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Adopted 1998/06/12 
Amended  2002/03/29
Amended 2003/05/09
Amended 2005/05/13
Amended 2006/05/12
Amended 2007/05/11
Amended 2010/04/07
Amended 2012/02/05
Amended 2014/03/14
Amended 2014/05/09
Amended 2016/01/27
Amended 2016/10/07
Amended 2016/11/18
Amended 2017/07/10
Amended 2018/02/19

Amended 2018/06/15

Amended 2019/03/11

Amended 2019/10/07

Amended 2022/09/14

Updates to LFA Charter

Article I. Name and Purpose

This organization shall be known as the Library Faculty Association of Oregon State University.

The purpose of the Library Faculty Association is to:

  1. ensure that library faculty priorities on key aspects of library operations (e.g., budgeting, compensation, planning, policy creation, and staffing), are represented and considered in library decision-making or policy-making processes by making formal recommendations to library administration,
  2. provide a forum for the discussion of library faculty concerns on library and campus issues and, when necessary, advocate and publish positions on those issues,
  3. provide a forum for the discussion of issues in library and information science and higher education, and
  4. promote and support the research and scholarship activities of the library faculty.

Article II. Membership

All library faculty, including tenured, tenure-track, professional and part-time faculty, instructors and faculty research assistants, are members of the Association. All library employees, including invited students and interns, are welcome to attend meetings; however, only members can vote.

Participation in Association activities is an integral part of a library faculty member’s professional responsibilities. It includes, but is not restricted to: attending meetings, reporting on developments on campus and in professional associations, sharing information gained at professional conferences, assisting with the development of programming for the Association’s meetings, presenting research, and mentoring other faculty members.

Article III. Officers

Section 1. Titles and Terms of Officers

  1. The officers of the Association are the President, Past President, LAMP Representative, Seminar Series Coordinator, Research and Writing Group Coordinator, Mentoring Program Coordinator, and Communications Coordinator.
  2. The President, Past President, LAMP Representative, and Coordinators shall assume office on July 1 and serve for a term of one year. To distribute opportunities to serve, it is preferred that a person not serve in the same position in consecutive years.

Section 2. Duties of Officers

  1. The officers will collaborate and coordinate their activities and programming for the Association.
  2. All officers will conduct annual evaluations of their programs or activities.
  3. The President is responsible for the meetings of the Association, including developing the agenda and program, arranging the meeting location, and publicity. The President officiates at all meetings. The President also communicates the Association’s positions on library and campus issues in appropriate forums outside the library, although they may choose to designate another person for such a role if necessary.
  4. The Past President is responsible for
    • Serving as a mentor to the President
    • Chairing the President Nomination Committee, along with at least two other members, including tenure-track and fixed term faculty. The Past President will put out a call for Nominations Committee volunteers, and the Committee will complete the work so that the elections will be conducted according to the timeline below.
  5. The Seminar Series Coordinator has overall responsibility for programming, publicity and site arrangements for the seminar series and research presentations. All members of the campus community shall be invited to attend the series. Less formal research presentations may be scheduled internally as the need and opportunity arise.
  6. The Research and Writing Coordinator acts as a liaison between those needing advice and critique, and those giving it. The Research and Writing Coordinator convenes meetings.
  7. The Mentoring Program Coordinator oversees the process and assessment of the LFA Mentoring Program
  8. The Communications Coordinator is responsible for taking minutes at LFA meetings (or finding a proxy as needed), organizing and updating LFA documentation, and promoting LFA positions to the general community.
  9. The LAMP Representative is responsible for attending the Library Administration, Management, and Planning group (LAMP) meetings, taking meeting minutes, initiating conversations about topics relevant to library faculty, and advocating on behalf of LFA in LAMP.

Section 3. Election and Selection of Officers.

  1. The President shall be elected by the members of the Association by secret ballot.
  2. Eligibility:
    a.  All members of the Association, with the exception of the Dean of the Libraries, any Assistant/Associate Deans, and the current Association President, shall be eligible for election to the presidency.
    b.  Any member may request that their name be withheld from the ballot, but not in consecutive years. A copy of the ballot for each year shall be retained by the Association until the subsequent election as documentation.
  3.  Election results
    a.  Election of the President shall be held in April and results compiled prior to the May meeting so that the President-elect can be announced at that meeting. The candidate receiving a simple majority (more votes than for the next highest candidate) of the total votes cast shall be declared the winner.
    b.  Should the President-elect not be available to serve as of July 1, the candidate receiving the second highest vote total will be asked to assume office of Association President.
    c.  In the event of a tie, a run-off election will be held, prior to the May meeting.
    d.  The current President or their designee is responsible for conducting the election of the incoming President.
    e.  The Seminar Series Coordinator, Research and Writing Group Coordinator, Mentoring Program Coordinator, LAMP Representative, and Communications Coordinator are appointed by the incoming President. The President or their designee will publicize a call for volunteers after the May LFA meeting. If more than one person desires to serve as a particular coordinator, the president may appoint more than one person to the position. The incoming President will announce the names of the coordinators via email.

Article IV. Meetings and Activities

  1. Association meetings shall convene monthly as scheduled by the LFA President. If scheduling conflicts arise, the LFA President and the coordinators may reschedule meetings at their discretion.
    The first portion of the meeting shall be devoted to:
    1. information sharing concerning faculty senate, university committees, and University Libraries administration;
    2. programming, such as discussions of current topics in librarianship, brief presentations of local library research, conference summaries, or presentations by guests;
    3. discussion of library faculty concerns on library and campus issues. When necessary, the Association will advocate for and publish its position on those issues.

The second portion of the meeting shall be devoted to promotion and tenure issues. The current P&T Chair will run this portion of the meeting. Examples of topics covered include:

  1. Promotion and tenure changes at the campus level
  2. Discussions about changes needed to the OSUL tenure guidelines
  3. The seminar series provides a forum for LFA members to present their research and to host speakers to present content relevant to the LFA membership. 
  4. The Research and Writing Group provides an informal setting for getting input on papers and presentations at any stage of creation and provides advice and support for all stages and types of research and writing. Meets monthly.
  5. The Association may set up other programs as determined by the membership.

6.Task Forces

  • The LFA President may appoint a task force for a specific purpose to investigate and make recommendations on an issue. The LFA President may appoint members to the task force and/or call for volunteers.

Article V. Voting

  1. The business of the Association requiring voting falls into two categories: ordinary business and extraordinary business. 
  2. Ordinary business of the Association is defined as decisions or actions that need Association approval (e.g., adopting meeting minutes or bringing a proposal or topic to LAMP) but are not considered extraordinary. The quorum for votes on ordinary business of the Association shall be set at the voting members physically and virtually present for the meeting. Voting shall be by voice or show of hands or by electronic response system. A majority vote (more than half the votes) is required for ordinary business to be approved. The LFA President can choose to delay a vote on ordinary business items if they deem meeting participation to be too low. 
  3. Extraordinary business of the Association is defined as decisions that fundamentally guide how the Association conducts itself or how the Association is presented to the public (e.g., changing the LFA charter; adopting a position with the intent of making it public; changing the P&T guidelines; changing the mentoring guidelines; adopting new guidelines). Voting shall be by secret electronic ballot distributed not later than 7 days after the LFA President calls for a vote on an extraordinary issue during an LFA meeting. Electronic ballots should either contain the full text of the measure being voted upon or should contain a link to the full text of the measure being voted upon. At least twenty-five percent of the LFA membership must participate by voting in order for the vote to be considered valid.  A supermajority vote (at least 67% of the votes) is required for extraordinary business to be approved.

Article VI. Amendments to the Charter

The Charter will be reviewed annually at minimum. Amendments may be proposed either in writing or by email to the LFA President by any member of the Association. Proposed amendment(s) must be distributed to Association members, by the LFA President or their designee, at least three weeks prior to the vote. Within the first week of distribution of an electronic ballot, any member may request, via email to the LFA President or their designee, that voting be delayed pending face-to-face discussion of said proposal. Discussion of said proposal is to take place at the next scheduled Association meeting. Passage of proposed amendments is guided by rules for voting on extraordinary business (Article V. Voting).




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