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Brent Jesiek
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Mark McNamee
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2008-02-21
Description
An account of the resource
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:21:02 -0500
From: Provost@vt.edu
To: Multiple recipients <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: A Day of Remembrance: University events on April 16, 2008
Thursday, February 20, 2008
Dear students, faculty, and staff of Virginia Tech
Three weeks ago, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger established a 21-person steering committee to guide the planning of on-campus activities to be held on April 16, 2008, marking the tragedy that occurred on campus one year earlier.
The planning committee included students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members, plus students and family members directly affected by the events. Provost Mark McNamee chaired the committee and Jay Poole, director of the Office of Recovery and Support (ORS), served as vice-chair. Megan Armbruster from ORS provided administrative and operational support.
The committee met three times and openly discussed a range of ideas for the official university observances of the April 16, 2007 tragedy. The committee welcomed input from those who wished to contribute, and benefited greatly from the advice and support of the affected families and students.
Several major decisions emerged by consensus from the committee's deliberations: April 16, 2008 will focus on the lives of the 32 innocent students and faculty members who were killed on April 16, 2007; events will be simple and respectful; opportunities will be provided for anyone who wishes to honor the memories of the victims.
In the spirit of these guidelines, the following events will represent the official university commemoration of "A Day of Remembrance" on April 16, 2008.
==> 10:30 a.m. to noon: University Commemoration Event, Drillfield (rain or shine): The names of each innocent victim and a few words about the special qualities of each person will be read aloud. President Steger will welcome those assembled. (The selection of readers and the format of the readings is still a work in progress.)
==> Sundown (approximately 7:45 p.m.): Candlelight Vigil, Drillfield (rain or shine): The students of Virginia Tech will sponsor and organize a candlelight vigil beginning at sundown. The initial lighting of candles will begin by using a ceremonial candle at the university memorial site that will burn during the entire day.
In addition, between noon and 5 p.m., the university will provide venues across campus where individuals or groups who may wish express or witness remembrances in the form of poetry or other readings; writing; musical or artistic performances; art creation; flower planting; or other activities including service activities. Our goal is to balance opportunities for individual, informal expression with some structured activities. Venues and formats will be announced as plans evolve.
As it becomes available, all information will be posted to the "April 16, 2008: A Day of Remembrance" website (www.remembrance.vt.edu). This website will be linked to the university homepage and will become live during the week of February 25.
Additional Activities
The students of Virginia Tech are also sponsoring a university and community picnic on Sunday April 20, 2008 from 1 to 4 p.m. This picnic will recognize and support everyone who contributed in so many important ways to the April 16, 2007 emergency response, and the immediate and ongoing recovery and support efforts. Introductions will occur at approximately 1:30 p.m.
On April 16, 2008, several private events will be organized in collaboration with the families of the deceased and the injured students. The families and injured students may choose to participate in any of the university events, but they will not be formally identified as participants.
No classes will be held on April 16, 2008, but the university will be open. Faculty and staff may participate in any of the university activities if they wish to. We understand that many faculty, staff, and students do not know how they will feel or react on April 16, 2008. We urge all employees and supervisors to be flexible and to place highest priority on the health and welfare of each individual. We will view April 16, 2008 as a very special workday that will not require staff to take sick leave, personal leave, or vacation time. Some buildings will be closed and those employees will not be expected to report to work. Counseling support will be available throughout campus.
Megan Armbruster from the Office of Recovery and Support will serve as the operational director for the April 16, 2008 events. She has begun her work with many university offices on logistics and support issues, and is assembling a task force for the events. All questions and suggestions should be sent to Armbruster at remembrance@vt.edu.
Mark McNamee
University Provost
Language
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eng
Title
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A Day of Remembrance: University events on April 16, 2008
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anniversary
mcnamee
office of recovery and support
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remembrance
-
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Contributor
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Brent Jesiek
Creator
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Mark G. McNamee
Date
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2007-09-10
Description
An account of the resource
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:50:15 -0400
From: Provost@vt.edu
To: Multiple recipients <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: Provost Update September 10, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Colleagues,
On behalf of President Charles Steger, I have convened and will chair an ad hoc task force to develop recommendations for the future use of the seven former classrooms on the second floor front wing of Norris Hall. The task force membership includes faculty, staff, students, and administrators who represent broad university interests and are sensitive to the impact of the April 16 tragedy. The charge to the task force is to seek input regarding potential uses of the specified space in Norris Hall, review proposals, and to make recommendations.
The task force is advisory to President Steger as he prepares to finalize a decision about the allocation of space in Norris Hall.
The amount of assignable space is approximately 4,500 sq. ft. The remainder of Norris Hall (approximately 35,000 sq. ft.) is occupied by the College of Engineering programs, and includes academic and administrative offices, laboratories, storage and support facilities, and computer rooms. The specified rooms will not be reassigned to their former use, nor will they be a site for a public memorial or museum commemorating the April 16 tragedy. The task force will consider issues of scope, cost, impact, programmic relationships, the strategic plan, long-term vision, access, security, etc. in considering proposals. Because the rooms under consideration are contiguous with the other spaces, the infrastructure issues and potential uses must take the impact on the entire building into account.
I am pleased to announce that the task force is accepting pre-proposals at this time (one to two pages with an emphasis on ideas and concepts). We welcome and encourage all ideas and proposals. Fully developed proposals (i.e., architectural renderings, cost estimates, etc.) will be requested selectively after initial reviews. When submitting a pre-proposal, please:
* Provide the scope and programmatic relationships of the project;
* Include a single contact person and contact information (e-mail, phone, address).
Submissions must be postmarked or hand-delivered by September 30, 2007. We have already received a number of informal suggestions and we will contact everyone who has already offered ideas. We will also be sending letters to the families of victims. Fax or e-mail submissions will not be accepted. Please mail submissions to:
Office of the Provost
Virginia Tech
210 Burruss Hall (0132)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Attention: Norris Hall Task Force
Thank you,
Mark G. McNamee
University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Language
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eng
Title
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Provost Update September 10, 2007
mcnamee
Norris
norris hall
proposals
provost
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-
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Contributor
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Brent Jesiek
Creator
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Mark McNamee
Date
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2007-08-17
Description
An account of the resource
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:25:23 -0400
From: Provost@vt.edu
To: Multiple recipients <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: Provost Update August 17, 2007
August 17, 2007
Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues:
You are probably noticing that the students are moving back to Blacksburg this week. (It is a good time to stay away from Washington Street.) The start of the fall semester is always an exciting time and we will be welcoming over 5,000 freshmen in the great new class of 2011. We will also be welcoming approximately 100 new faculty colleagues across all eight colleges. The first day of class will be a memorable adventure.
Many departments and colleges have been busy this week with pre-semester retreats, planning sessions, and orientations. I realize that you are receiving multiple forms of communication about ongoing and new activities. I am going to highlight a few key issues and events recognizing that you have heard or will hear more about each of these items in different ways.
1. The three internal reviews requested by President Steger will be presented soon. James Hyatt chaired the group looking at infrastructure and security; Erv Blythe chaired the group looking at networking; and Jerry Niles chaired the group looking at the relationships among the academic, judicial, counseling, and legal systems. Each group will provide an overview of existing structures and programs and will make recommendations for enhancements. Some of the relevant items have been or are being implemented already (such as VT Alerts), and a comprehensive summary and outline of additional security enhancements was prepared by Executive Vice President James Hyatt. A note of immediate relevance to faculty instructors: the general assignment classrooms are being fitted with hardware that will allow rooms to be locked from the inside with automatic unlocking features when exiting.
2. The dedication ceremony of the memorial on the Drillfield will be held at noon on Sunday. All members of the university and extended community are invited. Faculty and student representatives will provide brief comments.
3. Human Resources and the Cook Counseling Center are coordinating efforts to provide counseling support to faculty, staff, and students next week. There will be two primary sites staffed by trained professionals: a tent on the Drillfield and Squires Student Center. Counselors will be able to travel to other locations as needed. In addition, counselors will be specifically assigned to a few key locations (including Norris Hall). In April, faculty members implemented a plan to invite a faculty colleague to attend class on the first day. The colleague was available to provide collegial support and to be available, if needed, to help with any issues that came up.
The college deans' offices are helping to promote and encourage a similar system next week. Last spring we relied on the good judgment of faculty members to decide how best to address and respond to the events of April 16. We will do so again. I anticipate that most students and faculty in the classroom will be eager to focus on what we do best: teaching and learning. CEUT held some sessions for faculty this week and will have follow-up sessions over the next few weeks. Your feedback about your experiences and the experiences of the students will be helpful.
4. You have received advice about media attention early in the week. You are free to talk with the media, but you are under no obligation to do so. Also, you can decide what issues you want to discuss. You have control over who is admitted to your classrooms.
5. The "Concert for Virginia Tech" on Thursday, September 6 is going to have an impact on classes that evening. As of now, we are planning to cancel classes beginning at 5 p.m. so that all faculty, staff, and students may attend the concert if they wish. Unlike the situation with football games, the parking lots are open to regular use and no one will be expected to vacate spaces in specific lots. As provost, I am never thrilled when the regular academic schedule is affected by non-academic events. We are going through an important phase of the healing process and I hope you will embrace the positive features of this unique contribution to the Virginia Tech community.
6. One of the highlights of the academic year will be a special program that brings emphasis to our commitment to the unique responsibilities and opportunities that come from being Virginia's senior land-grant university, as well as highlights the Student Engagement component of our Strategic Plan. The program, which we are calling VT-ENGAGE, is a university-wide initiative that reaffirms our motto, Ut Prosim, by facilitating and leading opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to participate in community service, service learning, and volunteerism. During its inaugural year 2007-2008, VT-ENGAGE will honor the victims of the tragedy of April 16 and the commitment to service they demonstrated within their communities worldwide.
A Steering Committee, which includes broad representation of faculty, staff, students, administrators, and community leaders, is working diligently on the planning for VT-ENGAGE. The committee has established a goal of at least 300,000 hours of service/service learning. Each member of the university community will be challenged to commit at least 10 hours during the academic year. We hope that each of you will choose to participate and that you will find creative ways to include the spirit of VT-ENGAGE in your teaching, research, and outreach.
A major event will be held on the Drillfield the evening of October 16 to kick-off VT-ENGAGE. Community organizations are being invited to have displays and to sign-up volunteers. The event will be festive and feature stories of how Virginia Tech students, faculty, staff, students, and alumni make a difference in communities around the world. Much more to come.
We believe VT-ENGAGE will send another positive message that Virginia Tech is a very special community with a spirit that does indeed prevail.
Best wishes for a successful start to the new academic year.
Mark McNamee
University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Language
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eng
Title
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Provost Update August 17, 2007
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