Serials Working Group (SWG)
Working Agreement

Governance

• The chair and recorder will each serve for one year with terms ending June 30 of the following year.
• The chair and recorder will be selected from among volunteers.

Attendance

• Members arrive on time
• If unable to attend, members notify the chair, and send any input or documents. (Chair may table items if necessary.)
• Proxies will be allowed at any time, and need not be approved by the group. The chair should be notified ahead of time when a proxy will be attending the meeting.
• Members assume responsibility for informing themselves of what occurred at missed meetings.

Preparation

• Members are prepared for every meeting.
• Members read all agenda-related materials sent ahead of time.
• Members bring necessary handouts.
• Members are ready to lead discussions of assigned agenda items.

Participation

• Representative members of the Serials Working Group will serve two year terms and individuals may serve unlimited consecutive terms. Towards the end of their term, members are responsible for: notifying their constituency that the term is ending, gathering the names of nominees for the next term, and forwarding that list to the current chair to be passed on to Library Council.
• SWG provides and encourages equal opportunities for participation, and members assume individual responsibility to participate fully.
• Members respect everyone’s right to speak and be listened to without interruption.
• Members are free to ask for clarification and restatement.
• Members allow development and adaptation of their ideas or proposals as part of the group process.
• Members are free to express their feelings and are sensitive to the feelings of other members.
• Members are expected to express ANY doubts, concerns or reservations they have concerning the topic under discussion and should ask for additional time to think about the matter if needed.

Consensus

• Consensus will be the primary mode of decision making.
• Definition: Consensus means that each member has an opportunity to participate in the development of the decision, and that all members are willing to "live with" the decision. It does not mean that the decision is necessarily everyone's first choice, but that all members commit to working toward the implementation of the decision and not obstruct its implementation.
• If SWG faces an externally imposed deadline and cannot come to consensus, a simple majority vote will be taken.

Operating Procedures

• Meetings are to be held once a month and will last up to ninety minutes. Locations will vary and are to be scheduled by the chair and announced in the minutes.
• Meetings will start on time, with no waiting for late members.
• Members take a system-wide perspective when problem solving.
• Members are free to try new things that may deviate from current or past procedures.
• Feedback on SWG ideas and proposals will be actively solicited from the library community in time to incorporate such feedback into the final decision.
• Deadlines will be assigned to all issues and projects in order to ensure that they will be resolved and completed in a timely manner.
• At the end of each meeting members set a tentative agenda for the next meeting, confirm decisions made and how best to communicate them to everyone and review and confirm assigned tasks.
• Draft minutes will be sent out to members as soon as possible following the meeting. Members will have two business days to clarify and correct as needed, then the final version, including a proposed agenda for the next meeting, will be posted on the Decisions Digest.
• All decisions and policies are subject to review and revision to keep them fuctional and appropriate.
• SWG will conduct a progress review every six months.
• Copies of all handouts and other discussion resources will be made available to any library employee upon request.
• Guests are welcome. Anyone wishing to participate should contact the chair prior to the meeting they wish to attend.

Adopted 1/13/99. Revised 9/12/01.

Washington State University Libraries
This page: http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/general/WG/serwgagree.html

Last updated on Wednesday, September 12, 2001.