Office of the Provost

Dear VCU Faculty: As you likely know, VCU’s Board of Visitors today, exercising their authority to determine university graduation mandates, signaled their support for the courses created to implement VCU’s Racial Literacy requirement but voted against mandating the requirement. Obviously, this is not the outcome for which we worked. As I told the Board, I […]

Thanks to the dedication and expertise of our faculty, VCU has the capacity to support a Racial Literacy requirement for incoming students as part of the General Education curriculum. I greatly appreciate and support our faculty’s work to develop these courses.  In March, the VCU Board of Visitors requested more information about the Racial Literacy […]

During its meeting today, the VCU Board of Visitors asked for a presentation about the university’s racial literacy graduation requirement at a future meeting of the board’s Academic and Health Affairs Committee (AHAC). The board made clear that it was not discussing the content of any individual courses, only the requirement. We will continue to […]

We’re writing with updates regarding the Racial Literacy requirement. Our most recent update is located here to refresh your memory. Approval timelineThe racial literacy work group is providing assurance that they are working with faculty on 15 new courses, which could bring our total to 17. If the total number of available seats across all […]

Dear VCU Faculty and Staff, We write to share with you our progress in implementing VCU’s racial literacy requirement. You can read previous updates on the collaboration between faculty leaders and administrators to launch this requirement for fall 2024. Here is the latest. 1. The University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UUCC) recommended at its October 19 […]

Dear Council of Deans (copy Associates Forum) and Faculty Senate Leadership: The University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UUCC), consistent with its responsibility for facilitating implementation of strategic initiatives related to undergraduate curricula, including responsibility for general education requirements, is issuing a call for courses to fill the racial literacy requirement. The need is urgent and it […]

Dear VCU Faculty and Staff: I write today to share with you a student-centered decision to extend the implementation of VCU’s racial literacy requirement and the steps we will take with our faculty, through the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UUCC) to better position the institution to enact this requirement. Two years ago, the UUCC adopted […]

Message from the Provost Thank you for an amazing academic year! I often say that great universities don’t simply fall from the sky. They are built intentionally – one decision, one student, and one discovery at a time. And they are built through the tremendous work of incredible faculty and staff members. As we prepare […]

Message from the Provost Dear VCU faculty and staff: You are inspiring! I cannot count the number of deep and meaningful conversations I have enjoyed with you, and our colleagues, since I launched the One VCU Academic Repositioning Task Force in the spring of 2023. We’ve talked about broad societal changes that are reshaping our […]

Message from the Provost SACSCOC ReaccreditationThis week we host SACSCOC evaluators as part of the university’s ten-year reaccreditation process. This intense and multifaceted effort began a few years ago and I’m grateful to the many faculty and staff members who placed VCU in such a strong position to go through this examination. That’s especially true […]