Summary of Library Committee Activities for the Year 2007-2008

Table of Contents

Committee Members

This report summarizes the library committee’s activities during the 2007-2008 academic year. The minutes from the meetings are shown in Appendix A.  The primary topics of study and accomplishments include:

• Discussion of strategies to manage rising periodical costs and increased requests of electronic articles and interlibrary loans
• Request of differential tuition funds for library use
• Report to Faculty Senate about challenges and budget crisis in library acquisitions and present resolutions to manage the challenges
• Report to Student Senate about challenges and budget crisis in library acquisitions and present resolutions to manage the challenges
• Discussion of the impact of growth, quality and access plan on library services
• Discussion of other activities
• Suggestion of library committee’s goals and responsibilities next year

These activities will be described in more detail in the discussion that follows. Numerous appendices are included which provide further detail and evidence of the work completed during the year. If you have any questions, please contact me at 785-6549 or yu.chia@uwlax.edu.

Discussion of rising periodical costs and increased requests of electronic articles and interlibrary loans

The committee continued to discuss current challenges in library acquisitions, especially the increasing requests for electronic versions of articles and rising subscription fees for journals and electronic sources. There was also some discussion about access and the question of whether declining periodical holdings have any effect on accreditation.

Randy Hoelzen, Head of Reference and ILL/Document Delivery Services, was invited to the October meeting in 2007 to give the committee the overview of interlibrary loan/document delivery. According to Hoelzen, lending increased about 60% between 1989 & 2007.

John Jax (the Collection and Resource Development Librarian), Jenifer Holmen (Acquisitions Librarian), and Galadriel Chilton (Electronic Resources Librarian) were invited to present Murphy Library resource budget and acquisitions challenges to the library committee in the November 2007 meeting. Current challenges in acquisitions include no increase in funding for Murphy Library since 2001. Average journal prices are increasing 6-8%/year. The rising costs for electronic resources have been impacting Murphy Library’s ability to purchase resources at the same level as the year before. Even fees to purchase books inflate each year. The lack of funding for acquisitions, and increasing fees and inflation have lead to cuts in periodical, book and electronic resource titles and other challenges.

Please see minutes of October and November 2007 meeting in Appendix A and Report on Fiscal Crisis at Murphy Library to Faculty Senate in Appendix B for more detailed reasons for these challenges.

Request of differential tuition funds for library use

The library committee submitted a proposal (see Appendix C) to the Academic Initiative Oversight Committee to request (re)allocation of differential tuition funds for library use. Dickmeyer, Evans, and Yu presented to the Academic Initiative Oversight Committee on November 26, 2007. Library Committee members provided a follow-up document with additional information (see Appendix D) to the Academic Initiative Oversight Committee. The library committee was notified on May 5, 2008 that the request for the (re)allocation of differential tuition funds for library use was not funded. Please see notification letter in Appendix E.

Report to the Faculty Senate about challenges and budget crisis in library acquisitions and present resolutions to manage the challenges

The library committee submitted the “Report on Fiscal Crisis at Murphy Library” (see Appendix B) to the Faculty Senate; Evans and Yu reported to the Faculty Senate about challenges and budget crisis in library acquisitions on March 6, 2008. The Faculty Senate suggested that the Library Committee work on resolutions and have them passed in the Faculty Senate. Evans and Yu presented Resolutions on Acquisitions Budget Crisis at Murphy Library (see Appendix F) to the Faculty Senate in the meeting of April 1, 2008. The Faculty Senate passed the resolutions and the Chair of Faculty Senate Carmen Wilson sent a letter to Kevin Reilly, President of UW-System, and Mark Bradley, President for Wisconsin Board of Regents, to stress the importance of funding initiative.

Report to the Student Senate about challenges and budget crisis in library acquisitions and presentation of resolutions to manage the challenges

Ruplinger suggested that the library committee also present the financial crisis to Student Senate and pursue both resolutions through Student Senate. The library committee submitted the “Report on Fiscal Crisis at Murphy Library” (see Appendix B) to Student Senate; Evans and Yu reported to Student Senate about challenges and budget crisis in library acquisitions and presented both resolutions (see Appendix F) on April 30, 2008 in the Student Senate meeting. Ruplinger later introduced the resolutions to the Senate. Ruplinger and Hockett explained the student senators’ reactions to the suggested sources of funding, and the resolution for UW-L Support of the Library Budget was slightly modified. The Student Senate passed on May 7, 2008  both resolutions with these revisions. The Student Senate also added a clause stating that the students serving on the Joint Planning and Budget Committee work on the issue of the Library's financial crisis within said committee. Student Senate will send a letter to Kevin Reilly, President of UW-System, and Mark Bradley, President for Wisconsin Board of Regents, to stress the importance of funding initiative.

Discussion of the impact of Growth, Quality and Access plan on library services

The committee discussed how this Growth, Quality and Access plan will affect library services. The discussions included:

1. Will the library need more staff to support students’ and faculty’s needs? Can the library sustain and serve the extra traffic with more students (500+)?

2. Will the new programs/majors require more resources in the Murphy Library for accreditation purposes, and teaching and research?
3. Will the library need more computers to accommodate students?
4. Services such as library instruction and interlibrary loan will be in greater demand. Interlibrary loan is costly. How will this impact library service in current tight budget status?

The committee suggested that assessment is necessary to evaluate how Growth, Quality and Access plan will affect library services. The committee members were also urged to consult with their departments on how the Growth, Quality and Access agenda will affect their library needs.

Discussion of other activities

In addition to the major responsibilities that the committee has accomplished, other consultative activities related to library committee this year are shown as follows:

§         Artist reception on November 14, 2007 in Murphy's Mug
Murphy’s Mug has four pieces of original art at present, thanks to donations by Ron and Jane Rada and collaboration with the UW-L Art department. Two of the works represent local river culture, one, on loan, is a large 4-part painting by a previous UW-L student, Chun-Tso Lin (Jojo) and the other is a tile piece by Minnesota artist Yang-Yang. The library was able to purchase three works including two originals by local artists Sara Lubinski and D. Bud Becker. Artist reception was set on November 14, 2007 in Murphy's Mug.

• New login procedures to use Library Resources

Paralleling UW System and UW-L initiatives, the library moved toward using the new Person ID number to replace Social Security numbers for faculty and staff.   Beginning January 1, 2008, faculty and staff were required to use their Person ID number to log into

the library systems (e.g., ILLiad Interlibrary Loan form, Murphy Library Catalog, and Universal Borrowing). Faculty and staff were encouraged to get the new ID cards, which included Person IDs rather than social security numbers. The decision for this transition is to reduce reliance on social security numbers and to provide better security and protection of personal data.

• Discussion of using Technology fees for additional laptops for checkout

Currently the tablets that are available are being checked out heavily. The committee discussed pursing technology funding sources on campus via student tech fee or lab modernization/classroom modernization funds.

• Modification for Murphy Library website

Murphy Library is “re-doing” its website. Jenifer Holman, Acquisitions Librarian, gave the library committee an update of this effort at the March 2008 meeting. The library committee gave Holman suggestions to modify the website. The Library is still looking for users’ input. A link is off the library home page.

• 2008 “LibQUAL+” survey

Murphy Library distributed “LibQUAL+” survey on April, 2008 for a library service quality evaluation. Murphy Library is one of hundreds of academic libraries across the country administrating this “LibQUAL+” survey, including most UW institutions. Murphy Library conducted a parallel survey in 2004, and the survey this spring will allow Murphy Library to compare 2008 data with the first survey. They can assess where they have made progress or if there are any widening gaps between users’ expectations and what services and information resources they provide.

• 2008 Murphy Award

Prof. Richard Gappa was honored on May 1, 2008 with the Murphy Award.

Suggestion of library committee’s goals and responsibilities next year

The Committee concluded that several aspects of the 2007-08 final report and responsibilities are worthy of continued discussion:

1. Discuss the implementation of the Faculty Senate and Student Senate resolutions concerning budget issues and provide suggestions to the library.
2. Work with student representatives for the issues of financial crisis in Murphy Library in Joint of Budget Committee meetings.
3. Discuss results of “LibQUAL+” survey.
4. Discuss impact of Growth, Quality and Access on the library.

Appendix A. Meeting Minutes

Appendix B. Report on Fiscal Crisis at Murphy Library to Faculty Senate

Appendix C. Request of (Re)allocations of differential tuition for Library Use

Appendix D. Library Proposal Request for Information, National Peer Group, & UW Peer Group & AIOC Phase II Questions for Library Committee

Appendix E. Notification Letter from the Academic Initiatives Oversight Committee for differential tuition support

Appendix F. Resolutions on Acquisitions Budget Crisis at Murphy Library to Faculty Senate and Student Senate

Appendix A. Meeting Minutes

Minutes

Faculty Senate Library Committee

September 13, 2007, 11:00 a.m., 120 Murphy Library

Present: William Barillas (English), Paul Beck (Library), Barbara Bennie (Mathematics), Linda Dickmeyer (Communications), Anita Evans (Library Director, consultant), Tim Gerber (Biology); Kathleen Lynch (Graduate student representative), Sarah Putnam (Undergraduate student representative), William Ross (Management); Melissa Ruplinger (Undergraduate student representative), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (The Chair, Exercise and Sports Science).

Absent: Donald Lacoss (excused -- meeting schedule conflict with teaching).

1. Meeting called to order.

2. The minutes from the May 2006 meeting were approved.

3. Library committee activities for 2006-2007 highlighted:

• Suggestions to deal with issues in library acquisitions
• Request of differential tuition funds for library use
• Discussion of library budget issues
• Murphy’s Mug Grand Opening
• Recommendation for promotion and operation for Murphy’s Mug
• Discussion of the impact of growth and access plan on library services

4. A decision was made that a meeting time of 11:00 a.m. on Thursdays would work well for all of the members present. Donald Lacoss from History Department teaches a class during the meeting time of 11:00 a.m. on Thursdays. The committee suggested a flexible way for Lacoss’ participation in the Library Committee-- serving on subcommittee. Lacoss also agrees to serve on subcommittee.

5. Election of Chair and Secretary. Chia-Chen Yu was elected Chair of the Library Committee for the 2007-2008 academic year. The duty of Secretary will be passed each month. The following members volunteered to do the minutes for the first part of the year:

Chia-Chen Yu - September
Shauna Sallmen - October
Tim Gerber – November
Linda Dickmeyer – December

6. Yu gave an overview of committee Charge for 2007-2008 Academic Year.

n              Special charges

·                            Recommend strategies to deal with rising periodical costs and increased requests of electronic articles.

·                            Pursue technology fees for additional laptops in Murphy Library.

7. Director’s Report/Announcements from Anita Evans. Highlights included:

n              Library Usage: Evans updated the growth of library usage for the 2006-2007 school year.

n              Budget concerns

·                            Cut of student help positions

·                            Rising costs of periodicals & request of electronic document delivery

n              Request of differential tuition funds for library use.

n              Possible changes – Move away SS# for library service login. University employee ID might be used for login.

n              Library space planning.

n              Requesting additional laptops in Murphy Library.

8. Next Meeting: October 11, Thursday, 11:00 a.m., 120 Murphy Library (Randall Hoelzen, Head of Reference and ILL/Document Delivery Services plans to attend)

9. Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted by Chia-Chen Yu

Minutes

Faculty Senate Library Committee

October 11, 2007, 11am, 121 Murphy Library

Present: William Barillas (English), Paul Beck (Library), Barbara Bennie (Mathematics), Linda Dickmeyer (Communications), Anita Evans (Library Director, consultant), Tim Gerber (Biology), Kathleen Lynch (Graduate student representative), William Ross (Management), Melissa Ruplinger (Undergraduate student representative), Shauna Sallmen (meeting secretary, Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (Chair, Exercise and Sports Science)

Absent: Donald Lacoss, Sarah Putnam (both excused)

1.      Approve minutes from September 2007 meeting.

2.      Follow-up on pursuing re-allocation of some differential tuition funds for library use:

·        Student committee has not yet met (may not even be fully formed). No update.

3.      Randy Hoelzen (guest): Overview of Interlibrary Loan / Document Delivery

• Lending increased about 60% between 1989 & 2007. Borrowing higher by a factor of 5. Now UW-L is a net borrower, used to be a net lender.
• Many reasons for significant increase (ease of use, fewer journal subscriptions, etc.)
• Costs for ILL borrowing kept as low as possible:
  • Copyright fees are a significant part of the cost.
  • Per-transaction costs are going down, but actual costs are going up, because so many more requests, and copyright fee limits reached more frequently.
  • Copyright fees vs. journal subscription
• Document Delivery requests:
  • Overwhelmingly Distance Education (esp. Learning Communities)
• Policies of Peer UW system institutions (variety of strategies, many similar to ours)
  • UW-Whitewater charges students $1 per request
  • Fees are hard to collect (more bookkeeping)
• Discussion & questions.

4.      Discussion of Rising Periodical costs – suggestions needed

·        Example: UW-L library exploring getting a professional organization or firm to help fund a journal (~$9000 / yr) used only by accounting students.

·        More details / discussion next meeting

5.      Faculty Senate agenda for Nov. 29 originally included library issues, but now postponed to Mar. 6 agenda.

6.      Subcommittee to pursue Differential Tuition reallocation. Anita Evans, Chia-Chen Yu, Donald Lacoss, need a couple more.  Consider serving.

7.      Director’s Report

·        Card-ID number: instead of SS#, faculty & staff will use an employee ID number (“Person ID” on pay stub). That number will be needed as of January 1 to log into various services (Universal Borrowing, ILL). Encouraged to get new Tower One card (old cards have SS# embedded in it)

·        CUWL (Council of University of Wisconsin Libraries) Strategic Directions 2007-2009.

·        Library now open at 7:30am so there is adequate setup time for 7:45am classes.

8.      Adjourn

Faculty Senate Library Committee

Meeting Minutes

11:00 am-noon, Nov 15, 2007

In attendance: Paul Beck (Library), Barbara Bennie (Mathematics), Tim Gerber (Biology), Kathleen Lynch (Graduate student representative), William Ross (Management), Melissa Ruplinger (Undergraduate student representative), Sarah Putnam(Undergraduate student representative), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (Chair, Exercise and Sports Science)

Consultant: Anita Evans (Library Director, consultant)

The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am. 

Most of the meeting was devoted to a presentation and discussion of the budget.

Murphy Library Resource Budget (John Jax, Jenifer Holmen, & Galadriel Chilton, presenters):  items 1-4 below

Item 1: No increase in funding for Murphy Library since 2001 has lead to cuts in collection development.  Murphy library staff is currently working on new and creative ways of maintaining resources and services in spite of drastic increases in journals, electronic resources, monographs, standing orders, and UW system resource sharing.

Item 2: Periodical collections.  Average journal prices are increasing 6-8%/year.

• Cuts in journals have occurred however there has been a cost savings by converting from individual print journals to electronic journal access through packaged deals with vendors (e.g., Sage Journals).  Therefore, while 92 titles were cut this year only 3 journals were dropped since the other titles are accessible through packages.  Access to additional new titles are one advantage to package deals.
• Journals will get more expensive if UW-L increases over 10,000 FTE’s
• UW-L Chemistry Dept is American Chemical Society (ACS) certified and must maintain specific journals to keep ACS certification.  UW system currently pays $500,000/year to keep the journals necessary for ACS certification of which UW-L must pay it’s proportional share.  If UW-L > 10,000 FTEs, that share will probably increase too.
• The monograph budget has been used to maintain the periodical collection.

Item 3: Monographs.  The number of monograph purchases/year has decreased over the last 5 years due to the flat budgets.

• Strategies for maintaining book purchases include:  leverage purchasing, Blackwell’s UW system collaborative book bidding

Item 4: Electronic Databases:  e-resource budget has increased from ($160,857 to 180,848) from 2003-present.

• Number of local e-resource subscriptions has decreased 40% do to increases in cost of resources; difficult to add more titles because of high inflation rate of resources which keeps library from adding new resources.
• Strategy for maintaining e-resources includes finding sponsors for specific databases.

Item 5:  Continue to pursue reallocation of differential tuition funds for library.  A Faculty Senate Library Committee subcommittee has been set up to work on a request for these funds.

Item 6: Academic oversight committee: Student committee has fully formed. Paula Knudson, Dean of Student Development & Academic Services, indicated that “The first two weeks will be training and selecting a student chair.”

Item 7: Graduate student organization has requested longer library hours esp. on Fridays and Saturdays.  Request to address the committee regarding this topic.  Evans provided a list of UW (comprehensive campuses) library hours.

The committee approved the meeting minutes of 11 October 2007.  M/S/P 8-0-0

The meeting adjourned at noon.

Respectfully submitted,

Tim Gerber (Biology)

Faculty Senate Library Committee

Meeting Minutes

11:00 am-Noon, December 6, 2007

In Attendance: Paul Beck (Library), Melissa Ruplinger (Undergraduate student rep), Linda Dickmeyer (Communication Studies), Barbara Bennie (Mathematics), Tim Gerber (Biology), William Ross (Management), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Katie Lynch (Graduate student rep), Sarah Putnam (Undergraduate student rep), Chia-Chen Yu (Chair, Exercise and Sports Science)

Consultant: Anita Evans (Library Director)

*The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am.

*Approved the minutes from November 15, 2007

*Report on Pursuing Reallocation of Differential Tuition Funds for Library Use

            Yu provided background/history of attempts for funds

·        Not much time to process/prepare but didn’t want to lose the opportunity

·        Sub-committee members Yu, Evans, Dickmeyer worked on document and met to strategize prior to 11/26 meeting

Yu reported on the meeting with Differential Funding committee members 11/26

·        Distributed all questions raised by committee members

·        The tone of the meeting was positive but we have homework to do/questions to answer

·        Library Committee members provided suggestions:

            “Theme” the questions and address per theme/heading

            Don’t let the document get too long

            Point out we are requesting a small amount in the big picture

            Break down 35,000 by student by semester (2)

            Does the Differential Funds committee have a “fixed pot?”

Student Library Committee members think this money can be distributed at discretion

The specific example used in our current report is not clear that this

             journal is NECESSARY to keep the program accredited; make

             this more clear

Highlight graduate programs—need resources to maintain/serve them

            Does this help or hurt with undergraduate students deciding?

Use language such as “expanding opportunities for students”

Get statistics for students who go on for graduate work

                        Clearly the library does affect all four areas of Strategic Plan

Student Senators on Library Committee will advocate on behalf of our

             request

·        Future meetings regarding differential funding

            Evans will work on research

            Sub-committee will proceed with response

            Will assume another meeting to answer questions in Feb/March

*Library Committee needs to report to Faculty Senate on March 6, 2008

            Yu will begin drafting a plan for this meeting

            Our Jan/Feb 2008 committee meetings will focus on this

*Discussed Spring Schedule

            Sarah Putnam may need to resign seat/she is studying abroad

            Spring 2008 Committee Meeting Schedule

                        February 1 (Barbara minutes)

                        February 29 (William Ross minutes)

                        March 28 (Melissa minutes)

                        May 2 (Chia-Chen minutes)

*Director’s Report

            Concern with theses depositories/UW campuses

                        Presented as PDF files; issues to be worked out

                        Consider electronic check-out and archival hard copy

                        Evans is revising a draft of related document

            Moving ahead with new ID card for Faculty and Staff

                        Suggested reminders on Web Site and other user-friendly ideas to offset questions and use at beginning of semester

                        BIG and OBVIOUS was theme for website and other suggestions

            Spring—LibQual Survey will be distributed again; will be useful to use previous year as baseline

            Laptop checkout—anecdotal and usage reports indicate students like it

            Paul Beck – in the future, consider grad school requests to extend hours

            Tim Gerber asked about follow-up on MEPD and services; should they be using own budget?

The meeting adjourned at noon

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Dickmeyer (CST)

Faculty Senate Library Committee

Meeting Minutes

11:00 am-noon, February 1, 2008

In Attendance: Paul Beck (Library), Barb Bennie (Mathematics), Tim Gerber (Biology), William Ross (Management), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Katie Lynch (Graduate student rep), Chia-Chen Yu (Chair, Exercise and Sports Science), William Barillas (English)

Consultant: Anita Evans (Library Director, consultant)

The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am. 

1. Reviewed and approved minutes from December 2007 meeting

2. Follow-up on pursuit of differential tuition funds

We reviewed a follow-up document with additional information for the differential tuition committee

                        Primary points to be addressed:

-         Comparative data that shows how UW-L expenses relate to similar institutions

-         Added emphasis on how our requests fit into the four key categories

How do we compare against other institutions?

-         Data from the ALS (American Library Society) from Terri Thill

-         FTE numbers may be interesting extra information to add to current table

-         Important to compare against similar institutions outside of UW System since the entire system has seen cuts

-         Emphasize other institutions who are receiving differential tuition funding for libraries

Some concerns regarding differential tuition funds from conversations around campus:

-         Should the library receive funding from the University rather than from differential tuition?

-         Does the library fit naturally into the four categories that differential tuition aims to satisfy?

3. Discuss draft of the Library Report to go to Faculty Senate on March 6

            Outline of the draft

I.                    Current situation

II.                 Suggestions to deal with the crisis

Suggestions for improving the draft:

-         Grammatical changes

-         Adjust tone to address serious nature and urgency of problem (CRISIS!!)

-         Mention the implications of Growth, Quality, and Access – (e.g. price jumps associated with crossing the 10,000 student threshold for some subscriptions, for other subscriptions the price changes as student body grows even without hitting a fixed threshold)

-         Lengthen the overview

-         Highlight our preferred options within the “Suggestions” section of the document (e.g. $1 fee for ILL is not a preferred, popular option, if preferred choice is not feasible we will be forced to charge a fee)

-         Expand on “Request Pepsi Funding” – check that our request falls within the requirements of how the money is to be used

-         Qualify that the differential funds option for additional funding is not certain to pan out.  In particular, there is a general feeling that funding should come from the University rather than differential tuition.

-         Title change - suggestion “Report on the Library Fiscal Crisis,” emphasize that this is not a report on how things are going well

-         Check stats on bottom of page 1 about decrease in e-resources – possibly list the names of the 20 titles lost in the appendix

-         Add a chart showing constant funding and increasing prices over time

-         Add other detailed numbers to the appendix

Response to suggestions:

-         Bill Barillas will help with writing revisions – expand overview, adjust tone

-         Chia-Chen and Anita will work on other revisions

4. Cris Prucha – Information Literacy Instruction Librarian solicited help for UW-L participation in the I-SKILLS Test.

Students are required to take an assessment test to get institutional data.  Cris is looking for volunteers to administer test to students. The test takes 75 minutes to complete test + setup time.  She would ideally like 4 classes of upperlevel students this semester (100 students total) and 4 classes of freshman students in the fall (100 students total).

Reply to Chris with possible leads of interested faculty by March 1.

5. Library head count data from 1999 – 2007 was distributed and reviewed.  The data gives a general picture of library usage. 

6. Director’s Report: Technology fees for additional laptops for checkout

Currently the tablets that are available are being checked out heavily

Technology funding sources on campus:

·        Student tech fee

·        Lab modernization/classroom modernization funds – working on proposal

Suggestions:

·        Contact/re-contact Jim Jorstad in Educational Technologies – propose that the request for additional laptops be an addition to the furniture changes that were made last year

·        Contact Ahmed Ali from Educational Studies.  He has a stock of computers in Morris Hall.  We could ask to share his resources.

7. Meeting adjourned at noon.

UW-L Faculty Senate Library Committee Meeting

Meeting Minutes

11:00 a.m. – noon, February 29, 2008

In Attendance:  Paul Beck (Library), Barb Bennie (Mathematics), Linda Dickmeyer (Communication Studies), William Ross (Management), Missy Ruplinger (Student Representative), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (Chairperson, Exercise and Sports Science), William Barillas (English)

Consultant:  Anita Evans (Murphy Library Director)

Dr. Yu called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m.

1.         The minutes of Feb.1, 2008 were reviewed.   M/S/P to approve the minutes (6 – 0).

2.         Dr. Yu announced that Joshua Hockett will replace Sarah Putnam as a Student Representative.

3.         The differential tuition request was discussed.  The committee considered the memo that Dr. Yu and Director Evans had submitted on Feb. 18, 2008 to the Academic Initiatives Oversight Committee (AIOC) in response to “Phase II” questions that they had posed in a memo on Feb. 11, 2008.  It was mentioned that the AIOC had not yet responded to the Feb. 18^th memo; nor had they presented any additional questions.  Dr. Yu said that she would keep committee members advised of further developments and any AIOC decisions regarding the Library’s differential tuition request.

4.         Dr. Yu will present the Faculty Senate Library Report to the Faculty Senate on Thursday, March 6, 2008.  It was noted that Director Evans will also be there to also answer Senators’ questions.

5.         The draft of the Faculty Senate Library Report was considered.  Numerous wording suggestions were offered, including the following:

            -           The title might be “Report on a Fiscal Crisis at Murphy Library.”

            -           The “tone” in the overview should be quite serious and frank.

-           The implications of Growth, Quality, & Access (GQA) for the library should be clear.  The Senators should be made aware that costs will rise as we increase student enrollment, and they will increase significantly if enrollment rises above 10,000 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) students.  Thus, the impact will be one of decreasing the quantity and quantity of material resources and decreasing access to information through databases.

-           Differential tuition funds (if approved) and service fees (if implemented) will not be enough to offset additional costs that occur from GQA and from inflation in library materials.

-           It was suggested that the “Overview” of the report (page 1) state, “Murphy Library faces a financial crisis.  This report will present facts describing the growing inadequacy of current funding to address this crisis.”

-           It was suggested that under I. 1. “Acquisitions Budget Crisis” (page 1) explain the 8-10% inflation rate a bit more (this is an inflation rate in the cost of library materials and access to databases, caused, in large part, by library suppliers and vendors).

-           Give the total amount needed to be able to provide the level of service in FY 2001 and FY 2007.

-           Mention that this report emphasizes acquisitions and student services; other areas of the Library (e.g., staffing) face crisis as well.

-           Give examples from each college (e.g., College of Liberal Studies).  Put the ‘Accountancy’ example given in the AIOC memo in the report.

-           Give a graph to make the LibQual + Survey information (bottom of page 5) clearer.

-           Explain the meaning of “DES” on the graph currently on page 5.

-           Give graph(s) for total Inter-Library Loan (ILL) requests and costs mentioned on page 5.

-           Mention that UW-L is required to make certain expenditures as part of UW-System Library programs.  These expenditures are poised to significantly increase.

-           Mention that “If accredited programs are required to have sufficient materials and the library cannot afford those materials, then the day may come when the departments and programs that are seeking accreditation may be asked to fund those materials themselves.  UW-L has a number of accredited programs and the library committee members want to maintain those strong programs.  However, accrediting review boards expect to find strong library resources related to their fields.  In order to avoid jeopardizing accreditation of certain programs, additional library funding is needed.”

-           Identify the number of program shifts:  new majors, “upgrades” of concentrations to minors or majors, etc. and note that each of these increase the demand for library resources.

-           Note that GQA may increase the number of new majors and minors at UW-L. 

-           While describing the Librarians’ efforts to cope with reduced funding, mention that the committee sees additional funding as the only solution in order to maintain quality service, collection, and access.

-           Should the “Overview” be broken into two paragraphs?

-           Dr. Barillas had additional wording suggestions.  He will work with Dr. Yu to finalize language of the report.

6.         The UW-System Library Director’s Group is seeking additional funding from the UW-System Board of Regents.  However the state budget has its own projected shortfall, so the outcome is best described as “uncertain” and UW-L Senators and Administrators cannot count on those possible funds for solving the fiscal crisis at Murphy Library.

7.         Director Evans presented 2006 FTE data for comparable campuses along with their staffing levels.  She noted that Murphy Library “doesn’t look good” when compared to similar campuses.  She noted that staffing levels were low because an open position has remained unfilled since 2004 due to UW-L budget cuts.  There was discussion about whether this fact should be mentioned in the report.

8.         Director Evans noted that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a new policy, effective April 7, 2008.  Any NIH-funded research reports must be filed with the free “Pub Med Central” website.  This will promote open access to information. 

9.         Murphy Library is “re-doing” its website.  Jenifer Holman will give the committee an update of this effort at an upcoming meeting (either March 28 or May 2).

Meeting adjourned, 11:58 a.m.

UW-L Faculty Senate Library Committee Minutes

March 28^th 11.00 - noon

Room 120 Murphy Library

Members Present: William Barillas (English), Paul Beck (Library), Barbara Bennie (Mathematics), Linda Dickmeyer (Communication Studies), Joshua Hockett (Graduate Student Representative), Katie Lynch (Graduate Student Representative), Melissa Ruplinger (Undergraduate Student Representative), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (Chair, Exercise and Sport Science)  Consultant: Anita Evans (Library Director)

Minutes from previous meeting approved

Introduction by Joshua Hockett, new student representative

Follow-up to Faculty Senate Report on May 6^th, 2008

·        Thanks to Chia-Chen and Anita

·        Positive reaction from Faculty Senate

·        Drafts of resolutions for April 17 discussed

o       More differentiation needed between two drafts – one is addressing issue on local level, other addresses on larger scale

o       Include section on necessity of materials for accreditation

o       Examples needed from every college

o       Graph needed on increase of ILL requests

Modifications to Murphy Library website

·        Website is now more simple, includes news items

·        Feedback

o       Catalog link is hard to find

o       Link to Library and Murphy’s Mug hours needed

o       Direct link to ‘My Account’ needed

·        More feedback is welcome

Director’s Report

·        LibQUAL survey getting started

o       Sent out to campus on 3/31

o       Open until 4/18

o       Measures services, quality, expectations, observations

o       Data to be compared to data from 2004

·        Library Endowment Fund

o       Mailing to faculty and friends of the Library

·        Book Sale on April 30^th and May 1^st

·        Faculty members’ personal ID to log in

o       May 1^st will switch to personal ID, rather than Social Security number

Meeting Adjourned

Submitted by Missy Ruplinger

4/29/08

UW-L Faculty Senate Library Committee Meeting

Meeting Minutes

11:00 a.m. – noon, May 2, 2008

In Attendance:  Paul Beck (Library), Barb Bennie (Mathematics), Linda Dickmeyer (Communication Studies), Joshua Hockett (Graduate Student Representative), Missy Ruplinger (Student Representative), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (Chairperson, Exercise and Sports Science)

Excused: William Barillas (English), Tim Gerber (Biology), Katie Lynch (Graduate student Representative), William Ross (Management)

Absent: Donald Lacoss

Consultant:  Anita Evans (Murphy Library Director)

1. Meeting called to order.

2. The minutes of March 29, 2008 were reviewed.  M/S/P to approve the minutes (7– 0).

3.      Differential Tuition for Library Use

• No new updates available from the Academic Initiative Oversight Committee to the differential tuition proposal for library use. The committee suggested that Yu contact the faculty advisor of Academic Initiative Oversight Committee for updates.

5.      Student Senate Report

• Evans and Yu reported to the Student Senate on April 30, 2008 about current financial challenges in acquisitions and present resolutions to management the crisis. Ruplinger later introduced the resolutions to the Senate.  Ruplinger and Hockett explained the student senators reactions to the suggested sources of funding, and the resolution for UW-L Support of the Library Budget was slightly modified. Student Senate will vote on May 7 for these resolutions.

6.      Annual Report

§         The committee review and discussed the committee’s accomplishments and activities during the 2007-2008 academic year.

§         Suggestions were also addressed for Library Committee’s goals next year:

                                                   i.      Discuss resolutions for budget issues and provide suggestions to the Library.

                                                 ii.      Discuss impact of Growth, Quality and Access on the Library.

                                                iii.      Discuss results of LibQUAL+ survey and recommend action steps.

7.      Director’s Report

• The latest budget issues and concerns:  for next year projections are for at least $27,000 in cuts to the periodicals collection.
• “LibQUAL+” survey, a survey of user perceptions about library services. Over 2000 responses were received, and over 500 comments. 
• Modification of Murphy Library website. The Library is still looking for users’ input.  A link is off the library home page.
• Evans expressed her thanks to Chair Chia-Chen Yu and the committee, with special acknowledgement of outgoing members, for their service during the 2007-2008 academic year.  

8.      Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted by Chia-Chen Yu

Appendix B. Report on Fiscal Crisis at Murphy Library to Faculty Senate & Student Senate

Faculty Senate Library Committee

Report on Fiscal Crisis at Murphy Library

Faculty Senate Library Committee

March 6, 2008

To: Faculty Senate

Submitted by: Faculty Senate Library Committee

William Barillas (English), Paul Beck (Library), Barbara Bennie (Mathematics), Linda Dickmeyer (Communication Studies), Tim Gerber (Biology), Joshua Hockett (Undergraduate student representative, Spring 2008), Donald LaCoss (History), Kathleen Lynch (Graduate student representative), William Ross (Management), Melissa Ruplinger (Undergraduate student representative), Sarah Putnam (Undergraduate student representative, Fall 2007), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (Chair, Exercise and Sports Science), Consultant: Anita Evans (Library Director).

Overview

Murphy Library faces a financial crisis. This report describes the growing inadequacy of funding for acquisitions and related services in Murphy Library. 

Funding for acquisitions and related services has been flat since the 1999/01 biennium. At the same time, the increasing cost of periodical subscriptions, electronic resources, and books, increasing requests for ILL/Document delivery services, and the decrease in library student worker FTE have put an additional burden on Murphy Library. The financial crisis is forcing the Library to reduce book purchases, cut periodicals, cancel electronic resources, and cut library student worker positions.

In addition to the increasing subscription fees for periodicals and electronic resources, new majors and programs have been added since 2001. Due to the increasing number of students and faculty for these new majors and programs and the curriculum expansion, the Library needs to keep up a current, solid collection of materials.  In addition, professional associations which review some programs require the Library to hold a certain collection of academic journals and resources for accreditation purposes. Yet there has not been addition funding for these accreditation purposes. These trends have added to the Library’s financial burden in acquisitions and related services.

Because it is imperative that Library information resources for faculty and student research are adequately funded, the Faculty Senate Library Committee believes it is important to inform the Faculty Senate about Murphy Library’s current challenges and fiscal crisis. This report also includes the Faculty Senate Library Committee’s suggestions on how to manage the challenges in acquisitions and digital information and the growing demand for document delivery/Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services.

While this report describes Library’s efforts to cope with reduced funding, the Faculty Senate Library Committee stresses that the only way to maintain quality services and access is to obtain additional funding. The Faculty Senate Library Committee has submitted proposals last and this year to reallocate differential tuition funds for library use.

I. Facts and Current Status

1. Acquisitions Budget Crisis (See Appendix A for detailed facts.)

Annual inflation rates have been estimated at 8-10% or higher for library materials. The high inflation rates are primarily due to vendor cost increases across the nation and abroad which the Library has little control over. With inflation at approximately 8% each year, the acquisitions budget purchasing power has declined substantially. Because the Library has not had adequate funds to match the inflation rates, the cumulative effect is that a 71% increase would be needed at an 8% inflation rate to maintain the purchasing power equivalent to FY01 for FY08.

Increasing Cost for Periodical Subscriptions

·        The Library has been facing continual price increases for current periodical subscriptions. 

·        Faculty members have made requests for periodicals that Murphy Library has not been able to meet. 

Increasing Costs of Electronic Resources

·        Murphy Library’s e-resources costs have increased for subscriptions. The budget cannot sustain the increasing subscription fees, and as a result the number of local e-resource subscriptions has decreased by 20 titles from 70 resources in 2003/2004 to 50 resources in 2007/2008).

Increasing Requests for ILL/Document Delivery Services

• Cutting periodicals has put an additional burden on Interlibrary Loan/Document delivery. Interlibrary loan requests have an increased 115% in the past four fiscal years. Due to the growth in undergraduate research, an expanding curriculum, and increasing number of distance education students, the Library needs to keep up a current, solid collection of materials and ready access to remote information resources.

Increasing Library Usage from Growth, Quality and Access Plan

• The Growth, Quality and Access Plan is projected to increase Library use among students and faculty in the following years due to the increase number of new students and faculty. Additional funding for the acquisitions budget for periodicals and electronic resources are critical to meet the demand.

Declining Book Purchases (See Appendix B for detailed facts.)

• Flat budgets largely account for a declining number of book purchases.

2. Student Employment

Decrease of Library Student Worker FTE

·        Student employment (student employment and work study) has declined from 12.01 FTE in FY98 to 7.0 FTE in FY07. The FTE has declined because of budget cuts, reduced work study availability, and the increase in minimum wage. Funding has declined from $77,000 in FY02 to $60,866 in FY08. Fewer students have impacted library services such as: reduced assistance at the reference desk; a cut in Special Collections hours; longer turn-around times; less innovation with library technologies; not collecting comprehensive assessment data for building usage, etc.

II. Suggestions to Manage the Crisis

Library Committee’s Preferred Solutions

1. Request additional funding

• Differential tuition funds for library use. The Faculty Senate Library Committee submitted a proposal last and this year to reallocate differential tuitions for library use.  Students at other UW campuses including the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and University of Wisconsin-Superior in recent years have approved differential funding to support the university library. While this is not a complete solution, it would help to close the gap.
• Request Pepsi Funding from UWL.
• Pursue Legislative Funding for 2009/11. This UW System request is in the initial phases.
• Other University sources?

2. Other Solutions to help stem the Crisis

·        Periodicals

The Library has cut periodicals in the past few years (See Figure 1). If the acquisitions budget still remains flat, continued cutting of periodicals is inevitable. Tenure/promotion should not be based on publication in “prestigious” journals.  Faculty are be encouraged/rewarded for depositing their intellectual works in Minds@UW (institutional repository) and for publishing in lesser known, open access journals.

Figure 1
Periodicals Adds and Cancels

 

• Book purchases

Rush or “just-in-time” purchasing to meet users information needs.

Leverage Purchasing:  UW System collaborative book bid.

• Blackwell’s
• Each campus must purchase “X%” to get deep discounts on books.

·        Document delivery

o       Charge fees for document delivery. At this time, there is no charge to UWL faculty, staff, or students for ILL/Document Delivery services. However, if an additional funding source is not available to offset the burden, charges may be instituted for ILL/Document Delivery requests in the future. This option has the disadvantage in making this service less available to library users who lack financial resources to cover the service.

o       Set the cap for user’s request of interlibrary loan and documental delivery.

o       Reallocate budget from other University sources for Library use for documental delivery. 

3. Other suggestions?

Summary

In summary, students’ access to authoritative information is a critical component of their academic success. Library collections and databases expose students to diverse and global perspectives and all students across the university’s colleges and departments benefit. Student employees are essential to library operations. Without adequate numbers of student employees, hours and service reductions are unavoidable. Students also directly benefit from library employment. The cumulative effect of an inadequate budget for acquisitions and services since 2001 has resulted in reducing the number of book purchases, cutting periodicals, canceling electronic resources, and cutting library student worker position. An acquisitions budget increase of $70,000 and $10,000 in student employment are necessary in order to maintain the quantity and quality of Library service. It is imperative that immediate steps be taken.

Appendix A Acquisitions Budget Crisis

Acquisitions Budget Crisis

Increasing Cost for Periodical Subscriptions

·        Between FY00 and FY06, $231,964 in periodical titles was cut while $31,451 in titles have been added, a net loss of just over $200,000. In addition, in FY07 the Library was faced with a price increase for current periodical subscriptions of approximately $48,000. As a result, another round of periodical cancellations was initiated. 

·        Faculty have made requests for periodicals that Murphy Library has not been able to meet.  Examples of more expensive titles requested within the last year are:

§         Clinical Anatomy (Wiley): $2300/year

§         Protocols in Cell Biology (Wiley):  $2880/year

Increasing Costs of Electronic Resources

·        In five fiscal years, Murphy Library’s e-resources costs have increased by $20,000 or 12.5%. However, even with the increased costs for e-resource subscriptions, the number of local e-resource subscriptions still decreased by 20 titles or 40% in the past five fiscal years. In FY03, the number of e-resource subscriptions was 70 with an expenditure of $160,857 while an $180,847 budget is projected for 50 Resources in FY08.

·        One case in point is the BNA Tax Management Library, a database which is required for the Accountancy program. This database jumped in price from $5,847 in FY06 to $6,242 in FY07 and now in FY08 is priced at $9,635.  For FY08 Historical Abstracts is priced at $7,937 compared with $5,912 in FY04. Another example of expected price increases is the electronic database of the American Chemical Society (ACS) (See Table 1). The UW System negotiated a new license which calls for annual 7.5% increases over the next five years. Murphy Library will pay $22,127.20 in FY07 and the costs will increase to $31,766.46 by FY12. 

Table 1
Costs for Electronic Database of American Chemical Society

·        The UW System Shared Electronic Collection (SEC) budget also has been flat since FY2001. Since that time individual libraries in the System have made prorated contributions in order to add a collective $100,000 to the budget and another $34,000 in 2007/08.  A few years ago, UW-La Crosse’s share was $5,320.  As of this year, the share has increased to $8,320. Electronic databases also have been cut from the SEC, and UW-L has in some cases has to pick up the title. A recent example is Science Online at a cost of $5,080.

Increasing Requests for ILL/Document Delivery Services

·        Cutting periodicals has put an additional burden on Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and document delivery (See Figure 2). Our distance education students request materials from our library via document delivery. Most of those students are from the Masters of Education—Professional Development program in the Department of Educational Studies (DES). Interlibrary loan requests have increased 115% in the past four fiscal years from 4,926 in FY03 (6,068 in FY04, 7635 in FY05) to 10,598 in FY06, respectively. In FY07, the number of requests again exceeded 10,000 (See Figure 3).   The S&E budget was cut $30,300 in FY04 while costs for library services, such as ILL have been on the increase. Costs for the Copyright Clearance Center have risen dramatically as use has skyrocketed. For one periodical alone in 2006, the copyright fee was $2,030 (still a much better value than the cost of the subscription). There were 84 titles for which we had to pay copyright fees, 17 of which were over $200. Also, the license fee for UW System-wide software ILLiad document delivery software was instituted in the last few years and for FY07 the cost is $4,461.

Figure 2
Document Delivery Requests

Figure 3
Interlibrary Loan Requests

·        Findings from the LibQUAL+ survey conducted in 2004 indicated that of the three dimensions (Collections & Resources, Physical Space/Environment, and Service), survey participants, particularly faculty and graduate students, rated Collections and Resources as the most important of the three dimensions.  As seen in Figure 4 below, Collections and Resources is the dimension perceived to be furthest from participant ideals for graduate students, even below the minimum expectations.  The deficit is particularly pronounced for item. IC-8: “Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work.”

Figure 4

LibQUAL Survey (Graduate Students)

Appendix B Declining Book Purchases

Declining Book Purchases

• For 2005, the 2007 Bowker Annual estimated the hardcover book inflation rate at 9.87%. Flat budgets largely account for a declining number of book purchases. In FY01, the Library purchased 7,705 books for the circulating collection and 858 reference books. In FY07, the Library purchased 4,910 and 749 books respectively.

• It should be noted that the declining number of book purchases is magnified by the fact that the number of domestic publications has increased over the years. According to the data from the 2006 Bowker Annual reports, “For the second year in a row, American book title output increased by double-digit percentages, reaching another record-setting total of 190,078 new titles and editions published in 2004…”  (p. 516).  There was a 8.41% decline in 2005 according to the 2007 Bowker Annual, but this decline was largely attributed to declines in the juvenile and religion categories. 

Appendix C. Request of (Re)allocations of differential tuition for Library Use

Request for Differential Tuition for Murphy Library

Faculty Senate Library Committee

November 26, 2007

I. Brief Overview of Library Operation

Murphy Library selects, maintains, enhances, promotes, and makes accessible the necessary information, materials, and research resources to support student learning at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the university's dynamic programs of teaching, research, and public service. The authoritative information found in books, videos, periodicals, database resources supports coursework and student research projects, and provides diverse perspectives that support both cultural diversity and internationalism. Within the Library’s operation, this proposal focuses on increasing students’ access to information and enhancing services through increased student employment. Murphy Library’s values statement defines access as follows: “We provide the greatest access possible to information in various formats, in collaboration with faculty, to support the instructional and research-related fields of the university curriculum. We share library resources through interlibrary loan and cooperative ventures with other libraries. We organize collections and manage digital and physical access for ease of retrieval by a diverse group of on and off campus users.”

II. Request

The acquisitions budget has been flat since the 1999/01 biennium. With inflation at 6-8% each year, the acquisitions budget purchasing power has declined substantially.

This request seeks to increase the authoritative information content available to students.  Funding would be allocated for:

1. Access to Information

A. Books/Videos

For 2006, the book inflation rate was estimated at 9.62%. Flat budgets largely account for a declining number of book purchases. In FY01, the Library purchased 7,705 books for the circulating collection and 858 reference books.  In FY07, the Library purchased 4,910 and 749 books respectively.

B. Journals

Periodical inflation rates typically have been 6-8% or higher. Between FY00 and FY06, $231,964 in periodical titles was cut while $31,451 in titles have been added, a net loss of just over $200,000. In addition, in FY07 the Library was faced with a price increase for current periodical subscriptions of approximately $48,000. As a result, another round of periodical cancellations was initiated. 

Cutting periodicals has put an additional burden on ILL/Document delivery. Interlibrary loan requests have increased 115% in the past four fiscal years from 4,926 in FY03 (6,068 in FY04, 7635 in FY05) to 10,598 in FY06, respectively. In FY07, the number of requests again exceeded 10,000. Also the S&E budget was cut $30,300 in FY04 and costs for library services have been on the increase. The shrinking purchasing power for books and journals has shifted costs to Interlibrary Loan.

C. Electronic resources

In five fiscal years, Murphy Library’s e-resources costs have increased by $20,000 or 12.5%. However, even with the increased costs for e-resource subscriptions, the number of local e-resource subscriptions still decreased by 20 titles or 40% in the past five fiscal years. In the FY03, the number of e-resource subscriptions was 70 with an expenditure of $160,857 while an $180,847 budget is projected for 50 Resources in FY08.

One example of expected price increases is the electronic database of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The UW System negotiated a new license which calls for annual 7.5% increases over the next five years. Murphy Library will pay $22,127.20 in FY07 and the costs will increase to $31,766.46 by FY12. 

2. Student Employment

Student employment (student employment and work study) has declined from 12.01 FTE in FY98 to 7.0 FTE in FY07. The FTE has declined because of budget cuts, reduced work study availability, and the increase in minimum wage. Funding has declined from $77,000 in FY02 to $60,866 in FY08. Providing additional hours for student employees will improve a number of library services and directly benefit students by creating additional jobs. Some examples of the impact of having fewer students is:  reduced assistance at the reference desk; a cut in Special Collections hours; longer turn-around times; less innovation with library technologies; not collecting comprehensive assessment data for building usage, etc.

Estimated costs:

Information Access:  Library books, periodicals, databases and other materials: $25,000

Student Employment: $10,000

III. Three year budget ('06-'07, '07-'08, and '08-'09). Please see Appendix A.

IV. Impact Statement

Students at other UW campuses including the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and University of Wisconsin-Superior in recent years have approved differential funding to support the university library. Students’ access to authoritative information is a critical component of their academic success.  Library collections and databases expose students to diverse and global perspectives and all students across the university’s colleges benefit.  Student employees are essential to library operations. Without adequate numbers of student employees, hours and service reductions are unavoidable. Students also directly benefit from library employment.  

Appendix D. Library Proposal Request for Information, National Peer Group, & UW Peer Group & AIOC Phase II Questions for Library Committee

January 18, 2008

To:                   Academic Initiatives Oversight Committee

From:               Chia-Chen Yu, Chair, Faculty Senate Library Committee

                        Anita Evans, Library Director

Re:                   Library Proposal Request for Information

The AIOC requested that Library provide benchmark data that would show how Murphy Library compared with peer institutions in terms of the proposal put forward at the November 26^th meeting.  We have been working with Teri Thill, Institutional Researcher, to generate data from the IPEDS Academic Libraries Survey.  This is a standard national survey conducted every two years.  The last survey for FY06 was conducted last spring, but according to Teri, the release of the FY06 has been delayed because of staffing problems and is not expected until late January or February.  Teri did provide tables for the FY04 data and these are attached.  The institutions chosen were based upon the comprehensive peer group adopted by UW System.  Also provided are the UW comprehensive institution peer group comparisons.

We would like to make the following observations about the data:

National Peer Group

• The student worker FTE for Murphy Library of 9.23 FTE (column D) was below both the median (9.60) and mean (15.24) reported by the other institutions.  It is very likely that this difference will be more pronounced when looking at more recent data.  Because of budget cuts, the FTE number has dropped to 7 FTE as of FY07. 

• The combined book and serial subscription budget data (column H) also shows that Murphy Library at is below both the median and mean:  taking the more conservative median figure, Murphy Library falls short by approximately $32,000.

UW Peer Group

• Again, there is a disparity between the student FTE of Murphy Library (9.23) and the median (10.09) and mean (9.81) of peer institutions.  In both instances of the UW and National comparisons, the student staffing shortage compounds the problem of low librarian and classified staff FTE numbers (see column E for overall FTE). 

• There is a closer correlation with UW sister institutions in terms of books and serials budgets.  However, it is interesting to note that UW-Stevens Point has an approximate $32,500 advantage.  

In addition to the benchmark data and explanations we provided, we also want to emphasize that both our requests for $10,000 to increase student employment and $25,000 for information access fit into the differential tuition categories.  Both requests support undergraduate research across a wide variety of academic disciplines.  Also, a specific example from Dr. William Ross, Library Committee Member and Professor, Management Department, relates to “International Education.”  Dr. Ross indicated that the 2007 subscription costs for an international business journal, International Labour Review, had a 131.818% price increase:  the subscription now costs $255. A course entitled “Business, Labour, and Human Rights” (MGT 431) has a significant international labor-management relations component and relies on this journal.  In addition, this journal has been used widely among several international business courses and business students.  Given that the College of Business Administration must be accredited by AACSB-International, it is important to continue to receive this subscription at Murphy Library. 

Teri Thill will be contacting us when the Academic Libraries Survey FY06 data becomes available and at that time, we will send you the updated tables.

Please let us know if you have questions.

February 18, 2008

To:                   Erik Kahl and Derek Kockler (aioc@uwlax.edu)
Co-Chairs, Academic Initiatives Oversight Committee

From:               Chia-Chen Yu, Chair, Faculty Senate Library Committee

                        Anita Evans, Library Director

Re:                   AIOC Phase II Questions for Library Committee

In response to your memo of February 11, we have provided the following answers to your questions.  If you or other committee members need further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

·        What is the total amount of your unit/dept. carryover from 2006-2007? And of that, how much is AIOC tuition?

The Library expends its 102 budget in full each year so there is no carryover.  Because of flat or declining budgets and increasing costs, there are a growing number of unmet needs.  There was a $33,300 reduction in the base budget for S&E starting in FY04, and at the same time expenses for such items as maintenance contracts go up.  SpaceSaver, the company that manufactured the basement compact shelving, charged $800 in FY06 for maintenance.  The cost is $1,174 in FY08.  The increase in minimum wage has had an impact on our student employee budget.  Postage rates have increased.  There are many other examples of cost increases that could be mentioned.

The Library was not funded with AIOC tuition in prior years.

·        How much of the collections/access is for external accreditation?

“Essential to an approved chemistry program is a good library where faculty and students have access to books and periodicals and where adequate support for database searching is available” (from the American Chemical Society accreditation website).

Librarians work closely with faculty within departments who are developing accreditation reports to describe library support for those programs.  In any given year, the library develops documentation for 3-8 such reports.  Typically accrediting bodies require program assessments on a periodic basis (e.g. every 5 or 10 years).  Recent examples are Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Chemistry, History, Physicians Assistant and Recreational Therapy.  Accreditation visits are also required at higher levels, i.e. at the school or college level.  Currently the Library is working closely with the School of Education in preparation for a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) visit fall semester of 2008.  In earlier years, the Library worked on accreditation reports for the College of Business Administration.  The university is accredited by North Central Association and, again, the accreditation process called for the Library to meet with accreditation officials at the time of the site visit in 2006 and to provide documentation in advance of the visit. 

While the requests for information on library resources in support of teaching and research usually is in general terms, some accreditation bodies like the American Chemical Society are more prescriptive and identify numbers of referred journals which the Library must subscribe to.  In all cases, the Library must make an argument for the strength of its collection and access to content through databases—or identify any shortcomings. 

The collection of materials and databases in the library has been developed on the basis of the evolving curriculum, with substantial input from faculty members.  In that sense, one could argue that all of the collections, database access and interlibrary loan services Murphy Library provides all support external accreditation.  Related to the periodical accreditation process, departments continually lobby for resources that they deem essential for their programs, even if there is a steep increase in the price from one year to the next.  One case in point is the BNA Tax Management Library, a database which is required for the Accountancy program. This database jumped in price from $5,847 in FY06 to $6,242 in FY07 and now in FY08 is priced at $9,635.   Such price increases necessitate that the Library make cuts elsewhere to the detriment of other programs.  

Cc:       Robert Hetzel, Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration
Paula Knudson, Asst Chancellor & Dean of Students

Appendix E. Notification Letter from the Academic Initiatives Oversight Committee for differential tuition support

April 22, 2008

Chia-Chen Yu

Murphy Library

210 Mitchell Hall

Dear Chia-Chen:

We appreciate your time and responsiveness this spring as the Academic Initiatives Oversight Committee reviewed the requests for differential tuition support.  The committee spent extensive time this semester attempting to understand the various needs and benefits to students and the campus.  It was a difficult year in that the committee received over $1 million in requests and was informed that the University’s one to one matching funds could not be sustained.  The University is only able to support the initiatives to the extent of $150,000.  Thus the committee could not commit to all of the presented needs.

In response to your particular request, the Committee is recommending funding of $0 for Muphy Library.  We very much value the service and support provided by the library.  The intent of the committee was to allow continuity for next year so basically we’ve approved your current budget with adjustments for salary and benefit increases.

For the next budget cycle, the committee was informed that the University will no longer be able to contribute to the academic initiatives funded by differential tuition.  Our plan is to gradually use our reserve to continue services.  However, the reserve will not be able to sustain services at the current level over time.  Our current level of funding is just under $ 900,000 and in approximately three years we will have to scale back to approximately $700,000.  We are informing departments now to allow time for appropriate planning.

According to the original agreement, we now need to assess this differential tuition.  In the next several weeks we will be contacting you to assist with our assessment.  We ask that you and your staff begin identifying measures that assess accessibility to students; contribution to cultural diversity; value to student body; quality of services; and quantitative data. 

Yours,

Erik Kahl and Derek Kockler
Co-Chairs, Academic Initiatives Oversight

c:          Dr. Bob Hetzel, Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance
Dr. Paula Knudson, Assistant Chancellor & Dean of Students

Appendix F. Resolutions on Acquisitions Budget Crisis at Murphy Library to Faculty Senate and Student Senate

April 17, 2008

To:                   Faculty Senate

From:              Faculty Senate Library Committee

                        William Barillas (English), Paul Beck (Library), Barbara Bennie (Mathematics), Linda Dickmeyer (Communication Studies), Tim Gerber (Biology), Joshua Hockett (Undergraduate student representative), Donald LaCoss (History), Kathleen Lynch (Graduate student representative), William Ross (Management), Melissa Ruplinger (Undergraduate student representative), Shauna Sallmen (Physics), Chia-Chen Yu (Chair, Exercise and Sports Science), Consultant: Anita Evans (Library Director).

Re:                   Resolutions on Acquisitions Budget Crisis at Murphy Library

To follow up on the Faculty Senate meeting of March 6, the Faculty Senate Library Committee puts forward the following resolutions to manage the acquisitions budget crisis at Murphy Library. These resolutions advocate the importance of information access and document delivery at Murphy Library for faculty and students. The “Resolution for UW-L Support of the Library Budget for Acquisitions and Access” emphasizes the issues internally at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The “Resolution for Advantage Wisconsin: Growing the Research Infrastructure (Library Component)” seeks new legislative funding for the 2009/11 biennium at the UW System level. These resolutions emphasize strategies that would relieve the burden of the budget crisis in library acquisitions and access. The Faculty Senate Library Committee requests that the Faculty Senate take action and pass the resolutions below.

RESOLUTION FOR UW-L SUPPORT OF THE

LIBRARY BUDGET FOR ACQUISITIONS AND ACCESS

WHEREAS the demands of ILL/Document Delivery services are increasing with distance education students and faculty; and

WHEREAS with the approval of Growth, Quality and Access Plan, the number of faculty and students will increase with additional costs to the Murphy Library; and

WHEREAS steep annual inflationary increases have cut into the purchasing power for library resources resulting in the cancellation of scholarly journals and other materials,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Faculty Senate supports increasing the Library budget for acquisitions and access and asks that the university consider the following among other means:

·              Differential tuition funding

·              Growth, Quality, and Access funding

·              Charging or allocating special fees for Library use as appropriate

RESOLUTION FOR ADVANTAGE WISCONSIN: 

GROWING THE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE (LIBRARY COMPONENT)

WHEREAS the lifeblood of academic research is authoritative information and UW System libraries are purveyors of that content; and

WHEREAS information is essential in increasing research capacity and productivity across the UW System; and

WHEREAS information sources available “virtually” are essential so that faculty, staff, and students can use them from their computer at work, at school, at home for distance and lifelong learning; and

WHEREAS the information marketplace has exploded in response to growth in new areas of knowledge; and

WHEREAS the recruitment and retention of talented faculty and students requires that they have access to information resources they need to do their best work; and

WHEREAS faculty and student researchers’ contribution to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge contributes to a strong Wisconsin economy; and

WHEREAS steep annual inflationary increases have cut into the purchasing power for library resources resulting in the cancellation of scholarly journals and other materials; and

WHEREAS UW has received no new funding for the acquisition of library resources since the 1999/01 biennium

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the UW-La Crosse Faculty Senate supports the UW System biennial budget request for funding for UW Libraries to increase electronic access to information to benefit students and faculty/staff.