not everyone will be happy with the results. This is why it is so important for people to become knowledgeable about budget issues and be prepared to make decisions.
Librarians are very concerned about scholarly communication issues, but faculty do not seem to participating in this conversation. Do you have any suggestions for involving faculty in this issue?
The Faculty Council on University Libraries is working on ways to turn this issues into activities that faculty can become involved in. Librarians may need to take the leadership role in this, possibly visiting all the different units, as Brad and Sandy are doing.
Does the proposed legislation for collective bargaining for faculty cover librarians?
Do Brad and Sandy feel that librarian participation on the Faculty Councils has been successful?
Yes. Librarians provide a perspective that includes the wider University community. Each council decides each year if the librarians get a vote, and usually they do.
Serial Solutions
Peter McCracken of the Odegaard Undergraduate Library gave a talk about his experiences founding the company Serials Solutions. This company tracks the full-text holdings of journal aggregators for libraries. Serial Solutions provides print reports, HTML reports, information that can go into library OPACs, and they work with other vendors as well. Next steps include providing full MARC records and library-specific information to their customers. Peter told how the business started, how it grew, and the challenges and advantages of being a librarian providing a product to other librarians.
Submitted by Diana Brooking, Dec. 14, 2001