TO: RUSA Board of Directors

The deadlines for receipt Doc no. #B1306 of action items are: Noon the day before the RUSA Board Board meeting MW2013

Check one: Annual Conference__Midwinter Conference _ _Other, please specify: ______Year: 2012-2013 Action item

TO: RUSA Board of Directors RE: Program Allocation Recommendations

ACTION REQUESTED:

In order to accommodate the reduced number of Conference programs allocated to the division, the RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee (CPCC) recommends the following changes regarding the Annual Conference:

1. Literary Tastes will take the place of “Another RUSA Committee” as a guaranteed program slot.

2. Each section will be allotted one guaranteed program slot (as opposed to the current guaranteed two programs) with the possibility of additional programs if RUSA receives more options from ALA.

3. The Executive Committee and CPCC will encourage all sections to consider co-sponsoring programs.

4. Sections may need to consider diverting program ideas to discussions (face to face or online).

5. The CPCC will develop a rating tool to approve programs proposed by RUSA sections if additional program slots are available beyond those that are guaranteed.

6. The RUSA office will develop a process for program organizers to submit an evaluation following every program, which will include attendance numbers. This information will thereafter be available to the CPCC and program planners.

ACTION REQUESTED BY: RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee

CONTACT PERSON(S): Joseph Thompson (chair), 301-739-3250 x140, [email protected]

DRAFT OF MOTION: I make a motion to accept the Program Allocation Recommendations proposed by RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee.

DATE SUBMITTED: December 26, 2012 BACKGROUND:

The Conference Program Coordinating Committee (CPCC) was charged to review the number of program slots currently allotted to the RUSA Division by the American Library Association (ALA). The committee was also to recommend a plan to reduce the number of sessions in compliance with an ALA directive to limit programs. [Also see the ALA Conference Committee’s Annual Conference 2013: Change Roadmap at http://connect.ala.org/node/178761]

CPCC reviewed the current understanding for RUSA programs, as detailed below:

At Midwinter 2005 and Midwinter 2008 RUSA Board confirmed the following as programs (at a time in 2008 when RUSA was able to offer 17 programs). Preconferences and co-sponsorships in-name-only are not included.

 RUSA President’s Program  Reference Research Forum  AFL-CIO/ALA Joint Committee Program*  “Another RUSA Committee”  RA Research & Trends Forum (added 2008)  2 per each of 6 sections = 12

RUSA Board has not formally established the ongoing status of:

 Literary Tastes (formerly a separate registration, now a regular program). The CPCC suggests that this could be regarded as the “Another RUSA Committee” program.  Smart Investing @ your library*

*CPCC discussed various ways to maintain RUSA level programs and reduce section sessions to an acceptable level for Annual Conference 2014. Two programs in particular are valuable to the Division but perhaps would offer more good to the Association overall if elevated to be ALA level programs rather than be considered RUSA programming: the AFL-CIO/ALA Joint Committee Program and Smart Investing @ your library. If elevated to the ALA level, this would also help to ensure that RUSA could limit its number of programs. The CPCC recommends that this option be discussed with ALA Conference Services. The committee, after acceding to this premise, has developed a recommendation that will benefit RUSA and all subunits within the constraints of the directive. With the two programs moved to the ALA level, RUSA will have 10 slots. If these two programs do not move to ALA level, RUSA will have 12.