New Chancellor, New President, and You’re Interim Dean …

What’s the Plan?

Andrew White, PhDInterim Dean and Director of LibrariesDirector, Health Sciences Center LibraryStony 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 LibraryAndrew.White@stonybrook.edu