ALUW Spring Quarter Meeting, June 4, 2003

The meeting was called to order by ALUW President John Holmes at 3:00, Wednesday, June 4, 2003.

Spring Quarter Business Meeting

John introduced the newly elected ALUW Board members: Dottie Smith (President), Cass Hartnett (Vice President), Allen Grosenheider (Treasurer), Faye Christenberry (Secretary), and JenniferWard (Junior Trustee).  As out-going President, John handed over the Robert's Rules of Order to incoming President Dottie Smith.

Dottie asked that people consider running for positions on Faculty Council.  Please check the ALUW home page under “Faculty Councils and Committees” for more information.

Treasurers' Report (Doreen Harwood): Total ALUW Treasury = $4,217.09

Operating Fund:                                                      Legislative Fund:

Beginning Balance = $2,522.73                                    Beginning Balance: $1,765.32

Income = $0                                                                 Income: $1,296.78

Expenses = $367.74                                                     Expenses: $1,000

Final Balance: $2,154.99                                              Final Balance: $2,062.10

Legislative Committee Report (Andy Johnson):  

Not much happening in Olympia, but there will be a final update soon.  Andy will summarize and report to ALUW.  The State Library will continue to be funded for the time being.  If budget projections hold true, the legislature may need to write a supplemental budget during the mid-fiscal point.

Spring Quarter Meeting Program:

Results of ALUW Faculty Status Survey (John Holmes):

The ALUW Board met recently with members of the Faculty Senate to discuss the possibility of achieving membership for librarians.  Senate representatives suggested that ALUW meet with Vice Provost Olswang to clarify some of the relevant issues before drafting a formal document.

John Holmes reviewed the results of a survey of our 24 peer institutions to compare status of librarians.  In 16 out of 25 (67%) of our national peer institutions, librarians have faculty status.  In 5 out of 5 (100%) of Cascade institutions, librarians have faculty status.  The full results of this survey can be viewed on the ALUW home page.

The questions open for discussion among ALUW membership are the following:

1.      Why do we want to have faculty status?

2.      Do we want to participate fully or should we opt for certain issues only?

3.      How would adherence to the faculty code affect librarians?

Faculty Senate Membership (Vice Provost Steven Olswang):

Librarians and professional staff are currently not included in the University of Washington's definition of “University Faculty.” Thus, librarians are not eligible for membership on the Faculty Senate, nor can they participate in any faculty collective bargaining agreements.  In order to change this definition, the faculty senate handbook would have to be significantly modified (qualifications for appointment & promotional process).  Another possibility suggested by VP Olswang was that separate clauses/definitions for librarians could be added to the existing code.  The final option would be to write and forward a separate piece of legislation through Olympia that would deal with the status of librarians only.  VP Olswang did not suggest that any of these options were impossible to achieve, but he did note that it would take a lot of time to make any changes to the code.

Submitted by Faye Christenberry, June 17, 2003