[2008-11-20] November 20, 2008 A Regular Meeting of the Board of Visitors

              November 20, 2008
A Regular Meeting of the Board of Visitors
Minutes
A regular meeting of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University reconvened on Thursday, November 20, 2008, at 9 a.m. in the Benjamin J. Lambert III Board Room located in the Critical Care Hospital at 1213 East Clay Street.
Present were Messrs. Rosenthal (Rector), Hurtado, Jones, McCandlish, Robertson, Siegel and Snead; Drs. Bersoff, Broaddus, Doswell, Romano and Shapiro; and Mesdames Lambert and Rhodes. Messr. Baldacci and Jackson were absent. Also present were Drs. Trani, Gottfredson, Huff, Macrina, Moriarty, Portch, Retchin and Rhone; Messrs. Bennett, Gehring, Ross and Wyeth; and Mesdames Balmer, Lepley and Messmer.
The Report of the Rector and the Report of the President were presented. A moment of silence was observed for Mrs. Rozanne Epps, former member of the Board of Visitors. Mrs. Epps died on Sunday, November 16, 2008, after a brief illness.
Dr. Shapiro reported for the Student Affairs Committee. A Report on the Policies Related to Campus Safety was presented. The Assistant Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services and the Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Services presented two new policies and the modification of an existing policy in response to legislation enacted by the 2008 General Assembly requiring the Boards of Visitors at public institutions to create policies and procedures safeguarding universities while striking a balance between concerns of individual privacy and public safety. The legislation is specified in the Code of Virginia. Highlights included:
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Release of the Educational Record of a Dependent Student – New Policy
VCU has developed a policy and implementing procedures for the educational record of a dependent student to be released to parent(s) upon request provided either the parent(s) submits evidence that the parent(s) declare the student as a dependent on their most recent federal income tax forms or the student consents to the release of the educational record to parent(s).
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Parental Notification for Dependent Students Receiving Mental Health Treatment – New Policy
VCU has developed a policy and implementing procedures for notification of parents of dependent students who receive mental health treatment at the University’s student health or counseling centers and when there is a substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness, the student will in the near future (1) cause serious physical harm to himself/herself or others as evidenced by recent behavior or any other relevant information or (2) suffer serious harm due to his/her lack of capacity to protect himself/herself from harm or to provide for his/her basic human needs.
Notification to parents may be withheld if the student's treating physician or treating clinical psychologist has noted in the student's record a written statement that, in his/her professional judgment, the notification would be likely to cause substantial harm to the student or another person. The procedures pertain to all University Counseling Services (UCS) and all University Student Health Services (USHS) staff involved in clinical consultation and/or direct service delivery to Virginia Commonwealth University students.
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Threat Assessment and Violence Prevention - Existing Policy-Modified
The Human Resources and VCU Police policy on Threat Assessment and Violence Prevention intended for faculty and staff has been expanded into a campus-wide policy. VCU has in place policies and procedures for the prevention of violence on campus; has charged the Provost’s University Safety Committee with the responsibility for the education and prevention of violence on campus; and has charged the Threat Assessment Team to assess campus threats and respond to incidents as appropriate.
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