Promotion to Senior Librarian

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Associate Librarians will be eligible for promotion to Senior Librarian after six years of service at the Associate Librarian rank at Elon University. Application for promotion to Senior Librarian is not required.

Librarians hired in at Associate Librarian rank may apply for promotion to Senior Librarian after four years of service at Elon University.

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Each year the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library will review the promotion eligibility of each librarian and will notify librarians in the summer prior to the academic year in which they are first eligible for promotion.

The librarian is responsible for submitting a formal letter of application to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs indicating their desire to be reviewed for promotion.

If the librarian elects not to apply for promotion, no further notification of eligibility will be sent in subsequent years, though the librarian will remain eligible for promotion. The librarian must submit formal application in any subsequent year they wish to be reviewed.

The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

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Excellence in performance standards is required for promotion.

Standards for performance leading to advance to Senior Librarian rank include:

• Mastered expertise in the skills and knowledge of librarianship, information management, and technology
• Sustained professional achievement and scholarship which is shown by:
• Achieving specialization in a subject, service, technical, administrative, or other area of value to the Library
• Publishing and making presentations in the field
• Demonstrating distinguished leadership in professional library associations
• Successfully initiating and applying new developments, techniques, and technologies in academic library service
• Working and communicating professionally with colleagues and patrons of the Library
• Demonstrating excellent service and contributions to Belk Library, the University, and the library profession

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Librarians standing for promotion will create a digital promotion file documenting their accomplishments to be considered by the Promotion Review Committee. The candidate will also meet with the committee if requested. The promotion file will include material from the librarian’s personnel file and may be supplemented by other materials.  The digital file shall be in PDF format and the organization should include tabbed, linked sections to facilitate review. The file will include the following parts organized in sequential order from Part 1 through Part 7 of the portfolio:

Part 1: Letter expressing the intent to apply for promotion. The letter should summarize the candidate’s case for promotion.

Part 2: Current curriculum vitae.

Part 3: Current position description.

Part 4: Performance evaluations for the librarian's term of employment at Elon University or the previous five years, whichever is shorter.

Part 5: Annual self-assessment report for the librarian's term of employment at Elon University of the previous five years, whichever is shorter.

Part 6: Description, documentation, and examples where appropriate of the librarian’s accomplishments under the promotion criteria for Librarianship, Professional Achievement, and Service. Documents can include but are not limited to copies of publications, supplemental letters of recommendation, participant evaluations of classes or programs, and materials created for instruction or library publicity.

Part 7: Letter from the candidate’s current supervisor assessing the candidate’s performance. If the candidate standing for promotion reports directly to the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, the candidate, in consultation with the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, will identify a post-probationary Elon University librarian to write the letter. If the candidate standing for promotion reports directly to a University Dean other than the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, the candidate, in consultation with their respective Dean, will identify a post-probationary Elon University librarian or senior colleague in their respective department to write the letter.

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Applications for promotion will be considered by a Promotion Review Committee.

• The Promotion Review Committee will consist of two Elon librarians at the Associate or Senior Librarian rank, two post-probationary Librarians and a post-probationary member of the teaching faculty, appointed by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The teaching faculty member of the committee will serve a two-year term. Librarian committee members will be elected by their library faculty peers for terms of two years, with no more than two consecutive terms.
• Committee members will be elected on a rotating basis: at the conclusion of each fiscal year, members who have completed their two-year term will rotate off the committee, while the other members will stay on for a second year, joined by newly elected members. Committee members will elect a chair who serves as convener.
• If the supervisor of the candidate standing for promotion serves on the Promotion Review Committee, the supervisor will step down from the committee, and another post-probationary Elon University librarian will be elected to serve the remainder of their term on the Promotion Review Committee. The post-probationary librarian elected to serve must have a rank that satisfies the Promotion Review Committee’s composition requirements.

The Committee will review the applications for promotion and make its recommendation(s) to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

After the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs has received the promotion recommendations from both the supervising Dean and the Promotion Review Committee, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will call a joint meeting of the supervising Dean and the Promotion Review Committee to discuss the substance of the deliberations that led to their specific recommendations.

The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs recommends promotion decisions to the President. The President of the University recommends promotion decisions for final approval to the Board of Trustees.

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Associate Librarians who advance in rank to Senior Librarian will receive a three-year annually renewable appointment and a one-time salary increase of $9,000.

Application for promotion to Senior Librarian is not required. Librarians not promoted to Senior Librarian will remain at the Associate Librarian rank and will continue to receive three-year appointments.