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Community Needs Assessment Committee

Terms of Reference

The Mission Statement for the University of Waterloo Library states that:

Client needs are primary, and the Library's goal is to create an environment for our clients to:

Library departments and committees are encouraged to integrate assessment activities into their on-going operations. The Community Needs Assessment Committee (CNAC) supports and participates in the work necessary to identify and understand client needs so that services are developed or adjusted to meet those needs. CNAC fosters a library-wide awareness and appreciation of the value of assessment and plays a role in educating staff about assessment issues and methods. Through rotating membership drawn from the Library at large, CNAC also provides interested staff members with an opportunity to develop expertise on various matters related to assessment.

Specific roles and responsibilities

  1. Each year CNAC, in consultation and collaboration with managers, committee chairs, and others, as appropriate, develops an annotated list of assessment projects that might be undertaken in the upcoming year. These are typically projects relating to matters for which no specific unit in the Library has primary responsibility. CNAC submits the list of potential projects to the Library Executive Committee (LEC).

  2. At the request of LEC, CNAC (or other groups, as requested) undertakes assessment projects. LEC ensures that each project has a library manager serving as a sponsor.

  3. CNAC maintains a central repository of information about and documents related to assessment projects that are/have been undertaken by library departments or committees. To that end, CNAC solicits information and documents from managers, committee chairs, and others, as appropriate. Documents include applications for ethics review (and related documents such as consent forms), project charters, project reports, survey forms.

  4. CNAC serves as a resource for others in the Library who are considering or undertaking an assessment project. CNAC also raises awareness about assessment issues and methods by conducting occasional information sessions and by conducting, coordinating, or encouraging participating in other types of programmes as opportunity allows.

Membership and term of office

CNAC has six members including one from the Circulation Services Department, two from the Information Services and Resources Department, and three from the Library at large. While this membership structure leaves open the possibility of additional members from Circulation Services and from Information Services and Resources, wider representation is encouraged. Members serve for a three-year term with the option of renewal only if too few others are interested in joining when the call for new members is issued. * As the need arises, other staff members, students, faculty members, and possibly others, are invited to participate in CNAC's work on an ad hoc basis.

CNAC is chaired by one of the six members who serves as the Chair for a three year term. CNAC is accountable to the Assistant University Librarian, Information Services.

* To ensure continuity, some of the initial members may be asked to serve for an additional 1, 2, or 3 years.

September 2002

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July 28, 2005