H. B. 2413
(By Delegates Doyle, Manuel and Fleischauer)
[Introduced January 27, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article seven, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twelve, relating to higher education; personnel generally;
and faculty status for professional librarians.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article seven, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twelve, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. PERSONNEL GENERALLY.
§18B-7-12. Faculty status for professional librarians.
(a) Any individual now serving as a full-time librarian in
a library at a college or university under the jurisdiction of the governing boards of the state institutions of higher
education who holds a degree in library or information science
based upon the successful completion of graduate work at an
institution qualified and approved to offer the degree by the
American library association, and any individual meeting this
definition who is subsequently hired, shall be appointed as a
full-time member of the faculty of that institution for purposes
of position title, equitable salary, promotion, permanent
appointment and termination. Professional librarians are
eligible for all privileges common to classroom faculty, and
full-time librarians at each institution of higher education are
regarded as an academic department or unit of comparable size to
facilitate participation in campus governance.
(b) Upon the effective date of this section, librarians with
at least five years of satisfactory service in their present
state appointments shall be placed at ranks and salaries similar
to classroom faculty with the same average years of experience.
All librarians with less than five years in their present
positions and subsequent appointees shall be granted a reasonable
time to qualify for permanent appointments under applicable terms
as adopted and approved by their respective institutions. The
evaluation of librarians for purposes of promotion or permanent
appointment shall, in all cases, be based in criteria related to the nature of librarianship and the distinctive contribution of
librarians to the academic mission of the college or university.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that full-time
professional librarians in the state college and university
system are considered and treated as faculty members.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.