Board Resolution -1- XXXXXXX, 2018
DISCUSSION DRAFT
M E M O R A N D U M
XXXXXX, 2018
TO:
Members of the Board of Trustees
FROM:
Kristina Johnson, Chancellor
SUBJECT: Campus Open Access Policies and System Repository
Action Requested
The proposed resolution directs the development of campus-specific
open access policies for faculty and student scholarship and creative works
and the creation of searchable repositories.
Resolution
I recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the following resolution:
Whereas State University of New York faculty and
students routinely produce scholarly and creative works
that are of public interest, inform the works of other
scholars, and promote scholarly activities in their
respective fields; and
Whereas the dissemination and sharing of published
scholarship or creative works is the cornerstone of
communication among scholars; and
Whereas approximately 57 percent of SUNY research
and scholarship is supported by either direct federal
agency grants or federal funding channeled through
state agencies; and
Whereas many federal agencies are instituting
requirements about public accessibility to the final work
product of efforts they fund; and
Whereas access to scholarly journals has become
increasingly cost-prohibitive for SUNY faculty, staff and
students, and for the libraries that support them; and
Board Resolution -2- XXXXXXX, 2018
Whereas best practices in the development of open
access policies include:
respect for and protection of faculty and student
ownership, allowing decisions about where to publish
and when to make an article or other
scholarly/creative work accessible using such
strategies as a waiver process or an embargo until a
designated date post publication in a journal;
flexibility for scholars/creators in choosing the terms
of use and licensing associated with each
article/work such as whether it can be used for
commercial or non-commercial use, copied, edited,
remixed and built upon;
issuance of an addendum for each article/work that
authors can provide to publishers notifying them of
the open access policy; and
Whereas several SUNY campuses and institutions of
higher education nationally have developed optional
repositories for faculty to archive and make available
their published scholarship; and
Whereas the Office of the University Provost currently
maintains an optional repository for campuses to utilize
that could be further expanded; now, therefore, be it
Resolved that each State-operated campus will develop
and adopt—via a consultative process that follows local
faculty governance procedures and includes the faculty
and student protections and best practices identified in
this resolution—an open access policy that recognizes
each campus’s unique mission and culture by no later
than June 30, 2019; and be it further
Resolved that each community college is encouraged to
develop and adopt an open access policy consistent
with this resolution; and be it further
Resolved that the University Provost will work with the
SUNY library community to ensure that every SUNY
faculty member and student has access to a repository
and associated services, and that all SUNY repositories
be integrated and searchable via a single interface; and
be it further
Board Resolution -3- XXXXXXX, 2018
Resolved that each campus open access policy shall be
consistent with the rights and responsibilities set forth in
the Board of Trustees Policies, Article XI, Title J:
Patents, Inventions and Copyright Policy, as codified in
Sections 335.28 and 335.29 of Title 8 of the Official
Compilation of Codes, Rules, and Regulations of the
State of New York; and be it further
Resolved the Chancellor and Provost will work with
campus leadership, faculty, students and other key
stakeholders to implement this Resolution, including the
continued consultation with faculty governance and the
provision of any necessary training, and shall report
periodically to the Board of Trustees any additional
steps that may be needed to ensure the successful
implementation of this resolution.
Background
Open Access is defined as typically free, immediate, online availability of
scholarly and creative works that permits users to read, download, copy, distribute,
print, search, or link to the full texts of articles for any lawful purpose, without
financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining
access to the Internet.
Open Access has become more common as the cost of maintaining access to
scholarly journals has grown increasingly prohibitive. Open Access has become
more common as the cost of maintaining access to scholarly journals has grown
increasingly prohibitive. SUNY libraries have worked collaboratively to control costs
and maintain access. Despite the increased investment, however, SUNY’s relative
access to information has actually declined with rising costs, forcing decisions about
purchasing only those materials deemed absolutely necessary. This is occurring at
the same time as federal funding agencies are instituting transparency and access
requirements for the scholarship their funding supports.
Recognizing that faculty priorities regarding scholarship vary by individual,
discipline, and institution, this Resolution calls for the collaborative development of
campus policies that respect ownership as delineated above and incorporate best
practices as outlined herein.
