Equity Timeline

SUNY Librarian Equity Timeline
Edited and Revised 2014

The following timeline is collated in excerpt from the SUNYLA AD HOC EQUITY COMMITTEE: A Call to Action, 2006 and SUNY LIBRARIANS AND FACULTY STATUS: A CHRONOLOGY, March 1987.

In Martin Luther King, Jr’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he wrote, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Through our own decades-long struggle for the acknowledgement of our contributions as faculty, we have learned that sometimes even the simple recognition of our basic equality with classroom faculty must be demanded. To prove this we submit these facts:

  • Through 1964-1965 SUNY librarians removed from classified service salary schedule and placed on unclassified schedule.
  • April – October 1966, SUNY library directors recommended to President Samuel B. Gould, that “the annual professional obligation of librarians be the same as that of instructional appointees … with additional remuneration for service beyond the academic year, commensurate with that awarded to instructional staff.” They explained: “The status that we propose for librarians within the system implies a regime of study and research beyond the level of the qualifying professional degree which, though different in detail, should be comparable in seriousness to that expected of instructional faculty. It is upon this premise that we base our recommendation that the annual professional obligation be limited.”
  • 1967-1968 Individual campus, and SUNY-wide activity to collect and present information supporting faculty status for SUNY librarians.
  • May 1968, the SUNY Board of Trustees resolved “that the Chancellor be, and hereby is, authorized to prepare and seek implementation of a plan to facilitate the professional development of librarians and to provide for all professional librarians an option of academic year obligation, consistent with the needs and resources of the University.”
  • February – June 1968, the SUNY Board of Trustees granted librarians faculty status based on a proposal by the SUNY Faculty Senate. Among other actions, they amended the Policies of the Board of Trustees by adding to Article II, section one, subdivision 1: “Academic staff in library positions may have academic year or calendar year obligations.”
  • Late 1968 A Task Force on Academic Status, appointed by SUNY Conference of Head Librarians, polled all SUNY librarians on the formation of a SUNY-wide librarians association (97% voted in favor).
  • 1969 SUNYLA formed, and was immediately involved with personnel and status issues. including responding negatively to a SUNY-wide manpower study requiring detailed reporting of on-the-job activities. However, the Booz. Allen, Hamilton reclassification study, of which the manpower study was a part, was continued and subsequently left librarians on the Administrative Salary Plan and placed 85% of our positions at the PR-1 rank.
  • April 1969 Task Force is disbanded. SUNY library directors unanimously passed a resolution supporting an academic year schedule, four ranks equal to professorial ranks, remuneration for summer employment, and remuneration equal to professorial compensation for library faculty.
  • November 1969 Faculty Senate continues to demonstrate its support of faculty status for SUNY librarians by passing resolutions and working for their implementation.
  • September 1970 Position paper against Administrative Salary Plan and detailing requirements for full faculty status for SUNY librarians was presented to Chancellor Boyer and Vice-Chancellor Smoot by the SUNYLA Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Status and SUNY Library Directors.  On the issue of academic year obligations, they wrote:  It is a recognizable fact that the burgeoning demands of the academic community; the self-imposed and self-selecting high standards of academic librarianship; the imposition of criteria for promotion and tenure; the imperatives of innovation; and the sophisticated technological advances of today’s society are but a few of the demands which dictate that librarians must have adequate time for preparation, study, and research to promote their continued intellectual growth and development. To that end, the academic year appointment, without economic penalty and consistent with the academic calendar of the respective campuses, is essential. Naturally, library service will be maintained on a twelve month basis; the academic year for the librarian may not necessarily follow the traditional pattern of the professorial staff. For service beyond the academic year, remuneration should be made upon the same prorated basis as for the professorial staff.
  • November 1970 Chancellor Boyer addresses SUNYLA Annual Meeting and responds favorably to the position paper, assuring us that he would do all in his power to implement all requirements (except academic year. which would require more study).
  • April 1972, in response to a failed grievance on academic year contracts, the SUNYLA Council issued a news release that said, “As a result of the State University of New York’s distressing lack of concern for the academic rights of librarians, we regretfully recommend that librarians exercise extreme caution before accepting a position in SUNY.”
  • December 1973 UUP Committee on Librarian Concerns formed, to serve as concerns  “principle vehicle for bringing librarian to the attention of the UUP Executive Board.” These were: 1) transfer from administrative salary plan to non statutory (NS) salary plan, which necessitates the implementation of four ranks; and 2) placement of all librarians on academic par obligation without decrease in salary.
  • September  1974 SUNYLA established a special committee which was specifically charged to deal with collective bargaining issues.
  • 1975  UUP prevented SUNY Central from unilaterally placing many calendar year appointees on reduced schedules with corresponding reductions in salaries.
  • 1976-1979  Work of the SUNYLA special committee resulted in the following benefits for librarians in the 1976-1979 UUP contract: 1) librarians were removed from administrative salary plan and placed on the faculty salary schedule; 2) four academic ranks were established and defined analogous to the four professorial ranks; 3) librarians were eligible for academic promotions following the same procedures as for other academics.
  • 1977  Economic re-opener in UUP contract resulted, for the first time, in a minimum salary for each rank of the faculty, although calendar year salary for librarians was comparable to academic year salary for professorial faculty.
  • 1982-1985  UUP contract includes: 1) PDQWL grants, specifying a minimum of $150,000 for librarians. and 2) disparity funds, which librarians received based upon our successful demonstration of salary inequities.
  • December 1985, SUNYLA resolved “that all jurisdictions within SUNY end all forms of discrimination against all library professionals,” and further resolved its support for “all legal and legislative efforts to achieve salaries accurately reflecting the true value and worth of library professionals.”
  • 1985-1988 UUP contract includes: 1) unified salary for all members of the UUP bargaining unit; 2) PDQWL grants; 3) disparity funds, Minimas.
  • 1987 Librarians begin formulating demands for next round of negotiations with the State.
  • September 2002, SUNYLA further resolved to “strongly urge UUP to advocate for remedies to this inequity via options such as – an academic year appointment, with no decrease in salary for SUNY library faculty – a pro rated increase in salary to compensate for the additional months of service provided by SUNY library faculty working longer than an academic year.”
  • Fall 2005/Spring 2006, the SUNYLA Ad Hoc Equity Committee surveys SUNY Library Directors from all 62 SUNY campuses and Community Colleges on librarians who have left service from 2001-2005
  • July 2007 Appendix 48 Executive Level Review of Librarian Issues is added to the 2007-2011 Agreement between the State of New York and United University Professions.
  • 2007 Appendix 48 Executive Committee on Librarian [Equity] Issues is formed by UUP.
  • 2008 SUNYLA Ad Hoc Equity Committee issues it 2008 salary survey.
  • 2009 Appendix 48 Executive Committee on Librarian [Equity] Issues planning and review work is continued by committee members in preparation of Executive Level discussion with New York State representatives from GOER, SUNY and Civil Service.
  • 2010 Appendix 48 Executive Committee on Librarian [Equity] Issues forwards its recommendations to the 2011 Contract Negotiations Team.
  • 2013 Appendix 48 Executive Level Review of Librarian Issues is expended to include mandatory topics for discussion in the 2011-2016 Agreement between the State of New York and United University Professions.
  • December 2013 Appendix 48 Advisory Committee on Librarian Issues is formed to provide direct support to the Appendix 48 Executive Committee on Librarian Issues (the body which will be negotiating with the state) and the its members are invited to serve.
  • January 2014 Appendix 48 Advisory Committee on Librarian Issues membership is finalized and online communications begins.
  • February 2014 Appendix 48 Advisory Committee convenes its first in-person meeting at the Albany Delegate Assembly.
  • March 2014 Appendix 48 Advisory Committee begins literature review and information gathering.
  • May 2014 – June 2014: 2014 UUP Librarian Equity Survey is conducted by the Appendix 48 Advisory Committee.
  • June 2014: Appendix 48 Advisory Committee holds an informational session at the 2014 SUNYLA Annual Meeting.
  • July – August 2014: 2014 UUP Librarian Equity Survey closes and the Appendix 48 Advisory Committee begins its analysis of the survey’s findings.
  • September 2014: Appendix 48 Advisory Committee on Librarian [Equity] Issues submits its recommendations report to external reviewers for peer review.
  • October 2014: Appendix 48 Advisory Committee on Librarian [Equity] Issues submits its recommendations report to UUP Statewide President, Dr. Frederick E. Kowal.
  • October 2014: Appendix 48 Executive Committee on Librarian Issues meeting with representatives of the State of New York is held.
  • October – December 2014: Appendix 48 Advisory Committee begins information gathering and clarification process.