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ACRL Board of Directors' actions, January 2008: Highlights of the Board's Midwinter meetings

C&RL News, March 2008
Vol. 69, No. 3

During the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, the ACRL Board of Directors met on January 12 and 15 and took the following actions.

Strategic Area: Higher Education and Research
Goal Area: Learning—ACRL and its members are recognized as collaborative leaders and partners in ensuring that students graduate with lifelong learning skills, improving techniques for assessing learning outcomes, and in creating environments for discovery.

Approved the new “Information Literacy Standards for Anthropology and Sociology Students” (www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/standardsguidelines.cfm).

Approved an amended FY09 Strategic Initiative Action Plan proposal from ACRL’s Women’s Studies Section (WSS). The Board directed staff to include funding of up to $1,890 to send a panel of two (preferably a librarian and faculty member) to the National Women’s Studies Association Annual conference (2009) to discuss the subject-specific information literacy standards for the interdisciplinary field of women’s studies now under development.

Goal Area: Advocacy—ACRL has greater influence on the higher education and research environment.

Approved the following recommendations of the CUPA-HR Position Descriptions of Academic Librarians Task Force:

1) Approved the task force’s “Final Position Descriptions of Academic Librarians” for transmittal to CUPA-HR for inclusion in their fall 2008 Salary Survey–to replace all current academic librarian listings in the survey.

2) Assigned responsibility to ACRL’s Committee on the Status of Academic Librarians for maintaining and updating the listing for academic librarians and CUPA-HR publications.

3) Directed that ACRL create a highly visible Web link or portal to present the position descriptions and to include instructions about using them in discussions with Human Resources personnel at college and universities.

4) Additionally, the Board approved an extension of the task force through the 2008 ALA Annual Conference to advise the Committee on the Status of Academic Librarians as it works to implement the second recommendation and to assist ACRL staff with the implementation of the third recommendation.

Confirmed the ACRL Board of Directors’ e-mail vote of July 25–August 1, 2007, that approved the CUPA-HR Position Descriptions of Academic Librarians Task Force’s position descriptions for academic librarians for CUPA-HR. After submitting these position descriptions, CUPA-HR responded that they would only accept 15 position descriptions at most for academic librarians, leading to the final set approved at this meeting as noted above.

Approved funding not to exceed $15,000 to support a one-day retreat for the ACRL Task Force on Positioning the 21st-Century Library in the Competitive Academy in the spring of 2008.

Strategic Area: The Profession
Goal Area: Continuous Learning—ACRL provides continuous learning opportunities enabling members to strengthen their effectiveness and achieve recognition as valued contributors to their academic and research communities.

Approved the further investigation, exploration, and development of an ACRL Consulting Services program pilot.

Approved a business plan for an ACRL-driven applied research service, including $113,000 for development expenditures in FY08, which includes a consultant to help assist staff and the advisory board with identifying topics, developing the research questions and reviewing the reports, as well as $10,000 to fund an initial face-to-face meeting of the advisory board.

Strategic Area: The Association
Goal Area: Membership—ACRL’s membership growth builds on retaining core membership while recruiting from new and diverse communities.

Approved the second of two required votes to place bylaws revisions that allow for the creation of a wider array of subgroups, collectively known as Communities of Practice, on the 2008 ballot for a membership vote.

Charged the Executive Director to respond to a proposal from the Chinese American Library Association (CALA). The response should recommend that CALA use the ACRL Forum electronic discussion list to recruit potential speakers for the CALA 21st-Century Seminar program; note that ACRL has a process in place to manage translation of its standards; and state that the Board appreciates their interest in ACRL’s involvement with CALA’s program, but cannot support their request at this time as ACRL focuses on other strategic priorities.

Approved the following actions based on the recommendations in the ACRL Second Life Task Force’s final report:

• approved up to $100 to purchase a parcel of space for ACRL/Choice to create a presence on ALA Info Island;

• asked the ACRL President to appoint a knowledgeable ACRL member to set up, furnish, and decorate the ACRL/Choice space in Second Life by June 1, 2008;

• approved $500 to be provided to the person appointed to set up the ACRL/Choice space for Second Life expenses for furniture and related event expenses during this fiscal year; and

• reconstituted the Second Life Task Force with member appointments through June 30, 2008, to work with ACRL staff and other appropriate ACRL groups to identify specific informational materials and delivery mechanisms to provide to Second Life visitors, to develop a position description and call for volunteers for the ACRL Second Life administrator position, to investigate the possibilities and related costs for hosting a virtual event to tie in to the 2009 ACRL National Conference through discussions with the conference Virtual Planning Committee, to recommend promotional materials and approaches for increasing awareness of this new space/service to ACRL members, and to suggest possible metrics for assessing the impact and potential of ongoing investment in the Second Life space as an assistance and a recruitment tool. The final report and recommendations of this task force will be submitted to the Board for further action at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference.

Goal Area: Sustainability—ACRL will have the fiscal resources, staff expertise, and organizational structure to advance the association’s strategic plan.

Approved the minutes of the ACRL Board of Directors meetings held at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference (www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/aboutacrl/acrlboard/acrlboarddirectors.cfm).

Approved the second of two required votes to place various procedural and editorial bylaws revisions on the 2008 ballot for a membership vote.

Approved a revision of ACRL’s professional development budgeting practices to recognize 90 percent of registration revenues instead of 80 percent.

Directed that a letter be drafted by the Executive Director and signed by the President expressing concern over recommended policy changes in the ALA Division Budget Review Guidelines specifying a 5 percent budget to actual variance instead of 10 percent.

Renamed the Blog Advisory Board the ACRLog Advisory Board and approved revisions to the advisory board’s composition.

Approved the addition of three editorial board positions to the C&RL Editorial Board to allow for broader diversity of board composition.

Approved changes to the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) bylaws revising the duties of the section’s past-chair.

Approved changes to the Instruction Section (IS) bylaws revising the composition and terms for its Executive Committee’s members-at-large. The Board also approved an exception to the standing interpretation of the ACRL bylaws to allow the proposed IS bylaws changes to go the additional step of being placed on the spring 2008 ballot for IS membership approval by voting.

Dissolved the Task Force on Not-for-Profit Entrepreneurial Best Practices.

Approved a resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of ACRL’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) and directed the ACRL Councilor to take it to ALA Council for consideration by that body during the Midwinter Meeting.

Approved the appointment of the chair of the ACRL Assessment Committee (or his/her designee) as an ex-officio member of the President’s Program Planning Committee.

Confirmed the next steps for the ACRL Assessment Committee to take in fulfilling its charge:

1. The committee will focus its attention on working with the current ACRL President’s Program Planning Committee to ensure measurable outcomes are developed for the current president’s priority initiatives. Assessment Committee members will have input into the language of the outcomes so that they can select/develop assessment methods before the activities are underway.

2. Assessment of initiatives from previous presidencies will not be handled by the Assessment Committee. A consultant could work on these, as well as an evaluation of the early assessment activities by ACRL chapters, if the Board desires.

3. During the next year, the committee will focus on the design and implementation of outcomes-based evaluation and other assessment methods of the activities in support of the president-elect’s goals and priorities. The committee will make recommendations to the Board, as necessary, for contracting with a consultant and/or increasing the number of members to serve on the Assessment Committee.

Endorsed proposed changes to the ALA Code of Ethics, as presented in the draft available prior to the Midwinter Meeting.

Approved an official policy about the use of action plan funding, stating that “Strategic Initiative Action Plan funding is to be used only for the approved project. Unexpended funds revert to the ACRL net asset balance.”

Confirmed that ACRL’s Coordinating Committee structure will continue in its present form—with appropriate structural evaluation as needed—with next steps including addressing recommendations stemming from a recent survey of that structure.

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association