TO: Debbie Murphy, LAUC President 2001/2002
FR: Esther Grassian, Chair
       LAUC Research & Professional Development Committee
RE: 2001/2002 Final Report
DT: 4 Oct 2002

Committee Charge for 2001/2002:
“As specified in the Bylaws (Article VIII, Section 1.J.3) the standing charge to the Research and Professional Development Committee is as follows:

a) Serve as the review body for research proposals submitted to the Universitywide Research Grants for Librarians Program by LAUC members and recommend funding of proposals to the Office of the President.
b) Develop, monitor, and revise, as needed, procedures for carrying out the review of research proposals.
c) Develop guidelines for application to the Universitywide Research Grants for Librarians Program and recommend revisions as needed.
d) Advise the President and the Executive Board on issues related to research and professional development for librarians and address other subjects at the request of the President.

Last year, the Committee discussed ways in which they could assist LAUC members to submit high quality research proposals. To that end, the committee revised their call to allow applicants to submit their proposals electronically. The committee also made last year's successful grant applications available full text from their committee web site. Please continue to investigate and implement procedures and practices that will continue to achieve these ends.”

Summary of Action Items:

• Reviewed nine LAUC statewide research grant proposals
• Recommended six proposals to UCOP; all six were approved
• Developed two web pages for the R&PD web site
• Distributed a research survey to LAUC members; collected and tabulated results; made eight recommendations (see below)

Discussion:
In Spring 2002 I reported that the Committee had reviewed nine research grant proposals. One proposal was no longer eligible because the applicant was no longer in the librarian series. Of the remaining eight proposals, the Committee recommended six for partial or full funding, and UCOP approved those recommendations. Attached is a list of proposals funded with a brief description of each proposal.

I also reported that the Committee had put together a web page entitled, “What types of research and research-related projects has LAUC/UCOP funded or not funded in the past?” which is mounted on the LAUC web site: http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/research/research.doc A copy of this page is attached to the print version of this report.

Since Spring 2002, the Committee has put together another web page to encourage LAUC members to design and develop research projects and to help them find funding for their research, “Research Resources for Librarians.” This web page has also been mounted on the LAUC web site: http://www.ucop.edu/lauc/research/resources.doc A copy of this page is attached to the print version of this report.

Finally, the R&PD Committee conducted a brief email survey of LAUC members, to find out how many had developed research projects, why they may not have done so, whether or not they had received a LAUC statewide research grant or other grants, and what was the result of their research. The survey also asked if any respondents would be willing to serve as a research mentor and if they would like to have a research mentor. 174 of 524 LAUC members responded to the survey, a return rate of 33%. The survey, survey totals and complete comments are attached to this report.

Briefly, half of the respondents had developed a research project of some kind, aside from their on-the-job responsibilities. Those who had not, checked off various reasons for not developing a research project, and they could check off more than one.

Of the 50% (86) who had not developed a research project, 59% (51) said they did not have time to do so, and 43% (37) had not thought of a research topic.

82% (142) of all respondents said they had not received a LAUC statewide research grant. 92% (160) responded to question 5: “Have you ever received research grant funding from other sources?” 63% (100) of these respondents answered No.

So it appears that a significant number of LAUC librarians have never undertaken a research project aside from their on-the-job responsibilities, primarily due to lack of time and lack of ideas for research projects.

Mentoring for research interested a smaller number of respondents. 91% (158) responded to question 6, asking if they would be interested in serving as a research mentor. Just 22% (34) of these respondents said Yes. 87% (150) responded to question 7, asking if they would like a research mentor. 39% (59) answered Yes.

These responses indicate that there is some interest in a research mentorship program for LAUC members.

Many respondents submitted quite lengthy and substantial comments on various questions. Some of these comments highlight problems or issues that may be widespread, including:

• difficulty in getting substitutes for librarians in specialized one-librarian-libraries
• lack of temporary replacements for those in almost any kind of UC library -librarians’ ineligibility to serve as principal investigators for grants
• difficulty in obtaining release time
• lack of sabbaticals
• burden on co-workers who may have to cover for someone working on a research project

Others suggest a variety of possible aids:

• “I’ve done research as part of a previous job in which I had faculty status. We were given 20 days per year for research leave in addition to vacations and holidays.”
• “I would enjoy finding other co-authors + researchers on an equal basis, rather than mentor/mentee basis.”
• “The best possible scenario would be to have a workload which allowed me to handle my day to day responsibilities while also doing research and maintaining my sanity. This is so because my work complements the research. The formal and informal communication networks that I have with librarians, faculty and students fuel a lot of my research interests. Also, the resources that I'd need to conduct the research that I'm interested in are on campus. If I had a sabbatical or release time to do the research that I want, I'd want to do it in my office in the library. I'm very comfortable here. Moreover, I like my job and would generally want to keep doing it and do it well. I just want to do less of it.”
• ;-) Do you have any influence in getting more hours added to the day?

Recommendations (from Spring 2002 Report):

Recommendation 1: The Committee recommends that the Guidelines for submission of applications require applicants to submit a single electronic document which would consist of the required cover page, the text of their proposals, and their vita, and separate pdf versions of any supporting letters they may wish to submit. All of these items should be submitted as attachments to a single email message.

Recommendation 2: The Committee recommends that paper copies of the proposal, along with any necessary signatures, be due and submitted on the same day as the electronic copies.

Recommendation 3: The Committee recommends emailing questions to grant applicants and allowing applicants to remail responses, rather than revising their entire proposals and resubmitting.

Recommendation 4: In order to provide a fuller picture of the application and funding process, the Committee recommends that the original proposal for each funded research grant be mounted on the LAUC web site, along with a copy of the letter from the Committee Chair, describing the funding actually awarded.

Recommendation 5: The Committee recommends keeping links to original proposals and funding letters indefinitely, and adding links to reports on the results of proposals as they are submitted, again, to provide a fuller picture of the entire process, from application, through funding, implementation, and then final report on completion.

Recommendation 6: The Committee recommends redesigning this page or adding some more user-friendly means of getting to all of this information.

Recommendation 7: The Committee recommends that LAUC investigate and document the amount of supplementary support provided by each of the UC campuses, and make this information widely available to the LAUC membership, in the interests of encouraging all UC campuses to provide or expand supplementary local funding for research.

Recommendation 8: The Committee recommends that the LAUC President send a message to UCOP and to all UC University Librarians, urging them to provide or expand supplementary funding to nourish and support research among UC librarians.

Additional Recommendations:

Recommendation 9: The Committee proposes that LAUC form a task force with a one-year term to investigate and document various alternative means of providing support for LAUC members who would like to conduct research.

Recommendation 10: The Committee proposes that the Task Force search broadly within and outside the UC system for ideas and examples of such support that do, and those that do not, require additional funding, and provide estimates of funding, training needs and any other necessary details in their report.

Recommendation 11: The Committee proposes that the LAUC membership review the Task Force’s report and that any approved recommendations be forwarded to the ULs for consideration.

LAUC Research & Professional Development Committee
Joe Barker (B)
Rebecca Davis (D)
Carol Gibbens (SB)
Esther Grassian (LA), Chair 2001/2002
Clair Kuykendall (SF)
Wanda Pittman Jazayeri (I)
Janice Matthiesen (LA)
Robert Melton (SD)
Beth Remak-Honef (SC)

Related Documents

Research Survey

Research Survey Totals

Grant Recommendations 2001-2002