SIGNED JOINT #11
ARTICLE 13
27 OCTOBER 2000
JOINT #11
ARTICLE 13
APPOINTMENT OF LIBRARIANS
13.01 The primary objective in recruiting is to develop the best possible library collection and service for the University.
13.02 Appointments of Librarians shall be tenure-track, tenured or term, as specified in Articles 18 and 23. The appointment of all Librarians shall be subject to the provisions of this Article unless otherwise specified in this Collective Agreement.
INITIATING APPOINTMENTS
13.03 When the Library wishes to make an appointment, it shall be initiated as follows:
(a) The University Librarian shall, following Collegial Consultation with the Librarians in the divisions concerned, define the nature of the appointment and formulate to the Vice-President (Academic) a request for approval to fill a position.
(b) If the Vice-President (Academic) accepts the request, the University Librarian shall meet and consult with the Search Committee, and shall determine the wording and placement of the advertisement. The consultation process shall include a formal vote by the Search Committee.
13.04 In addition, with regard to the Health Sciences Library, the University Librarian shall consult with the Dean of Medicine, with regard to positions at the Ferriss Hodgett Library, with the Principal, and with regard to positions at the Dr. C. R. Barrett Library, with the Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute.
FORMATION OF SEARCH COMMITTEES
13.05 Normally, Search Committees shall be formed within the Library with respect to each appointment. However, the Librarians may decide by formal vote that a single Committee shall be established to take responsibility for some or all appointments over the course of that Academic Year. Such a formal vote shall be carried out, following discussion, at a meeting of Librarians who were notified of the meeting and the topic of discussion in advance. All Librarians shall be notified of the result of the vote.
13.06 No appointments of Librarians shall be made without the advice of a Search Committee as specified in this Article.
13.07 Except for appointments to positions in the Ferriss Hodgett Library, the Search Committee shall consist of five (5) Librarians, three (3) of whom shall be elected by the Librarians and two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the University Librarian except as provided for under Clause 13.08 and Clause 13.08#1x and giving due regard to the provisions of Clause 29.04 and Clause 29.04#1u. 13.08 In the case of the Health Sciences Library, the appointments to the Search Committee shall be made jointly by the Dean of Medicine and the University Librarian.
13.08#1x In the case of the Dr. C. R. Barrett Library, the appointments to the Search Committee shall be made jointly by the Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute and the University Librarian.
13.09 In the case of the Ferriss Hodgett Library, the Search Committee shall consist of five (5) ASMs. The elected members shall be Librarians from the College elected by the Librarians at the College and at St. John’s. If there are not three (3) Librarian members available at the College to be elected to the Committee, the remainder of the elected members shall be elected from among the Librarians at the St. John’s campus. Both of the appointed members shall be ASMs at the College. The appointments to the Committee shall be made jointly by the Principal and the University Librarian.
13.10 Notwithstanding Clauses 13.07 through 13.09, when no Librarian can supply the particular expertise which is required to assess candidates for a given position or, when Librarians having such expertise decline the opportunity to serve or will be absent from campus for a substantial period during the search, the University Librarian may include in the number of his or her appointees specified in Clauses 13.07 through 13.09 a Faculty Member from a cognate area.
13.11 The Committee shall elect its own Chairperson.
13.12 The University Librarian shall not be a member of the Search Committee, but may meet with the Committee at its invitation, or upon his or her request. The Committee shall have the option of holding meetings in the absence of the University Librarian. The University Librarian shall have the option of attending any interview of a candidate with the Committee, and shall be notified of the date and place of such interviews at the time the candidate is notified. Similar conditions shall apply for the Dean of Medicine, the Principal and the Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute when appointments are made at the Health Sciences Library, the Ferriss Hodgett Library, or the Dr. C. R. Barrett Library respectively.
13.13 If the number of eligible Librarians who agree to stand for election is fewer than the number specified in Clauses 13.07 and 13.09, nonetheless the Search Committee shall be composed of those appointed and elected within the terms of Clauses 13.07 to 13.09. If a Committee is formed under this provision with less than a full complement of members, and if one (1) or more eligible candidates have later made it known that they are available, the vacancies shall be filled before the Committee has begun to interview candidates. These position(s) shall be filled by election, following a further call for nominations, or by appointment, according to the manner in which the position(s) would originally have been filled.
13.14 Normally, transaction of business shall require the presence of all members of the Search Committee. In no case shall business be transacted in the absence of more than one (1) member or in the absence of the Chairperson. In a case where a Committee has fewer than five (5) members, all members must be present for the transaction of business. Notwithstanding the above, participation by Telecommunications Technology in which all participants talk to one another in real time is acceptable when all members have all appropriate documentation and it is otherwise not feasible for the Committee to meet in person within the time frame necessary to make a decision.
13.15 In the event of a resignation from the Search Committee before the Committee has begun to interview candidates for a given position, it shall be filled by election or appointment according to the manner in which the member to be replaced was designated.
13.16 The Search Committee shall not be required to perform duties outside the scope of this Article.
SEARCH PROCEDURES
13.17 Appointments for a period of more than one (1) year, approved for search shall be advertised by the University in one (1) or more nationally-distributed print media or the Canadian Library Association job website selected so as to provide broad exposure to the position for potential applicants. Appointments for a period of one (1) year or less, approved for search shall:
(a) be advertised in a nationally distributed print medium or the Canadian Library Association job website
or
(b) be advertised in the St. John’s Telegram and, for positions at the College, in the Western Star, and notification shall be sent by the University Librarian by E-mail, telecopier (fax) or regular mail to libraries at each Canadian university and to each Canadian library school. The University may advertise in any additional manner it deems appropriate. A copy of the advertisement shall be sent to the Association and to the Joint Equity Committee, and shall be publicly posted near the offices of the Department of Human Resources. The position shall also be advertised at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College.
13.17#1u A term appointment may be extended without advertising provided that the reappointment is recommended by (a) a new Search Committee; or (b) a Search Committee established under Clause 13.05 for all searches for Librarians; or (c) a Search Committee established under Clause 13.05 for all searches for term appointments.
13.18 The University Librarian shall receive all applications and nominations, and make all of them available to the members of the Search Committee. The candidates’ complete application files shall be maintained by and in the office of the University Librarian and shall be available to the Librarians for viewing, only for the purpose of appointment. No candidate for a position shall have access to the files of the other candidates for the same position.
13.19 Candidates who are ASMs shall create an application file which shall be considered by the Search Committee. This file shall contain all the documentation relevant to the search process, and shall be subject to the same conditions as set out for assessment files in Clauses 15.05 to 15.11#2x.
13.20 The following conditions shall govern an application file:
(a) The file may include evaluations or letters of reference written by Search Committee members.
(b) The Search Committee may request additional information or material. A candidate who is an ASM shall be informed of the final content of the file considered by the Committee.
(c) Assessments and correspondence related to the search process which are subsequently produced and no other documents, shall be added to the file.
(c)#1u If a Librarian applies for a position and is not successful, the application file shall not be made part of the official personal file. The University Librarian shall destroy the application file when the time limit for the Librarian to file a grievance has expired.
13.21 The Search Committee shall:
(a) review the application files of those applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents and, if there are no applicants of sufficient quality to be shortlisted, review the remaining application files;
(b) compile a shortlist of candidates;
(c) make the shortlist known to the Librarians and to the Joint Equity Committee;
(d) interview the number of candidate(s) approved by the University Librarian. Where the Committee has determined, on the basis of its examination of the application files, that no candidate is clearly superior to all other applicants, the University Librarian shall approve no fewer than two (2) candidates to be interviewed. In cases where the first-ranked candidate appears clearly superior to all other applicants, a second candidate may be approved for interview only subsequent to the interview of the first candidate, and following a request from the Committee.
(e) arrange meetings so that all Librarians shall have the opportunity to meet and assess each candidate who is interviewed on campus. When the University Librarian, in accordance with Clause 13.21#1x, has determined that the interview shall be conducted using Telecommunications Technology, arrange open meetings using Telecommunications Technology with all candidates who are interviewed at a distance;
(f) invite and consider advice from members of the Library and of other Academic Units where appropriate;
(g) provide a report to the University Librarian; the report shall include a list of candidates recommended for appointment in order of preference, and a recommendation concerning academic rank and tenure for each recommended candidate; subsequent reports may be submitted as necessary.
13.21#1x Notwithstanding any of the above, where the position is a term appointment one (1) year or less in length, the University Librarian may decide that an interview conducted using Telecommunications Technology between the Committee and the candidate shall substitute for an on-campus interview.
13.22 At the interview, the University Librarian shall present to the candidate the following:
(a) a copy of this Collective Agreement;
(b) a written statement notifying him or her of the need to determine eligible moving expenses and eligible years towards sabbatical leave in accordance with this Collective Agreement;
(c) a copy of relevant University policy and procedures concerning moving expenses.
When the interview is via Telecommunications Technology, the candidate shall be sent such documents no later than the time an offer of appointment is made.
APPOINTMENT CRITERIA
13.23 The minimum qualification for appointment as a Librarian is a graduate degree from a programme in Library Science accredited by the American Library Association or an equivalent organization acceptable to the University.
13.24 Assessment of candidates shall be based primarily on their ability to perform the academic and professional duties of the advertised position as evidenced by the candidates’ degrees and their records of and potential for a high standard of practice and continued professional development. Notwithstanding the above, the Search Committee shall consider the document circulated by the Joint Equity Committee as per Clause 29.02#6x.
13.25 The Library may adopt more detailed statements than those set out in the preceding clauses governing criteria and procedures for searches and the functioning of Search Committees, as long as such statements are consistent with this Collective Agreement and are formally approved by a majority vote by ballot of the Librarians. Copies of such statements shall be circulated to all Librarians at least twenty (20) days before the ballot is distributed. The University Librarian shall forward to the Association any such approved statement within twenty (20) days of the conclusion of the ballot.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN
13.26 (a) Should the University Librarian not be prepared to accept the first recommendation of the Search Committee, it shall be referred back with a statement of reasons for further consideration. This statement of reasons shall be in writing.
(b) The University Librarian shall forward his or her recommendation to the Vice-President (Academic) together with the report of the Search Committee and shall concurrently inform the Search Committee of the identity and academic rank of the candidate(s) recommended for appointment. The University Librarian shall recommend only individuals who have been recommended for appointment in the report of the Search Committee.
13.27 In the case of the Health Sciences Library, the Dr. C. R. Barrett Library and the Ferriss Hodgett Library the Search Committee shall report simultaneously to the University Librarian and to the Dean, Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute or Principal. The University Librarian and the Dean, Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute or Principal shall recommend an appointment jointly through the Vice-President (Academic).
13.28 If there is a disagreement between the Search Committee and the University Librarian concerning rank or tenure, a further recommendation as to the rank or tenure shall be sought from the Search Committee.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT (ACADEMIC)
13.29 Should the Vice-President not be prepared to accept the first recommendation of the University Librarian, it shall be referred back to the University Librarian, with a written statement of reasons, for further review in consultation with the Search Committee. The result of this review shall be either a reiteration of the previous recommendation of the University Librarian or a new recommendation by the University Librarian. This new recommendation shall include only candidates recommended by the Search Committee.
13.30 The recommendation of the Vice-President (Academic) shall be sent to the President. Upon request, the Vice-President (Academic) shall send a letter to any candidate who is an ASM stating whether the recommendation is positive or negative, and if negative stating the reasons.
NOTIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT
13.31 Should the successful applicant accept the appointment, the University Librarian shall notify the Librarians within two (2) weeks.
13.32 A Librarian appointed to a position in the Library shall receive a letter of appointment which shall specify the campus, library, and division(s); the person to whom he or she shall report; rank; type of appointment; effective date and duration, where applicable; and salary. Such letters shall normally be sent to the Librarian before he or she begins employment; however, in cases where he or she has been hired at short notice, the letter of appointment shall be sent within fifteen (15) days of the date when employment began. If any changes are subsequently made to the conditions of employment set out in the letter of appointment, these shall be agreed to in writing by both the University Librarian and the Librarian. The letter shall include a statement of the eligibility of the appointee for moving expenses.
13.32#1u In the event that the successful applicant is a Librarian who holds a tenure-track appointment in the Library, the Librarian may elect to adopt the date of his or her initial tenure-track appointment for purposes of tenure. The Librarian shall inform the University Librarian of his or her election when accepting the appointment. In the event of such an election the timelines in 16.03 and 17.10 shall be determined by the date of the initial tenure-track appointment. In the event that the successful applicant is a Librarian who holds a tenure-track or tenured appointment in the Library, the Librarian shall adopt the date of his or her most recent promotion for the purposes of 18.13 and 18.16.
13.33 The University Librarian shall notify each Librarian at the time of his or her appointment of his or her principal duties and responsibilities. Such duties and responsibilities may be amended from time to time by mutual consent.
CANCELLATION OF A SEARCH
13.34u When a search for more than one position is ongoing in any one of the Queen Elizabeth II Library, Ferriss Hodgett Library, Dr. C.R. Barrett Library or Health Sciences Library, and the need arises to cancel the search for a position, the University Librarian, following Collegial Consultation with the Librarians in the library concerned, shall determine which search or searches shall continue.
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