VCU LGBT Subcommittee of the Equity and Diversity Committee
Friday, January 20, 2006 from 12 - 1:00 pm
Minutes
Minutes of December 2005 were reviewed and approved with the following change:
“Whether or not this will be our spring event is still to be decided” was added to the discussion about our possible partnering with the School of Education’s Diversity Committee proposed conference.
The co-chair announced that the February agenda was filling quickly. It will include the following:
Ford Foundation Grant Consortium information—Janet Winston will present this.
Report from School of Education Diversity Committee Representatives.
Equity and Diversity proposal re: adding gender identity expression to VCU’s
non-discrimination policy—Jeremy Kidd will report on this.
Spring Event – are we holding one?
Equity and Diversity Committee of VCU Update: The meetings are irregular, but we have had representation there. The committee is beginning a 2 year planning process for a 5 year strategic plan.
Developing our plan for next 4 months - What are our next steps re:
1. Domestic Partner Benefits Proposal
· Meeting w/ Mike Fuller re: developing private funding. Marianne will take a lead on contacting him to discuss this issue.
· Follow-up with Cindy Andrews—Dorothy will contact Cindy to look at the University of Florida domestic partner benefit package (especially how it is funded and what they are anticipating from state legislature) and to request the Palmer and Cay report and to ask about Florida International and domestic partner benefits.
2. Supporting Resource Center/Funds
· Dorothy will follow up with Jeremy to see where the resource center is in process.
3. Partnering w/ School of Education Diversity Committee
· This committee is meeting next week and will report back to us at our February meeting. At that time we need to decide what type of endorsement we will make about their conference.
4. Equity and Diversity re: adding language about gender identity expression to VCU's non-discrimination policy.
· Jeremy will discuss the update on this at the February meeting.
5. Developing an Annual Award.
· Marilyn, Jeff, and Randi will meet and take a lead on bringing back ideas to the committee about this. This will be on the agenda for the March meeting.
6. Update about gift money from Mike Fuller.
"$3,000 in funding is available for LGBT Initiatives. $2,000 represents two payments made by the donor and one matching payment of $1,000 from his employer. The second match payment has not been received. According to the gift agreement, there will be a total of 10 payments of $1,000 each made by the donor. His employer will match those payments as long as he is in their employ."
This money is sitting in the VCU Foundation and will have to be transferred to another account that has been established by the Provost's Office for the LGBT group. The group needs to determine the total amount it wants to spend this year and then send an email request to Linda Dorsey, asking that she arrange the transfer of that amount. It is important that the group request a sufficient amount because the Foundation won't transfer money in drips and drabs.
Mr. Fuller's donation is considered local money so there is more flexibility in how it can be spent. Unused funds at the end of this fiscal year will roll forward to the next fiscal year; however, there must be money in the account before expenditures can be made (no deficit spending).
Kimberly Woolf assists Linda Dorsey. All purchasing requests should be sent by email to Kim, who will process them. Please cc Linda on all emails sent to Kim.
7. We reviewed our goals for 2005-2006 and decided to add the web page and the spring event to our to do list. Dorothy will follow up with Melody in the Provost’s Office about the status of our web page.
Goals 05-06
(1) Advance the Domestic Partner Benefits Proposal through the university system.
(2) Increase visibility of the University Committee on LGBT Issues by hosting a fall (and possibly spring) reception.
(3) Capitalize on the increasing interest in how universities attract and retain diverse faculty, staff, and students, given the legislative climate in Virginia.
(4) Increase membership.
(5) Strengthen connections that already exist and make those visible, i.e. Safe Zone link to our web page.
(6) Strengthen web page visibility of the committee.
(7) Outreach to LGBT students
Next meeting Friday February 10 at noon in the 3rd floor conference room of Cabell Library (go through the media center to find the conference room.