New chancellor, New president, and You're Interim Dean... What's the Plan?

New Chancellor, New President, and You’re Interim Dean … What’s the Plan?
Andrew White, PhD
Interim Dean and Director of Libraries
Director, Health Sciences Center Library
Stony Brook University
ALA June 26, 2010

Stony Brook UniversityFast Facts
• 24,000 students and 2,100 faculty
• Long Island’s largest single-site employer, providing more than
14,000 employees with full- or part-time jobs
• More than 150 majors, minors, and combined-degree programs
• Six interest-based Undergraduate Colleges for all freshmen
One of 4 research centers in State University of New York system

Libraries Profile
Two campus libraries, administratively separate
Health Sciences Center Library
Single site
Library staffing approximately 30 FTE
Melville Library
A primary site along with 5 branches
Library staffing approximately 70 FTE

Stony Brook University Medical Center

Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library

Timeline
June 2009 - New State University Chancellor
July 2009 - New campus President
July 2009 – New HSC Lib Director
Sept. 2009 - External review of campus library
Nov. 2009 - Resignation of Library Dean
Dec. 2009 - Appoint HSC Lib Director as Interim Library Dean

My Assignment (I did choose to accept it)
Provost charge:
begin the process of reorganization
budgetary review
Administration pledges additional funds to the Library’s base acquisitions budget
Effective July 2010.
In spite of campus and state budget crisis

Overall Strategic Planning Priorities
Address immediate campus needs
Identify big-picture state system-wide library initiatives
Look for synergies with institutional and aspirational peers, i.e.
Collection development
Off-site storage
Scholarly communication / IRs
One size does not fit all

Interim Strategies and Steps
Analysis of the Library and its administration
New Library Faculty Advisory Committee
Meet with existing teams and committees to assess effectiveness and appropriateness
Conduct staff interviews individually, with a non-biased member of the new Advisory Committee also present
Summary report of interview observations
Spot themes from the staff comments.

Staffing culture
Stratification
Librarian faculty
Professionals
Classified
2 Unions
No systematic succession planning
Accumulation and inequitable distribution of job duties
Retirements
Resignations
Position attrition

Constraints
Repurpose existing staffing
Refilling vacated positions under budgetary review
Unions
Demotions unsupported
Reassignments with same compensation
Repurpose salary savings
Changed / increased job duties compensated with existing payroll

Unknowns
State budget
Campus budget
Early retirement incentives
Changes in staffing

Organizational Change
Phased
Some top-down decisions
Identify gaps in library services/operations
Provide staff development and advancement opportunities
Meet the needs of the campus
Align library with educational and research missions
Flexibility to respond to new innovations in information formats and access

Technical Services Changes
Rebrand as Resource Management
P vs. E
Distinctions by process and policy
No staffing distinction
Cross training
Reduce copy cataloging activities
Repurpose staff knowledge base

Phased Approached
Identify Associate Director positions
Adjust administrative reporting functional units
Fill immediate administrative personnel needs
Identify strategic directions as an organization
Identify staffing needs/skill sets to achieve strategies
Create staffing opportunities to address missing human capital:
Training
New job duties
New positions
Unit restructuring

Staff participation
Monthly all-staff meetings
Address mission, vision, values
Q&A related to consultants’ reports and interview summaries
Library Staff wiki

Q & A
Andrew White, PhDInterim Dean and Director of LibrariesDirector, Health Sciences Library
Andrew.White@stonybrook.edu

New chancellor, New president, and You're Interim Dean... What's the Plan?

by Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA), American Library Association (ALA)

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New chancellor, New president, and You’re Interim Dean... What’s the Plan? Presentation Transcript