The December 1st, 2009 Faculty Senate meeting will be held in the Richmond Salons 3 and 4 in the Student Commons on the MPC. The Student Lounge in the Lyons Building did not have the audiovisual equipment required for one of the items to be discussed.
-Linda Corey, Faculty Senate President
Valerie Robnolt (School of Education) and Mary Secret (School of Social Work) of the Faculty Senate's Academic Support Services Committee introduced the following resolution concerning library space and funding at the April, 2009 Faculty Senate meeting, which was unanimously passed at the May, 2009 Senate meeting...
2009 Faculty Senate Resolution Regarding Library Spaces and Funding:
• Whereas the Faculty Senate recognizes and applauds significant advances in library support since 2005;
• Whereas there remains much to be done to bring VCU's library system to a standing commensurate with VCU's stature and ambitions, and similar to the libraries of VCU's closest-matching peer institutions;
• Whereas VCU has not constructed new library space since 1975, while nearly every other doctoral institution in Virginia has created new library buildings and space within the past decade;
• Whereas Cabell Library is uncomfortably crowded with tens of thousands of student users daily, offers the least space per student of any public academic library in Virginia, and houses collections that far exceed its original capacity and absorb space needed by students;
• Therefore, the Faculty Senate resolves that:
- The University assigns highest priority for renovation and capital funding to initiatives that expand and improve those spaces that have the biggest impact on the most people in VCU's academic community, such as space for student academic work in Cabell Library;
- The University make every effort to provide funding to create and operate an off-campus repository for lesser-used library materials, thereby freeing space in Cabell Library for student academic needs;
- The University create and implement a renovations and investment plan that will bridge the University from the present overcrowded Cabell Library to a new library/academic commons building on the Monroe Park Campus that will provide adequate new space for undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty;
- The University maintain as its second priority for new capital funding the proposed new library/academic commons building on the Monroe Park Campus, after the construction of the planned classroom building;
- The University continue its work in strengthening library budget allocations to advance its library system to a standing similar to that of VCU's closest-matching peer institutions
The VCU Faculty Senate elected its new officers for the 2009-2010 academic year at our meeting on April 7th.
Each new elected officer will begin their term of office on August 16, 2009.
Elected were....
President--Linda Corey, School of Medicine (Human Genetics)
Vice-President- Micah McCreary, Humanities & Sciences (Psychology)
Corresponding Secretary- Cynthia Donnell, School of the Arts (Music)
Recording Secretary - Elizabeth Canfield, University College
MCV Campus Representative- Carolyn Driscoll, Nursing **
Monroe Park Campus Representative- David Fauri, School of Social Work
**Dr. Bonny Bukaveckas was elected in April, 2009, but decided to leave VCU and was replaced by Dr. Driscoll in a May, 2009 election.
I will continue to serve on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee as Past President for the next year or two, also.
I hope you will join the Faculty Senate in congratulating our newly-elected faculty leadership.
--Dan
Dan Ream
VCU Faculty Senate President, 2007-2009
President Eugene Trani sent out the following mass e-mail on March 6, 2009 with an embedded link to the VCU Preliminary Analysis of Conference Report on the Budget...
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Dear Colleagues:
On Saturday, February 28, the General Assembly completed its action on the budget for the remainder of the 2008-2010 biennium. A summary of the key provisions affecting Virginia Commonwealth University and the VCU Health System can be found here: http://www.finance.vcu.edu/pdfs/Conference%20Report%20-%20Preliminary%20Analysis.pdf
The adopted budget uses the federal stimulus funding to significantly soften the budget cuts initially proposed for FY 2010. Among other things, the budget:
* Restores $20.5 million in operating funds to VCU in FY 2010 -- an amount equal to the additional cut originally proposed for FY 2010.
* Provides $1.7 million in additional need-based financial aid -- an increase of 8.5 percent above the current year.
* Restores $4 million of the $6 million cut to Eminent Scholars. VCU's share of the restored funding is about $230,000.
* Raises to $10 (from $3) the per credit hour charge to out-of-state students, requiring VCU to pay to the state an additional $1 million from tuition for state debt service.
* Includes language stating that the stimulus money was intended to mitigate tuition increases for in-state students, and that the Governor and General Assembly will review and report to the federal government the actions of the Boards of Visitors.
* Provides an increase of about $618 million in Medicaid funding statewide, essentially offsetting Medicaid-related cuts to the Health System proposed in the budget as introduced.
The budget now goes back to Governor Kaine, who has the authority to propose changes to the General Assembly during a one-day reconvened session which will take place on April 8. Given the fact that details about specific conditions and requirements for use of the federal stimulus funding are still being developed, it is possible that changes in the budget may still be proposed.
Use of the federal stimulus money to restore the $20.5 million budget cut proposed by Governor Kaine, and the substantial additional Medicaid funds provided are both very positive developments for VCU and the Health System. Nevertheless, the federal money is available for only two years. It is therefore crucial that we prepare this year’s operating budget with one eye on FY 2010 and one eye on FY 2012, when the federal funding expires.
Best regards.
Sincerely,
Eugene P. Trani
President, Virginia Commonwealth University
and
President and Chair, VCU Health System
February 20, 2009
Faculty Senators-
If you have not yet already seen it reported, the VCU Board of Visitors
tonight unanimously voted to name Dr. Michael Rao as the next President
of VCU, beginning July 1, 2009. Dr. Rao is currently the President
of Central Michigan University, the fourth largest university in Michigan with 28,000 students and an operating budget of more than $400 million. You'll see more about his background in the imminent press coverage.
VCU's press release is here at... http://www.news.vcu.edu/news.aspx?v=detail&nid=2801
I first want to say that each of the five faculty members on the VCU
Presidential Search Committee were extremely impressed by Dr.
Rao's interview. His communication skills are superb, he believes
faculty should have a strong role in governance, and he impressed us
with how thoroughly he did his homework about VCU before his interview.
We were delighted to find that the Board of Visitors members on the
search committee liked him for exactly the same reasons. Since our
initial interview with Dr Rao, I have personally called faculty organization
leaders at his current and previous schools and they expressed the
utmost praise for Dr. Rao's collegial attitude, commitment to shared
governance, and respect for the faculty, among other qualities. As he
stated in his interview with the search committee, he believes the
faculty are the key to growing VCU's academic reputation.
His interest in the faculty followed through this week, when he called
me one evening and we talked for over an hour so he could better learn
about faculty concerns and the Faculty Senate at VCU. Today (Friday
the 20th), he again met with the five faculty members on the VCU
Presidential Search Committee (Michael Edmond, School of Medicine;
Catherine Howard, Humanities and Sciences; Rosalyn Hobson, School
of Engineering; Linda Corey, School of Medicine; and myself) and
those members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee who were
able to attend on short notice (David Fauri, School of Social Work;
Cindy Munro, School of Nursing; and Kathryn Murphy-Judy, Humanities
& Sciences). Dr Rao listened intently for over an hour as he asked us
to tell him what the faculty are hoping the next VCU President will
accomplish. I think each of us who have talked with him are extremely
enthusiastic about his future as VCU's next President.
In this note I want to also address something that was on my mind
through much of this search process. Since being named to the VCU
Presidential Search Committee in the fall, I have been repeatedly
advocating that there be public interviews with our finalist candidates
for the president's position, knowing that our faculty wanted an
opportunity to participate in the process. I should note that our other
faculty members on the search committee expressed this desire also.
Unfortunately, we were advised by the leader of our hired search firm,
Jan Greenwood, and our consultant, Steve Portch, that public
interviews are now extremely rare whenever a sitting presidents are
candidates and that confidentiality is requested by top candidates
in almost all such searches. Florida, with its sunshine laws, is a
notable exception, but otherwise public interviews are rare. While I
still wish that the faculty as a whole could have met and questioned
our top candidates, I am resigned to the reality that this is no longer
the norm. While disappointed in this aspect, I am overall extremely
pleased by the way the search process was conducted and the level
of participation of our five faculty members in our search deliberations.
I think if you talked to each of the five of us, all would agree that the
dynamics of the search committee were excellent and all participants--
faculty, board members, staff, alumni, and others all made valued
contributions. Despite an excellent pool of candidates, Dr. Rao was
a clear favorite and was supported by every member of our 17-member
search committee.
Dr. Rao is eager to meet with the Faculty Senate and I'll work to make
that happen before our last meeting on May 5th. I think you'll enjoy
meeting him.
Dr. Rao's photo and vita are available here.
--Dan
Dan Ream
VCU Faculty Senate President, 2007-2009
All faculty are invited to attend the Faculty Senate's annual meeting
with President Eugene Trani on Tuesday, February 3rd at 4:00PM
in the VCU Student Commons Theater.
In addition to addressing questions submitted earlier, President Trani
usually invites questions from the floor