VCU Faculty Senate

Thanks to Valerie Robnolt and the Academic Support Services Committee
for overseeing our recent faculty survey about the VCU bookstores.
Thanks also to Tracy T. Ryan of the VCU School of Mass Communications
for her advice on our survey design.
--Dan Ream, VCU Faculty Senate President

VCU Bookstore Survey: Qualitative Summary

Question: Thank you for answering our questions. If there’s anything else you would like to tell us, please share it here.

• There were 94 people who responded to this question.
• 22 comments were positive.
• 69 comments were negative.
• 1 neutral comment.
• 3 comments were about the survey itself.
• There were 7 comments about textbook rental, of which 6 said that they didn’t think it was a good idea and one that said it was a good idea. These are people who didn’t have experience with textbook rental.

Question: What do you hear from your students about their experiences with the VCU Bookstore?

• There were 170 people who responded to this question.
• There were 11 comments that indicated their students were positive about their experiences with the bookstore.
• Most of the comments were negative:
o There were 53 comments regarding the books being too expensive.
o There were 87 comments regarding there not being enough books for classes and how long it takes for books to come in when they are ordered.
o Note that for the first two bullets, many respondents made comments about both issues.
o There were 11 comments about poor customer service.
o There were 7 comments about the VCU logo merchandise.
o There were 9 comments that didn’t fit into any of the above categories, but several people said that the MCV Bookstore didn’t have enough supplies for classes.
• There were 19 comments that were neutral.
• 5 comments were not applicable to the question.

Question: You said you had experience with textbook rental. What was your experience?

• There were 8 people who responded to this question.
• The comments were mixed about it being a positive and negative experience.

Posted by at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is with extreme sadness that we report that Dr Christina
Turner, Associate Professor of Anthropology in the School of World
Studies, passed away on Sunday, January 13th after difficult struggle
with cancer. Chris was a vital contributor to Faculty Senate leadership
and the Virginia chapter of the AAUP and will be greatly missed by
many of us who worked with her.

Those who knew Chris were encouraged that she was able to
attend our December Faculty Senate meeting to discuss Higher
Education Advocacy Day along with her husband, Brian Turner,
Virginia Chapter President of AAUP and Professor at Randolph-
Macon College.

Thanks to her friend and colleague, Anders Linde-Laursen in our
Anthropology Department, for sharing the following:
A remembrance gathering for Dr. Christina Turner, Associate
Professor of Anthropology, will be held on Saturday, January 26,
from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the Robins Room at Lewis Ginter
Botanical Gardens, Richmond . You are welcome to participate
in celebrating Dr. Turner as a friend, teacher and colleague.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made towards an academic
award established in Dr. Turner's name by the School of World
Studies at VCU. The award will honor Dr. Turner's legacy as a
teacher and her focus on writing as a necessary skill in today's
society.

Contributions to the 'Dr. Christina Turner Writing Award ' can be
made payable to the VCU Foundation, Attention Lois Badey,
Director of Development, College of Humanities and Sciences,
P.O. Box 842019 , Richmond , VA 23284-2019. Please note
“Dr. Christina Turner Writing Award” on the memo portion of the
check. All such donations are charitable gifts and fully tax
deductible. For further information on the fund, contact R.
McKenna Brown, Director, School of World Studies, 804-827-1111
or mbrown@vcu.edu or Lois Badey, Director of Development for
the College, 804-827-0856 , labadey@vcu.edu .

Dan Ream
VCU Faculty Senate President, 2007/2008

Posted by at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

VCU's Office of Government Relations offers a tool for tracking
proposed education-related legislation on their web site at
http://www3.vcu.edu/govrel/ga-08aleg.shtml

It's all there--everything from bond bills to guns on campus to
the "academic freedom" bill that was also proposed last year-
see
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?081+sum+HB118

For Faculty Senate of Virginia legislative initiatives
see http://fsva.asp.radford.edu/

To find our who YOUR legislators are, type in your address
at http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Contact information for House of Delegates members is found at
http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteTL?OpenView
or try http://tinyurl.com/2zauv8

Contact information for Virginia Senate members is found at
http://sov.state.va.us/SenatorDB.nsf/$$Viewtemplate+for+WMembershipHome?OpenForm
or try http://tinyurl.com/dob3x

They'd love to hear from you!

--Dan Ream
VCU Faculty Senate President, 2007/2008

Posted by at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

VCU Faculty are invited to participate in Higher Education Advocacy
Day on January 10, 2008. We are gathering at 9:00AM in the School of
Nursing Student Lounge, when refreshments will be available and both
position papers, canvas bags for legislators, and other information will be
provided. There will be a brief training session and opportunities for
those new to the process to pair up with colleagues with more experience.
Parking for those on the Monroe Park campus is available in N Deck. Lunch
will also be provided. If you need to come late or leave early, this is
not a problem. Someone will be on hand to assist you whenever you check in
or wish to leave remaining materials.
As noted Theatre professor Lou Szari says, "it'll be a hoot!"

Please print out the schedule below.

Questions? Contact Pat Cummins at 827-0958 or Bob Andrews at 828-7101.

Higher Education Advocacy Day

January 10, 2008
Schedule of Activities

Questions about the event may be directed either to Pat Cummins (VCU) from December 26 through January 10. Her e-mail address is pcummins@vcu.edu, her cell phone is (804) 536-0429, and her home phone is (804) 897-8030. From January 7-10, you may direct questions to Bob Andrews (VCU). His e-mail address is rlandrew@vcu.edu and his cell phone is 804-512-9681.

WHERE TO MEET. SCHOOL OF NURSING BUILDING 1100 Leigh Street. See a map here.

WHERE TO PARK. Parking is readily available in public lots throughout downtown. The closest to the School of Nursing is public parking on Eighth Street and Leigh Street. Click here to explore all options.

9:00 A.M. Coffee available at VCU School of Nursing Student Lounge
(First Floor of Nursing Building)

9:15 A.M. Welcome by VCU Faculty Senate President, AAUP President, and FSVA
President (Nursing Student Lounge)

Training Session / Distribution of AAUP bags (Nursing Student Lounge)

Legislative updates (VCU Government Relations staff person)

9:45 A.M. Distribution of promotional materials (Nursing Student Lounge)

10:00 A.M. Visits to legislative offices (Capitol complex – 4 blocks from Nursing)

12:00 Noon Light lunch available (Nursing Student Lounge)

1:00 P.M. Visits to legislative offices

4:30 P.M. End of visits

Information on legislative offices to visit will be available when you arrive.

Posted by at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From VCU TelegRAM on December 5, 2007

By providing textbook adoption information before exams, the peak book-buyback period, faculty can increase the amount paid to students for their used textbooks while increasing the number of used books available to students the following semester. VCU Bookstores are legally obligated to share the textbook adoption information, thereby increasing competition in the marketplace. For more information, contact the VCU Bookstore on the Monroe Park Campus at 828-1678, or on the MCV Campus at 828-0336.

Posted by at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

VCU Vice President for Government Relations & Health Policy Don Gehring's presentation to the Faculty Senate on December 4th will include mention of VCU's Key 2008 State Legislative Priorities, which are outlined here.

Mr. Gehring's web site also provides a link for locating your representatives in the Virginia General Assembly, as well as a Faculty and Staff Public Comment Advisory on legislative and budgetary matters.

Posted by at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)