Members: Oya Rieger (co-chair), Deb Joseph (co-chair), Karen Calhoun, Susan Szasz Palmer, Brendan Wylie (secretary--left in January 1999)

Evaluation of Academic Assembly and Its Committees

During the 1998/1999 academic year, the Steering Committee planned and conducted an evaluation to review the missions, functions, and recent activities of the Steering Committee and its Standing Committees (Academic Orientation, Professional Development, Economic Status, and Academic Personnel Policy). The goals of the study were to:

¤ Ensure that the committee missions and structures remain timely and continue to meet the needs of the CUL professional staff

¤ Highlight the strengths and contributions of the committees.

¤ Identify gaps between the current professional needs/expectations and the committees' functions and roles.

Almost fifty professional CUL staff members participated in the evaluation. They were recruited through a CU-Lib posting that explained the purpose of the study. In addition to the focus groups, each Steering committee member was a liaison with one of the Academic Assembly standing committees. Each liaison met with her committee to review its function. An appendix of those findings follows the end of this report.

The findings of the focus groups and committee reviews were presented at the June Academic Assembly meeting. A report based on the findings and subsequent discussion in June was sent to Sarah Thomas along with recommendations from the Steering committee.

Programs

As well as the committee review, the Steering Committee also held seven Academic Assembly programs in the 1998/99 calendar year. Two of the regular meetings were cancelled, one due to scheduling problems and another due to inclement weather.

The programs were as follows:

Sept 1998:

Paul Mosher, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania, gave the talk, "Darwin and the Librarians: The Future of the Library in the Age of the Small Machine"

October 1998:

This meeting was held in conjunction with the first Cornell University Library Information Technology Forum. Richard E. Lucier, founding university librarian and executive director of the University of California Digital Library, made a presentation entitled: "The California Digital Library: An Integrated System for the Management of Scholarly Communication."

November 1998:

The November meeting was cancelled due to a scheduling problem.

December 1998:

The December program consisted of a panel presentation on the topic of "E-Journals and the Future of Scholarly Communication: Library Roles, Responsibilities, and Potential" The panel consisted of Brendan Wyly (Management Library reference librarian), Jen Weintraub (Mann Library selector), and Jim LeBlanc (CTS cataloger) Each spoke from their perspectives in public services, selection and cataloging. The program also included a recognition of staff awards and activities during the past year.

February 1999

Provost Don Randel gave his annual talk on the state of the University and its effects on the Library. His talk was followed by a question-and-answer period

March 1999

The meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather

April 1999

Sarah Thomas presented the University Librarian's annual address on the state of the Library followed by a question and answer period

May 1999

Lee Cartmill delivered his annual Library budget and financial report. This was followed by a panel discussion entitled "Catalogers, What's Become of Them?" Jim Cassaro, Assistant Music Librarian and Chair of the Working Group on Cataloging, moderated. The panel consisted of Jim LeBlanc, Tom Turner, Margaret Nichols, David Banusch, Diane Hillmann and Martin Kurth

Report provided by Deborah Joseph.

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Rev. 6/24/99, mc