Reorganizing the Clemson University Libraries

Reorganizing the Clemson University Libraries by Joseph F. Boykin, Jr. and Deborah B. Babel

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lemson University is a 104 year-old, technology-oriented land grant institution in South Carolina enrolling about 17,000 students. The Libraries, which currently employ 32 professionals and 70 support staff, were recently reorganized to better serve the needs of their constituents. The last major change in the structure of the Libraries prior to this reorganization was in 1981, when the divisional structure was eliminated. Subsequent to that change, the Libraries were characterized by a lack of traditional "turf" divisions and a collaborative approach to problem solving. In 1991, a number of factors prompted the decision to make another major organizational change: a vacancy in the Associate Dean position; dissatisfaction with the "lopsided" structure in which technical services, but not public services, had a head position; an expressed need for more front-line positions; rapid changes in library operations; a growing electronic communications structure linking all library staff; and a climate that seemed conducive to alternative structures.

The Objectives The Dean appointed 6 librarians and 2 support staff to serve on the Taskforce for Organizational Study (TOS). The objective of TOS was to "create and/or choose an organizational structure for the Libraries which will best serve clients/users"; that would enable the Libraries and their staff to be more effective, efficient, innovative, and adaptJoseph F. Boykin, Jr. is Dean of Libraries, and Deborah B. Babel is Assistant Dean of Libraries, Clemson University Libraries, Clemson, 5C.

able to change; and that would maximize the existing strengths of the Libraries' staff, systems, and facilities.

The Process of Change TOS first sought to identify the strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, and problems that might be factors in the organizational change. The taskforce met with library personnel (in groups divided by rank) as well as with groups of university faculty, support staff, and students in considering these factors.

Next TOS gathered information on the characteristics of excellent organizations and innovative structures used by other libraries. In the process of developing their recommendations, TOS members also developed a success strategy for their committee work that included coming to agreement on the definitions for basic terms such as "team," "staff," "functional areas," and "reporting relationships"; referring often to the list of strengths, weaknesses, etc. in discussing the merits of various plans;

Clemson University Libraries Structure Prior to Reorganization

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LIBRARY COUNCIL Dean Associate Dean Head, Technical Services Administrative Services Librarian Unit Heads Faculty Senator(s) Chair, Classified Staff Council

The Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 19, no. 2, p. 94-96 ©1993 by the Journal of Academic Librarianship. All rights reserved.

The Taskforce for Organization Study (TOS) included, from left to right: Marsha McCudey, Head of Cataloging; ]ames E. Cross, Thurmond Archivist and Special Collections; Maureen Harris, Head of Public Documents; Betty Cook, ILL Office Manager, Resource Sharing and Copier Services; Beth Helsel, Systems Librarian; Joseph F. Boykin, Jr., Dean of Libraries; Kenneth Murr, Reference Librarian; and Deborah Babel, Assistant Dean of Libraries. and working to create a structure that, regardless of its final appearance on paper, empowered and encouraged all staff to contribute to the success of the library. TOS developed three drafts of possible organizational restructurings that were discussed extensively among professional and classified support staff. As a result of these discussions, a fourth version was developed with the following attributes:

Clemson University Libraries Structure after Reorganization

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• The existing classified staff organization would be maintained. • The old Library Council would be modified into an Administrative Council that included representatives from many areas in the library.

Resulting S t r u c t u r e In the new organization, two new units were created, two administrative positions were converted to assistant

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• Functional areas would be designated as "units," and would be coordinated through the use of teams. • Two new Assistant Dean positions that included staff responsibility would be created. • A management team would be created. • Library-wide teams would handle problems with functions not assigned to particular units.

Kenneth Murr (right), a former TO$ member, is now back at his "real job" of being a reference librarian.

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the Journal of Academic Librarianship, May 1993

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Joe Boykin, Dean of Libraries, has a chance to catch up on paperwork now that his TOS has finished its work.

deanships, the former associate dean position was eliminated, and the funds reallocated to establish three new beginning librarian positions. The result was a flatter hierarchy with more employee involvement on a library-wide level. While the new organizational structure may not look innovative, it represents a strategic shift away from the old chain-of-command approach to a team-based approach. It is anticipated that this shift will also affect the functional areas, breaking down conceptual walls between units. The two Assistant Deans and the Dean form the Management Team, whose role is to make decisions on operational matters. Within this structure, the assistant deanship is a "staff" rather than a "line" position. The policy-making body for the Libraries is the Administrative Council, which includes the Management Team, unit heads, the Systems Librarian, the Faculty Senator, and the Chair of the Classified Staff Council. This broad representation brings great breadth and depth of experience to bear on policy-making decisions. Currently seven library-wide teams are responsible for making recommendations to either the Management Team or the Administrative Council on operational and policy matters. Three Coordinating Teams serve as mechanisms for units to coordinate their activities and develop inter-unit solutions to operational problems. The Co-

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Above a r e members of the newly created Resource Sharing and Copier Services Unit, from left: Sandra Short, Student Assistant, and Rhonda Patton, Tracy James, (seated), and Victoria Hamilton, all Library Technical Assistants (111).

ordinating Teams are made up of the heads of units with similar or related functions; two units are represented on more than one Team. In addition, all unit heads meet periodically to exchange and discuss ideas. All of the Libraries' various teams have formally developed goals and methods for evaluating their progress toward achieving them. The activities of all team members, including team leaders, are incorporated into their job responsibilities, and team members are evaluated on their performance within the team. In addition, intra-team evaluations (between the leader and the members) are carried out. Because Clemson University's Faculty Manual requires that each department must have a Head (as well as a Dean), one of the Libraries' Assistant Deans serves in that capacity-----carrying out annual evaluations of all professional staff except the other Assistant Dean and the Dean. Further, the Department Head makes recommendations to the Dean on all appointments, reappointments, tenure decisions, and promotions. (A formal mechanism allows Unit Heads to have input into the Department Head's evaluation process for professionals in their unit.) The Department Head is appointed by the Provost, based on recommendations of the Library Faculty Search Committee and the Dean, for an indefinite term. A reappointment decision is made every five years after a formal review by the Dean.

the Journal of Academic Librarianship, May 1993

Benefits After about eight months under the restructuring, library staff noted the following changes: • greater communication among traditional units, • lower level decision making, • more formal and specific processes for decision making, • much greater employee participation in decision making, • increased collaboration and cooperation among units, • a more holistic perspective on the Libraries by all library personnel, • direct access to the Dean for the Unit Heads, and • improved professional staff identity.

Drawbacks Unfortunately, the change had several attendant drawbacks as well: many professional staff had to spend more time in meetings, particularly in the early months of the change; all personnel had to be educated on the new structure and how it functions; and sometimes-difficult intellectual and emotional adjustments were required of staff at all levels in the Libraries. Fortunately, the new structure will come under periodic assessment as part of the Libraries' ongoing evaluation program, and these and other problems will be confronted along the way. •