MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOARD

Minutes of the Meeting of November 3, 2005

N. Burckel; M. Gillespie, Chair; J. South, M. Seitz, H. Schweizer, K. Siebenlist, S. Lamon, N. Sullivan, P. Cervenka, D. Neumann, J. O’Keeffe, guest; M. Pate (recording)

1. Chairman Dr. Michael Gillespie, called the meeting to order in the Dean’s Conference Room in Raynor Library at 8:30am.

2. Opening Remarks

   1. Introductions

      Dr. Gillespie welcomed everyone to the meeting and members of the Board introduced themselves

   2. Dr. Gillespie announced the (Wisconsin) Governor’s Archives Achievement Award to Marquette University and reception to be held today in the Prucha room at 4:15.  Members of the Board were encouraged to attend.

   3. Dean’s Search Update

      Dr. Gillespie, who is a member of the Dean’s Search Committee, briefed the Board on the status of the search.  Three candidates have been selected for on-campus interviews during November and prior to Thanksgiving.  The dates are being set now and when these are known, he will alert committee members of the interview times.

3. Dean Burckel

   1. Water damage

      The Dean described the water damage that was sustained by the Raynor Library during the heavy rainstorm of September 24-25 and the subsequent clean-up.  Although significant damage was done to ceiling tiles, painted walls and some raised floor electrical connections, students were not seriously affected by the water or the drying and clean-up.  Computers and scheduling in room 227 were relocated.  The Opus North Corporation was assigned to this project and, except for some finishing in the 3rd floor Thompson room, the work is now completed.

   2. Chronicle of Higher Education

      The issue of September 30 includes a section describing new academic libraries and Marquette is featured with two photos and some textual remarks.

   3. Faculty Research Luncheon

      Dean Burckel invited all Board members who can attend to come to the Faculty Research Luncheon on November 14 when Dr. Angela Sorby of the English Department will present comments from her research on 19th century American literature and school house poets.

4. Student Survey Results

   Julie O’Keeffe (Coordinator of Outreach, Research and Outreach Services) reported on the library survey of students done in the spring of 2005.  1,105 students responded and the survey was tabulated by class and gender; frequency of library use; length of visits; reasons for coming; satisfaction levels with various aspects of the library and a tabulation of the nine major concerns of students.  The report also includes comments on how the library is responding to student concerns.  The three top concerns noted were:

   1. Number of computers
   2. Library open hours
   3. Noise in the Library

   Students visit the library for a variety of reasons from social to academic.  When asked to identify the four most important reasons, three topped the list by a significant margin: "Study alone" (83%), "Use a computer for class work" (75%) and "Printing" (70%).  "Study with a group" occupied fourth place at 52%.

   Three summary sheets of survey results were given to Board members.  A full report is available at the library’s web site under “Library News.”

   Two Board members mentioned that they had noticed the posted survey results on the main floor and also saw students reading the posters.  A Board member asked about the difficulties some students seem to experience in getting copies of E-Reserves at the Print-Wise stations.

5. Assessment Rubrics

   O’Keeffe also distributed a fold-out of Rubric Examples for Scoring and Grading Components of Research, Writing and Oral Presentations.  The Rubric Examples were assembled by Marquette librarians in association with the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Communication with the support of the Provost’s Office.  The Rubrics will be distributed to all faculty.

6. In conclusion, and in recognition of Nicholas Burckel’s upcoming retirement, Chair Michael Gillespie thanked Dean Burckel for his leadership.  He further described the role of the Board as a listening and advisory group to the library and as a mechanism for faculty to express their views regarding the library to the library and university administration.

   Dr. Gillespie reminded Board members to participate in the upcoming interviews with dean candidates as much as their time permitted.

7. The meeting was adjourned at 9:40am

8. The date and time of the next meeting will be determined after spring class schedules are set.

cc: Dr. Madeline Wake
      Members of the University Library Board
      Faculty Library Representatives
      Deans
      Academic Senate