In mid-October 2020, the UC SILS Project Shared Governance Task Force (SGTF) released an assessment poll to inform planning for ongoing SILS governance. All UC Libraries employees were invited to respond to the poll, which sought to gather feedback on SILS phase 4 decision-making, communications and governance to inform the development of the ongoing, UC Libraries Advisory Structure (UCLAS) integrated SILS organizational structure. On behalf of SGTF, we’re pleased to now share the core findings from the poll with the UC Libraries community.
The poll achieved an outstanding response rate, with participation from almost 60% of the SILS cohort. The 373 poll respondents were divided into three demographic groups: systemwide SILS cohort members (N = 90), local SILS cohort members (N = 123) and non-SILS participants (N = 160). Thank you to everyone who responded – your time and thoughtful feedback is greatly appreciated. If respondents identified as both systemwide and local cohort members, they were categorized as systemwide members in this analysis.
The poll response overall affirms that the current, phase 4 project structure is supporting systemwide and campus-based governance, including collaborative work and decision-making, as well as communications and general SILS awareness. Relatively few negative responses were submitted, particularly among systemwide and local SILS cohort members. Non-SILS participants provided more neutral responses (with the majority or plurality answering neither agree nor disagree).
Findings specific to developing ongoing, post-go-live governance
While poll findings affirm the ways in which the current project structure is supporting SILS work, the findings also highlight work areas that merit further consideration in designing ongoing governance, including:
- Incorporating additional support for inter-group information-sharing and engagement, which has been complicated given the size and complexity of the phase 4 structure and need for extensive collaboration, reporting and consultation.
- Clearly articulating how ongoing SILS governance and operations fits into the UC Libraries Advisory Structure (UCLAS).
- SGTF and SILS Working Group should consider how systemwide priorities (e.g. standardization, operational efficiency and diversity, equity and inclusion) are reflected in ongoing SILS principles and team charges to guide SILS strategy and operations.
As SILS is integrated into the UCLAS governance structure, SGTF and DOC should also consider how a broader understanding of systemwide governance can be achieved. Those who do not participate in UCLAS groups/committees do not always have access to salient, high-level discussion topics or awareness of the structure and decision-making.
Findings specific to the current, phase 4 structure and work underway
While the primary objective of the poll was to inform the development of ongoing governance, some findings may inform phase 4 work underway. The following have been recommended to the SILS Working Group (actions have been taken on both recommendations since the survey was conducted):
- SILS should increase outreach tailored to UC Libraries employees not involved in SILS at the local or systemwide levels. A plurality of the non-SILS-participants feel sufficiently informed, but just over a quarter of respondents either responded neutrally (26%) or stated that they feel insufficiently informed (28%). Importantly, most SILS participants (73%) know who to ask when they have a SILS question.
- SILS WG should consider ways to further connect the “coordinator” groups (e.g. Implementation Coordinators and Policy & Practice Coordinators) within the SILS phase 4 structure, to support consultation and information-sharing.
SGTF is currently working to finalize the UCLAS-integrated, ongoing governance and operations structure for SILS; stakeholders will be engaged in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more!
Best,
Ginny Steel & Aislinn Sotelo
SGTF Co-Chairs