VACUHO Meeting Minutes
April 13, 2015
The College of William & Mary
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Call to order – 10:35 am
o Welcome!
o In attendance:
 Terry Fassanella-W&M
 April Palmer-W&M
 Nicole Banks-VCU
 Stephanie Milner-GMU
 Kenzel Hill-ODU
 Dan Zimmerman-ODU
 Josh Justice-UVA Wise
 Melissa Thierry-GMU
 Kristen Cooper-Lynchburg
 Shylan Scott-W&M
 Amanda Anderson-Radford
 Brandi McKee-Radford
 Robert Gutierrez –Longwood
 Joey Allen-GMU
 Rodney Franks-W&M
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Professional Development
 Article from Inside Higher Ed – Some college leaders are responding
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quickly to racist and sexist incidents
Considering our staff members who live/work on campus - who protects
housing officers after hours from offensive speech? A student can curse
out a staff member, but a co-worker would go to HR if similar comments
were made.
Consumerism of students but when they pick and choose when to be a consumer;
is it a consumer experience or a public space? Government needing to get
involved?
At what point does a student’s complaint about a staff member become
defamation?
Tracking students’ cyber-speech via IP addresses
You can claim the 1st Amendment but that doesn’t make the offensive comment
okay
Micro-aggressions on campus and addressing those incidents developmentally.
It does happen at _______ campus. Students have the perception that it doesn’t
happen here. Good opportunity for professional development/programming.
Living in the age of documentation; we document every piece of incidents
including all staff responses. People not satisfied until the university President
responds. Sometimes, even when the President responds, it’s not enough of a
response or the right response.
Considering decisions you’re making and how would you defend that in a court
case; how to you defend your decisions day-to-day in parent calls, etc.
www.vacuho.org
VACUHO is dedicated to the education and professional development of housing and residence life staff at institutions of higher education in Virginia.
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What drives our decision making? Integrity issue for professionals? Example of
how Oklahoma staffers likely knew about issues with fraternity before the video
aired.
Old Business
o SEAHO was held recently. Thanks for participation. Refer to Shylan’s recent e-mail
updates. There is a logo contest (see recent e-mails). Terry was able to attend the
president’s meeting at SEAHO and had a very enlightening experience. VACUHO is in a
good place compared to some other state organizations in terms of website, governing
council, and budget.
o CHO Summit – is this still an item of interest? Kristen Cooper has been talking with
Amber Mullen about offering to host. Chris Porter has also offered to host.
o VACURH was held at Mary Baldwin in February. Students seemed to get a lot out of the
programming sessions. Morale was a little low due to the inclement weather. Conference
staff did a great job trying to accommodate everyone’s needs. Boardroom was very
interesting. April shared that she will be working with her students on etiquette and
professionalism moving forward. It’s important for students to remember that they are
representing their institutions at all times.
 Discussion about VACURH Advisor and the advisors listserv: Concerns about
dual roles of the VACURH Advisor during VACURH. Concerns were expressed
about what kind of information we pass along to the advisor when they start.
How are we setting the advisor up for success? They may have older transition
materials that may not be relevant anymore. Do we need to revisit/update a
policy manual so the VACURH Advisor is more connected with VACUHO? It
may be time to redefine our relationship with the state board.
o RA Conference for the fall: Stephanie has advised and hosted conferences in the past.
She has reviewed the bid. Students have started getting things set up. Joey is working
with them to get the website ready to go. Right now they are focusing on logistics (room
reservations, hotel accommodations) and such. In June, they will have more updates. Joey
has been working with the students a lot. The students have a good timeline. Housing
everything through the VACUHO website is making things easier.
 Question regarding any critical points or oversights in the RA conference
planning process in the past:
 cost of conference (discussed slightly lowering it)
 promoting it earlier than later (there has sometimes been a disconnect in
information-sharing)
 bare-bones schedules good to share so that travel plans can be made
 registration site is available for use so RA conference doesn’t have to
make its own every time
 advisor/professional staff round-table would be nice
 share information about expectations (roll call, banners, service, etc.).
 What other conferences are available for non-RA student positions? VASPA
Student Leadership Conference – now known as VLA. This conference is
appropriate for all student leaders. This will be May 13-15, 2015.
 Is it worthwhile to consider a track at RA conference for non-RA
positions (desk assistants, night clerks, etc.)?
 Could schools afford to send students?
 Continued discussion into addressing generation gap of having to make
everyone be included. Are there differences in student positions? Are
some student jobs more developmental than others? Are there just some
jobs that are different and wouldn’t necessitate a student conference?
 Could we broaden program offerings and show what could be applicable
for desk assistants?
www.vacuho.org
VACUHO is dedicated to the education and professional development of housing and residence life staff at institutions of higher education in Virginia.
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Consider opening up registration for anyone who could benefit if we
have space left after RAs have registered?
Important to be fiscally responsible and understand how to send the right
students to the right conferences.
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New Business
o Listserv – should we honor requests from non .edu accounts or out of state accounts?
 Important to have our own space
 Concerns about vendors being included – more sales/solicitation e-mails
 What are we doing to promote the listerv as a resource? Reminding people to
sign up again if they change institutions within Virginia. You have the chance to
control your own involvement.
 Not everything has to go out via e-mail – the website’s continued maintenance
can be a benefit
 Add a button to the website requesting to be removed from listserv to make
maintenance easier
 Could we add important information to the Facebook page? That way people can
like the page without being added to the listserv.
 Rather than policy, do we create different terms for messages?
o Scholarships (Ken – not present)
o Summer Drive-In Conference (Jimmy – not present)
o Bids for the 2016 RA Conference – Terry will follow up
o Summer Retreat @ GMU
 June 11-12
o September Meeting @ Radford
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Breakout Groups –
o VACUHO Monthly Calendar
 Regional Ambassadors – regional ambassadors consider breaking up in a
different way – (large private, small private, large public, small public, etc.)
Considering revamping the role of the regional ambassadors (researching, etc.)
 Possibility of creating an intern/grad student social over the summer
 The question raised by the regional ambassadors resulted in a discussion about
how policies/job descriptions may be changed per our constitution. The
constitution and policy manual were reviewed. This area will be revisited at the
summer retreat.
 Please send notes to Terry to synthesize.
o Pros and Cons of VACUHO Swag
 Different levels of swag? (Membership, GC, recognition)
 Questions about the budget – what kind of amount would we need to discuss?
 Pins? Polo shirts?
 Further discussion with pricing details over the summer.
o VACUHO  SEAHO (ideas for how to be more involved)
 Overall looking at tangible ways to increase involvement.
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Member Reports & Goals
o President: Terry Fassanella
 Please send Terry any follow up ideas or information related to the retreat or any
topics discussed at today’s meeting.
o Past President: Ken Belcher (not present)
o President Elect: Brandi McKee
 I’m tasked with overseeing transition. I will be contacting everyone regarding
what, if any, transition materials you have. I’ll also solicit what would be helpful
for you as you transitioned into your position.
www.vacuho.org
VACUHO is dedicated to the education and professional development of housing and residence life staff at institutions of higher education in Virginia.
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Business Manager: Rodney Franks (not present at the time of reports)
Secretary Historian: Amanda Anderson
 No report.
SEAHO Representative: Shylan Scott
 Please consider submitting something to the SEAHO report – you have until
June. Possible options: motivating volunteers, how GC works, etc. Send Shylan
e-mails about any topics you think the state might want to hear about.
Technology Coordinator: Joey Allen
 Grad programs in the state. If the grad rep can update what grad programs exist,
please let Joey know.
 Encourage everyone (back at your campuses) to like us on facebook and twitter.
Facebook is “Virginia Association of College and University…” not just
VACUHO. The focus at this time is facebook.
 The website is being updated all the time.
Assessment Coordinator: Dan Zimmerman
 Demographic survey information to be sent out in September. Do we have a
Survey Monkey account? Member needs assessment?
CHO Representative: Amber Mullen (not present)
Professional Development Chair: Jimmy Whited (not present)
VACURH Advisor: Amber Keen Ellis (not present)
RA Conference Chair: Stephanie Milner
 If there are any ideas or suggestions for the RA conference, send them her way
Regional Ambassadors:
 Southeast: April Palmer
 Northern: Melissa Garza Thierry
 Been in contact with Shenandoah and they’ve inquired about webinars
and other PD opportunities that don’t require travel. This could be a good
topic to work on/research and discuss at the summer meeting
 Central: Robert Gutierrez
 Capital: Nicole Banks
Graduate Student Representative: Kenzel Hill
 Working on the careers in student affairs project
Other Announcements
o Thanks William & Mary for hosting!
Rattus Gluteus Maximus Award: Shylan Scott for her hard work with SEAHO!
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Meeting Adjourned at 2:35 pm.
Minutes Recorded by: Amanda L. Anderson, Secretary/ Historian
www.vacuho.org
VACUHO is dedicated to the education and professional development of housing and residence life staff at institutions of higher education in Virginia.