Here is Vice-President Frank Macrina's August 5th e-mail invitation along with a link to the Task Force's web site, where comments from the July Town Hall meeting at the MCV Campus are provided......

The VCU Task Force on Corporate Sponsored Research will hold its
second Town Meeting on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, from 4:00 until 6:00
p.m. in the Commons Theater of the University Student Commons (907 Floyd
Avenue, on the Monroe Park Campus). Attendees from the MCV Campus
should note that the closest parking is the West Main Street Deck at
801 W. Main Street. Also the shuttle (Campus Connector) runs from several
stops on the MCV campus (including Sanger Hall) to the Cabell Library, just
across the street from the Student Commons.

A reminder will be sent as September 3rd approaches. I hope you
will be able to attend and add your voice to the deliberations of the Task
Force. Should you wish to submit written comments to the Task Force at any
time prior to or after the upcoming Town Meeting, please used the attached
form.

You can follow the activities of the Task Force by visiting:
http://www.research.vcu.edu/vpr/corporate_sponsor.htm .

Best regards,

Francis L. Macrina, Ph.D.
Edward Myers Professor of Dentistry and
Vice President for Research
Virginia Commonwealth University

Resolution to Support Amendment of VCU’s Reaffirmation Statement of the Equal Opportunity Policy to Include Gender Identity and Gender Expression

Whereas, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) already protects its students, faculty, and staff from discrimination based on age, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, political affiliation, or disability, but does not include gender identity or gender expression;

Whereas, gender has come to be understood as an element of identity and expression distinct from physical sex;

Whereas, transgender, transsexual, and other gender-variant students, faculty, and staff have faced discrimination on and off campus, through threats and harassment in such activities such as employment, restroom use, housing, and health care;

Whereas, protecting its students, faculty, and staff is the responsibility of the university;
Whereas, the first step that the university should take to protect these students, faculty, and staff is to add gender identity and gender expression to the VCU Reaffirmation Statement of the Equal Opportunity Policy;

Whereas, it is essential that each student be given an equal opportunity to learn and thrive while at VCU;

Whereas, gender-variant students, faculty, and staff must be free from discrimination or harassment if they are to effectively carry out their duties and the university’s mission;
Whereas, since 1992, 147 universities, including nine of our peer institutions (New York University, Syracuse University, The Ohio State University, University of Arizona, University of Illinois–Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, University of New Mexico, and University of Southern California), have implemented a non-discrimination policy including gender identity and gender expression;

Therefore, Be It Resolved that VCU’s Reaffirmation Statement of the Equal Opportunity Policy be amended as follows:

Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution providing access to education and employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, sex, religion, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, political affiliation, gender identity or gender expression.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

VCU will adopt a mandatory submission of electronic theses and dissertations (ETD’s) in the Fall 2009 semester.

The proposal for mandatory submission, in draft document format, outlines the changes in policy and major procedural decisions points needed to implement this initiative and is available from the Libraries Advisory Committee. Highlights of this document are:
o The software platform for ETDs will move to the open source DSpace system
o Intent of the new system is to maximize open access to theses and dissertations; simplification of the submission process and file integrity are guiding principles.
o The procedure/policy for VCU to embargo access to certain ETD material under certain conditions has been developed.
o Copyright issues have been considered.
o Recommendation has been made to make UMI/Proquest deposits mandatory.
o The new mandatory ETD platform provides the opportunity to streamline the workflow for the ETD; the workflow is detailed in the draft document.
o Students can opt to have their theses and dissertation bound via professional bindery services; VCU will discontinue such services.
o Total fee for mandatory ETD is Masters Thesis is $45.00 - $100.00; for PhD dissertation, $55.00 - $120.
o Timetable is detailed in draft document.

These are the Core Curriculum, as it was presented and accepted by the
University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UUCC),
and a transition document which they are using to accept courses
into the Core.

Please share these with your school or department faculty and
bring questions or concerns for discussion at our next Senate
meeting with Dr. Marolla.

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

Senators who know adjunct faculty in their school or department who
might be interested in participating on this committee should have interested
adjunct faculty contact Judy at jalewis@vcu.edu We hope to have adjunct
faculty from a variety of schools and with a variety of experiences at VCU
participate on this committee.
.

Dan Ream
VCU Faculty Senate President, 2007/2008

The immediate beneficiaries of this collection of comments will be
Bob Andrews and Patricia Selinger, who are representing the
Faculty Senate in the current evaluation of prospective VCU bookstore
management companies. These prospective vendors are seeking
contracts to run our VCU bookstores from 2008-1013, with renewal
options after that. Faculty comments about current and recently past
bookstore services will enable them to better spot potential problem
areas and strengths in selecting our next vendor.

Our Faculty Senate Academic Support Services Committee, chaired
by Valerie Robnolt, may also use these comments in their design of
a faculty-wide survey regarding VCU bookstores to be administered
later this fall.

The Faculty Senate Blackboard page can be found on all senators'
and alternates' Blackboard pages after login at
http://blackboard.vcu.edu/

Thanks for your help in this information gathering process that
may lead to improvements in the VCU bookstores services to
our students.

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

The text and history of this bill can be read online at
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+sum+HB1643

The summary, as introduced, reads....
"Requires each public institution of higher education to annually
report to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
(SCHEV) the steps the institution is taking to ensure intellectual
diversity and the free exchange of ideas. SCHEV must compile
the information and report to the General Assembly by
December 31 of each year"

It was left in the Education Committee of the House in 2007,
but may return again in 2008, so please take a look at it.

For editorials, analysis, etc on this bill, see these
Google search results at http://tinyurl.com/398lz6
At least the first two screens of search results are
on this particular legislation.

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

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

From a message posted by provost Stephen Gottfredson on 9/30/2007....

Earlier this year, the University Equity and Diversity Committee,
with the aid of the VCU Survey and Evaluation Research Lab, conducted a
survey of all faculty and staff to help evaluate the working atmosphere
of the University as it relates to diversity. Of the 4,672 full-time
faculty and staff at VCU, 2,051(44%) responded to the survey.

The results of the survey are now available on the University Equity
and Diversity Web site at http://www.vcu.edu/eeoaa/uedc.html. Also on
that site is the report of an outside consulting firm, Kinzey and Day
Market Research, which conducted focus groups in an effort to further
elucidate some of the issues identified in the University-wide survey.

Overall, the survey results show that we have much to be proud of --
94% of respondents reported being proud to work for VCU, and 89%
of respondents would recommend VCU as a place to work.

But we also found that we have areas for improvement -- for example,
in retaining and promoting women and minorities, and in ensuring that
classified staff feel valued as vital members of the VCU community.

The University Equity and Diversity Committee will be hard at work
in the coming months, translating findings into an action agenda.
I'm pleased to report that Dr. Henry G. Rhone, Vice Provost for Student
Affairs and Enrollment Services, has agreed to chair the Committee
this year. He follows Dr. Beverly Warren, Dean of the School of
Education, who ably led the Committee throughout the development
and implementation of the Climate Survey and an initial draft of a
University Strategic Plan for Diversity.

I am also pleased to announce that Dr. M. Njeri Jackson has agreed to
serve the University as Special Assistant to the Provost for Promoting
Diversity. Dr. Jackson comes to this role following nine years as
director of the African American Studies Program and chair of the
Department of African American Studies in the College of Humanities
and Sciences. Dr. Jackson was instrumental in building the African
American Studies Program into a free-standing academic department,
and in gaining University and SCHEV approval of the bachelor's
degree in African American Studies. She is an associate professor
of Political Science in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government
and Public Affairs, and holds degrees from Georgia State University
(BA), Atlanta University (MA), and Clark-Atlanta University (PhD).
An accomplished teacher and scholar in the areas of race, class and
gender, Dr. Jackson has received numerous awards.

Finally, I extend my sincere appreciation to all of you who
participated in the Climate Survey and Focus Groups.

Sincerely,

Stephen D. Gottfredson
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Here is the agenda: Download file