ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 0 4 / C & R L N ew s ■ M arch 2001 ACRL STANDARDS & GUIDELINES Faculty status and collective bargaining statements: Final versions Approved by ACRL and ALA January 2001 Prepared by the ACRL Committee on the Status of Academic Librarians Standards for faculty status for college and university librarians In order to recognize formally the impor­ tance of faculty status for academic librar­ ians, ACRL endorses these standards. In­ stitutions o f higher education and their governing bodies are urged to adopt these standards. To implement these standards, ACRL shall: • publicize these standards to college and university administrators and govern­ ing bodies, academic libraries, library edu­ cation programs, library organizations, and agencies that accredit institutions, and • seek to have these standards formally adopted or endorsed by the appropriate groups listed above. The academic librarian makes unique contributions to the academic community and to higher education itself. These con­ tributions range from developing collec­ tions to providing bibliographic access to all library materials and interpreting these materials to members o f the college and university community. Specific services include instruction in the use o f print and online library re­ sources and the creation of new tools to enhance access to information available locally, regionally, nationally, or interna­ tionally. Librarians add to the sum of knowledge through their research into the information process and other areas of study. Service im­ provements and other advances in the field result from their participation in the library and other scholarly organizations. 1. Professional responsibilities. Librar­ ians must be able to exercise independent judgment in the performance of professional duties. There must be a regular and rigorous review of their performance based on a stated set of institutional criteria. A necessary ele­ ment of this review is appraisal by a commit­ tee of peers who have evidence pertaining to the performance, service, and scholarship of those being evaluated, subject to appro­ priate institutional policy. 2. Library governance. College and uni­ versity librarians should adopt an academic form of governance similar in manner and structure to other faculties on the campus. 3. College and university governance. Librarians should be eligible for membership in the faculty senate or equivalent governing body. They should have the same degree of representation as other academic units on all college or university governing bodies. 4 . C o m p en satio n . Salaries and fringe b enefits should be com parable to and C&RL N ew s ■ March 2001 / 305 Development and revision of the standards and guideline In 1998, the ACRL Committee on the Sta­ tus of Academic Librarians began the re­ view process for the “Standards for faculty status for college and university librarians,” which was established in 1971 and revised in 1992 and 2001. The primary focus of the current revision was to improve the word­ ing of the standards to lessen the distinc­ tion between librarians and faculty in other academic units. The committee’s revision of the standards was completed at the July 9, 2000, meeting and plans were made for publicizing the changes. The proposed revision was pub­ lished in C&RL News in September 2000. A public hearing was held at the ALA Midwin­ ter Meeting on January 13, 2001, and the resulting suggestions were discussed at the committee’s meeting following the hearing. The final revision was presented to SAC at its meeting on Sunday, January 14, 2001, and approved. Subsequently, the document was approved by the ACRL Board and the ALA Stan­ dards Committee at the Midwinter Meeting. The “Guideline on collective bargaining” was developed by the ACRL Academic Sta­ tus Committee and approved by the ACRL Board of Directors at the 1993 Midwinter Meeting. In 2000, the ACRL Committee on the Status of Academic Librarians reviewed the guideline as requested by ACRL and no change was recommended to the current text. The guideline was also published in C&RL News in September 2000 and was sub­ ject to the public hearing on January 14, 2001. The Committee actively sought in­ put from librarians with expertise in col­ lective bargaining and asked them to re­ view the guideline as well. The guideline, with no major revision, was presented to SAC at its meeting on Sunday, January 14, 2001, and approved. Subsequently, the document was approved by the ACRL Board and ALA Standards Committee at the Midwinter Meeting. Numerous people have contributed to the review and revision of these two docu­ ments. I wish to thank all past and present members of the Committee on the Status of Academic Librarians, but in particular Laura Bushallow (former chair) and Bill Nelson (committee member) for their ef­ forts and support in this process. I also wish to thank Barton Lessin, chair of the ACRL Standards and Accreditation Committee, and Susan Maltese, SAC liaison to the Status Committee, for their support and guidance. Members of the committee who saw this through to the final approval were Navjit Brar, Martin Goldberg, Phillip J. Jones, Sharon McCaslin, Bill Nelson, Samson Soong, James Chervinko (intern), Ravil Veli (intern), and Shannon Cary (staff liaison).— G lenda Thornton, chair, Commit­ tee on the Status o f A cadem ic Librarians, g.thornton@ csuohio.edu within the range of those paid to faculty of equivalent rank. Salary scales should be adjusted in an equitable manner to con­ tract period. All librarians should have written contracts or agreements consistent with institutional policy. 5. Tenure. Librarians should be cov­ ered by a stated tenure policy. 6. P ro m o tio n . Librarians should be promoted in rank based on their academic (c o n tin u ed on next p a g e 3 0 6 ) Guideline on collective bargaining The policy of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is that aca­ demic librarians shall be included on the same basis as their faculty colleagues in units for collective bargaining. Such units shall be guided by the standards and guide­ lines of ACRL pertaining to faculty and aca­ demic status. mailto:g.thornton@csuohio.edu 306 / C&RL N ew s ■ M arch 2001 ( “S tan dards” con tin u ed fr o m p a g e 3 0 5 ) proficiency and professional effectiveness (performance, service, and scholarship) consistent with stated campus standards. The peer review system should be an in­ tegral part of procedures for promotion. 7. Leaves. Sabbatical and other research leaves should be available to librarians con­ sistent with campus standards. 8. R esearch and develop m en t funds. Librarians should have access to funding for research projects and professional de­ velopment consistent with campus stan­ dards. 9. Academ ic freed om . Librarians must have the same protection of academic free­ dom as all other faculty. Censorship of any type is unacceptable whether individual or organizational. All librarians must be free to provide access to information re­ gardless of content. ■ ( “Under construction” con tin u ed fr o m p a g e 2 9 7 ) and partnerships— these are probably not great surprises. However, it is surprising how difficult it can be to orchestrate and sustain the supporting activities to the level o f a true model. But the payoff is there. Opening the virtual doors of the univer­ sity not only extends rich, new resources to K -12 classrooms, it also promotes the skills and awareness needed to open the physical doors to historically hard-to-reach students. N o te s 1. http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary. 2. http://sunsite. berkeley.edu/ead/. 3 http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/calheritage. 4. http://w w w .chance.berkeley.edu/ bpledge/. 5. The Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grant from the Department of Commerce is now the Technology Opportunities Program at http:// www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/top/index.html. 6. http://iu.berkeley.edu. 7. http://basrc.wested.org/basrc. ■ http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary http://sunsite http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/calheritage http://www.chance.berkeley.edu/ http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/top/index.html http://iu.berkeley.edu http://basrc.wested.org/basrc C& RL N ew s ■ M arch 2001 / 3 0 7