Minutes
June 3, 2005
University Committee on LGBT Issues
Present: Jan Altman, Chris Burnside, Donna Coghill, Marianne Miller, Martha Moon, Barbara Munjas
Domestic Partner Benefits Proposal
CB reported on the Equity & Diversity Committee May 24th meeting (Both he and Marianne Miller attended from our LGBT committee). At the meeting by unanimous vote, the E&D committee endorsed the Proposal. The Provost attended the meeting and said that he would submit the proposal to the President and Vice Presidents for their approval. The E&D committee also discussed potential funding scenarios that might make the proposal look more attractive to the upper administration.
Our LGBT committee agreed that this was a momentous moment and could not have happened without everyone’s contribution to the writing BUT most especially could not have happened without the writing/indepth research skills of Sarah Watstein and Donna Coghill.
LGBT Representation to Equity and Diversity for 2005-06
It was decided that Marianne Miller will be the representative from our committee on Next Year’s Equity and Diversity Committee. Jan Altman will serve as the alternate.
Membership
At this time there are no restrictions on membership for this committee.
Next Meeting
The next meeting after a July hiatus, will be Friday August 26th , 12:00 – 1:00 pm.
The focus of the meeting will be on the Fall Welcome Reception.
Monthly Meeting Day & Time for 2005-06
The following is the Meeting Schedule for 2005-06
August 26th
September 9th
October 14th
November 11th
December 9th
January 20th
February 10th
March 10th
April 14th
May 12th
June 9th
All meetings will be from 12:00noon – 1:00 pm.
Fall Welcome Reception
Welcome Reception is tentatively set for Wednesday September 7th, 4:30 – 6:30 pm. Martha has put in a reservation request for the Commons for that date. Mass Mailing Announcement should be done through the Provost’s Office for this event and should include faculty/staff/students. Martha will send announcement copy (which will include mention of September 9th meeting of the Committee) to Marianne, David, & Dorothy who will take care of requesting the mass mailing. It will also be important to send the announcement to VCU Health Systems as well. We should remember to send information out to the LGBT student groups and/or go by to their first meetings and invite them.
Someone should also contact Carolyn Henne in the School of the Arts Dean’s Office, to request that email be sent out to School of the Arts Undergraduate List (828-2787 and/or ). Jan Altman will work with ARAMARK for the reception food. Martha Moon will be the contact/responsible person.
Fond Farewell
Committee officially bid farewell to Retiring Mr. Burnside who would like to say the following: “I think the work that this committee has done has been incredibly important to the quality of Life for EVERYONE here at VCU. Each member of this committee has been responsible for the progress that has been made. Lots yet to do, but changes HAVE been REALIZED !!! Special thanks to Sarah Watstein for all she gave to the committee and to me. Plan to be hanging around some, so look forward to sharing further riffraff.”