Below and attached...
SUNYLA President’s Report
June 6, 2012
My final report as your president will be brief. Here’s what’s been happening since our March meeting:
• We’re going from the island of Manhattan to the shores of Lake Erie… SUNYLA 2013 will be at Buffalo State! Ok, the campus is a couple of miles inland but you get the point. I think it’s going to be great (no pressure, Mark). I’ve never been to Buffalo so I’m excited to see what it has to offer.
• We got another question from University Faculty Senate regarding the Distinguished Librarian rank. This time it was about using “a record of administrative work” to make the case for DL, especially considering the higher level of administrative responsibilities that librarians typically carry compared to non-library faculty. I gave them my take on the issue and ran it past the Council via email as well. Everyone seemed satisfied with where we are but I’m sure UFS will be in touch again if need be.
• We heard back from the SUNY Board of Trustees about our concerns regarding Presidential searches and they did not do what we suggested. I shared this with the Council via email and there was a bit of discussion. --> This is clearly something for Rosanne’s to-do list for the coming year.
• NYSHEI contacted me about establishing an official collaborative partnership with SUNYLA. The Council had some preliminary discussion via email and everyone was generally favorable to the idea. Several people suggested talking about it in person so I had Carleen add it to the agenda for this meeting.
• The New York State Library contacted library groups across the state, including SUNYLA, requesting input on their LSTA Five-Year Plan. I ran the draft past the Council and no one had anything to share so we did not send them any comments. I looked it over and it seems like a decent plan.
• I attended the SCLD Spring Conference April 18-20 in Cooperstown. Several things worth noting for the group. First, I talked with Ed Rivenbergh about establishing a liaison relationship with IDS and he loved the idea. He wanted to hold off on the details until the new IDS director is on board sometime this spring/summer (another thing for Rosanne’s list). Next, I spoke with the SCLD executive board and SCLD membership in general about the task forces formed this past fall. Some have been very productive but some have languished terribly and I got a few complaints from SUNYLA members. SCLD wasn’t happy about how those groups were doing either and it looks like things have been tightened up and revitalized going forward. I sent a fresh call for participation to the SUNYLA list in May. Lastly, there was quite a bit of discussion about NYSHEI. SCLD is not happy with NYSHEI right now and is seriously questioning whether to continue SUNY’s participation. Our membership fees to NYSHEI are part of the SUNYConnect core charges so SCLD has the power to yank financial support, besides just saying that their libraries won’t be members anymore. How this development impacts SUNYLA’s decision regarding the aforementioned partnership with NYSHEI will need to be part of our discussion.
Action items for meeting:
• NYSHEI partnership discussion
• Officer travel for 2012-13, request allocation of $1000 for the year
Respectfully submitted,
April C. Davies
