H. B. 2183
(By Delegates Doyle, Manuel and Fleischauer)
[Introduced February 14, 2001
; 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.