Our Eyes are on Chancellor Miranda: An Update About the Library

As a union, we know that what happens in one academic unit affects the whole university. The following is an update on the administration’s actions in the Library, which has broader implications for all of us. Our eyes are on Chancellor Miranda and the administration’s continued attempted erosion of collective faculty power in favor of consolidated, short-sighted decision-making.

In 2024, in the face of ongoing and unaddressed leadership issues including poor management and harassment, Library faculty convened a Library Organizing Committee who strongly encouraged Provost Colley not to retain Dean Ballard-Thrower, the University Librarian. Library faculty wrote to the Provost directly in October 2024 asking for help in re-establishing a productive working environment in the Library. Provost Colley responded by hiring "leadership coaches" for the Dean alongside outside consultants to study the Library's situation. In September of 2025, the Library faculty passed a vote of No Confidence in the Dean. Read the press release for more detail on Dean Ballard-Thrower's transgressions and the Library faculty's actions.

Over the past year the Library Faculty Executive Committee and Senate Academic Services Committee organized a 5-year review of Dean Ballard-Thrower. The 5-year review is a key component of shared governance that allows university staff and faculty a critical voice in sharing the successes and failures of leadership.

Provost Colley emailed all Library employees on June 16, 2026. She noted that the Dean’s 5-year review outlined significant concerns in several areas (in addition to the clear and direct concerns from Library faculty) but that she nevertheless had decided that removing the Dean was not the solution.

While Library faculty consider how best to move forward in light of the Provost’s decision, there are a number of issues that have troubling echoes that reach beyond the Library.

Administration routinely undervalues staff and faculty viewpoints while overvaluing those of costly outside consultants, who unsurprisingly tell admin what they want to hear. Several consultants were engaged in the past three years to “help” the Library. One recommendation of the latest round of consultants who visited the Library for two days in April of 2026, was to hire more consultants. We have seen the use of outside consultants around campus skyrocket in recent years. Even in the midst of austerity claims, the administration is willing to pay and listen to outside companies instead of working with faculty.

However, austerity has effects beyond financial capacities. Provost Colley’s message characterized the Library’s culture as “toxic,” shifting the blame for systemic shortcomings onto faculty. In truth, we know that a workplace that has suffered from years of underfunding breeds a stressful and tense climate. The administration is asking all departments to accomplish more with fewer faculty, but instead of solving the underlying problem, admin points fingers.

Finally, Provost Colley stated in her message that Library faculty performance reviews going forward will be tied to “productive participation” in “a decisive structural and cultural intervention” process led by an outside consultant. Tying performance reviews to unspecified and subjective ‘participation’ is without a doubt intended to have a chilling effect on union activity in the Library, including in exercising our contractual right to shared governance in our units and the right to file grievances when our collective bargaining agreement is violated. Not only is this an intimidation tactic, but it’s also poor leadership. Why should an outside and unaffiliated company have a say in performance review measures that could potentially affect faculty promotion and compensation?

While Provost Colley has since left her position, ultimate responsibility for UIC’s fulfillment of its mission lies with Chancellor Miranda. These patterns of opaque decision-making, use of private sector consultants, and general failures of leadership are not unique to the Library. As a union, we will continue to fight for, win, and enthusiastically enforce contracts that promote equity, shared governance, and real, meaningful investment in the UIC community.