PSC Appointment Process

Role and function of the Program Steering Committee:

The Program Steering Committee serves at the direction of the Board of Governors in the following manner:

  • Reviews HathiTrust’s development agenda, shaping initiatives and strategies for Board
    discussion and decision-making, and considering the implications of those initiatives for the
    future.
  • Working Groups and Committees may be appointed and charged by the Program
    Steering Committee to assist with its work.
  • Reports to the Board of Governors recommended alterations in the development agenda based
    on such reviews.
  • Based on its reviews, develops position papers for the member community to
    encourage debate or mobilize discussion with regard to particular issues.
  • Works with the Board of Governors to develop policies for HathiTrust and its members.

Member Terms:

Members of the Program Steering Committee are appointed to three-year terms. The term of the Chair is two years. More information about the Program Steering Committee is available in the HathiTrust Bylaws .

Expected contributions of Program Steering Committee Members

  • Attend regular meetings (every two weeks)
  • Abides by and actively support the HathiTrust code of conduct
  • Serve as liaison to one of PSC’s working groups, task forces, or other HathiTrust Advisory Committees
  • Periodically participate in other governance related or appointed groups such as Membership Meeting planning groups or Board of Governors-appointed Task Forces

Process for Appointment to the Program Steering Committee

Number of vacancies – normally 2 to 3 per year

Number of nominees – varies, recently 15 to 25 nominations are received.

Appointment process:

  1.  Nominations are sought roughly two months prior to final appointment.
    • Nomination process is announced to the membership with published deadlines.
    • PSC members actively recruit nominees who can increase the diverse perspectives and viewpoints to the work of this committee and to HathiTrust.
    • Current PSC members who wish to be reappointed to another three-year term may self-nominate for a second term.
  1. The Chair of the Program Steering Committee reviews all nominations, and seeks input from the Executive Director and members of the Program Steering Committee.
  2. The Chair of the Program Steering committee then uses available information to apply the selection criteria described below to assemble the recommended appointments (including one or two alternates) to the Board of Governors.
  3. Following initial review by the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors, the Board reviews, revises if needed, and approves the proposed slate of nominations. Selected nominees are invited to accept appointment and then all other nominees are notified of their non-appointment.

Nomination Process

  •  Nominations are sought from general membership.
  • Call for nominations will include reference to any specific functional areas from which expertise is sought (metadata, collections, discovery, etc) and other skills, strengths, etc that are deemed to be important for this round of nominees.
  • Nominations should be made with consent of the nominee.
  • Nominations should include a short summary of the individual’s strengths, capacities, etc. Up to 300 words.
  • Nominees will be asked to provide their own statement of interest (up to 300 words?) that addresses specifics of the call for nominations.

Selection criteria:

General criteria:

  • To support the strategic and policy role of the Program Steering Committee, appointees are typically experienced in senior leadership at their member library. Deans and directors typically seek nomination for the HathiTrust Board of Governors while the Program Steering Committee’s work matches the skill set of other members of a libraries’ senior leadership team.
  • Nominee’s previous contributions to HathiTrust (general but not exclusive preference for nominees with previous contributions to HathiTrust programs).
  • Ability to contribute a non-dominant cultural perspective is especially valued.

Beyond the consideration of the general criteria , the Chair of the Program Steering Committee seeks to make appointments that maximize the diversity of perspectives represented by the Committee collectively. Depending on the makeup of continuing membership and the strategic agenda of HathiTrust, gaps in the collective perspectives will vary in each appointment cycle.

Key aspects of diversity that the Chair seeks to maintain include:

  • Type of member library including member tier
    • length of membership (e.g. founding members, new members, etc.)
    • public/ private institution
    • type of library/host institution missions
    • organization size
  • Types of contributions made by member institution (e.g. depositing content, participation in shared print program, etc.)
  • Functional expertise (metadata, collection development, user engagement, etc.)
  • Geographic distribution
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