Area 51 notes – Feb. 11, 2010

Present: Carol Peddie, Mike Roy, Mary Backus, Terry Simpkins, Shel Sax
We discussed doing a 360 review of AD team as part of evaluation process, but rejected the idea because we did this very recently during one of our consultations with Fred Schmitt.

Mike introduced a document describing in general terms the services LIS provides – derived principally from the SRC documents each area completed – and the constituency to whom we provide them (i.e. Vt. campus, Bread Loaf VT, MIIS, etc.).  He will present this overview to one of the trustees’ committees during their Feb. visit, and assigned the ADs to review and complete it by Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010.

We are once again beginning to look at space needs for LIS staff scattered in various locations.  At first blush, with the recent round of retirements, we probably do have enough room in the Main Library to accommodate everyone if necessary.

Carol informed us that events of more than 50 people have to have a “certified crowd control management person” on site before Events Scheduling will book a room.  This then raised the question of whether LIS all-staff meetings would need to have a crowd-control person present, and we thought it might be prudent for one or more of the ADs to become certified.  A “riotous discussion” ensued (yuck, yuck, blame Shel for that one).

We continued our discussion of the budgeting process, specifically the need to better evaluate and prioritize mid-year project requests and end-of-the-year unspent monies.  There was some discussion about which decisions reside primarily within areas and which should be discussed among the AD group.  There is also the longstanding issue of new capital projects.  Support for these inevitably shifts into LIS operating expenses, which does not increase enough to keep pace.  There was general agreement that we need to begin planning 3+ year budget projections that integrates both operating and capital needs.  Next week we will discuss capital budget requests, and review the current calendar of deadlines to be sure the dates therein are correct.

We ended by brainstorming ideas regarding membership of the new teams, and thinking about any necessary shifts in memberships on existing teams in light of retirements, competing demands for time, etc.  As a reminder, the current and new teams are:

  • Current – Digital Archives; LIS Website; Curricular Technology
  • New – Space; Security; Education and Training

Thanks for reading,
Terry

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