VUU chief to leave June 30
Virginia Union has become the third area university in search of a new president with Belinda Childress Anderson's announcement that she'll step down June 30.
Anderson told faculty members Tuesday the date that she will leave the job she has held for five years, and she reiterated that it was her decision to move on.
"This is her decision, and she wanted the faculty to know that," said Lucille Brown, a member of VUU's board of trustees who attended the faculty meeting. Anderson announced Nov. 25 that she would resign to make way for new leadership, but did not say when.
Brown said she attended the faculty meeting as "a source of support" for Anderson and to thank her "for her leadership and for what she has done for us."
Brown, a retired superintendent for Richmond Public Schools, said she expects the board to form a presidential search committee soon.
Virginia Commonwealth University already has such a committee looking for a successor for President Eugene P. Trani, who also will step down June 30.
Next week, Virginia State University's board of visitors will hold a special meeting to discuss the search for a president to succeed Eddie N. Moore Jr., who will leave June 30, 2010. Moore, president since 1993, announced his plans last year.
Anderson's decision to resign at VUU puts in question whether she will remain a delegate representing Virginia on the regional accreditation commission after she leaves the school.
This weekend the commission will consider VCU's report on steps it has taken since improperly awarding a degree to Richmond's former police chief.
Anderson did not return phone calls, but she will attend the annual meeting in San Antonio of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, said Vanessa Moody Coombs, vice president for university relations.
However, Virginia delegates will recuse themselves from considering whether any action should be taken in VCU's case, said Tom E. Benberg, the commission's chief of staff.
VSU's Moore is also one of the seven members on the Virginia delegation and will attend the commission meeting.
VCU has submitted a report to the commission on how Rodney Monroe, now police chief of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, N.C., was awarded a degree in 2007 even though he fell far short of meeting academic requirements.
A spokeswoman for Monroe said this week that he has not made a decision on whether he will return the degree or take additional courses to complete requirements.
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