Every month, Mark Gulling, president of global business services and chief information officer at MeadWestvaco, holds a “straight talk” meeting with employees. It’s a chance for staff members to ask questions about whatever is on their minds. The discussions can be difficult, and some have revolved around layoffs or other cuts. “The formula I have is really simple—it’s one of honesty,“ Gulling said.

Virginia Commonwealth University has named six finalists for dean of its Business School, including the interim dean and the retiring president of Disneyland Resort. The finalists, who will be on campus for interviews and meetings with students and faculty during the next month, are:

• David Urban, a VCU marketing professor who is serving as interim dean of the School of Business;

The idea to renovate the 27-year-old chapel at VCU Medical Center’s main hospital began three years ago, but plans to move ahead with the project have since stalled amid a weak economy. Capital improvements are on hold and charitable giving has slowed, said Ann Charlescraft, manager for bereavement services at the hospital. But Charlescraft said she remains confident that a fundraising campaign and a rebounding economy will help the Department of Pastoral Care raise the remaining $150,000 to complete the $200,000 project by the end of the year. She said construction could take up to six weeks.

A former employee of Virginia Commonwealth University Health System will serve five years in prison for embezzling $782,600. Charlotte Scott, 47, pleaded guilty in December to seven felony counts of embezzlement. Authorities say she used VCU funds to buy GRTC Transit System tickets and resell them at lower prices for her own profit. Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley B. Cavedo yesterday sentenced Scott to 70 years in prison, with all but five years suspended.

Some of the newer smokeless products that tobacco companies are betting on may not be as good at helping smokers quit as the industry hopes, a new federally funded study by Virginia Commonwealth University shows. And that means they may not be the kind of reduced-harm product that is the industry’s latest hope, now that tobacco is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Winning FDA designation as a “potential reduced-exposure product” could be worth billions of dollars, and a key element of that could be whether an item keeps smokers from lighting up.

University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III will retire next summer after 20 years at the helm of one of the nation’s Public Ivies. Calling his time at U.Va. “magical,“ Casteen, 65, told the board of visitors yesterday that he will step down Aug. 1, 2010, and said he is “eager to applaud what comes next.“ Under Casteen’s leadership, the university founded by Thomas Jefferson has consistently ranked at the top of academic standings.

Virginia State University has received a $200,000 donation to establish a scholarship in honor of Millard D. “Pete” Stith Jr., Chesterfield’s deputy county administrator. The gift is from William H. Goodwin Jr. and his wife, Alice. Stith served on the VSU board of visitors from 1994 to 1998 and as rector from 1996 to 1997. He was instrumental in organizing Chesterfield County’s annual Black History Month concerts at VSU.

With cheers, tears, bouncing balls and happy calls, about 2,500 students celebrated their graduation from Virginia Commonwealth University yesterday. “It was worth the wait—30 years—to get this,“ said Valerie Mack of Chesterfield County, who received her bachelor’s degree in social work yesterday, a goal she started working on in 1979 and delayed while she raised five children.

A renewal of the sense of urgency from the civil-rights movement is needed to close the nation’s educational achievement gap, Virginia Union University graduates were told yesterday. “To be sure, education is the new civil-rights agenda,“ Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones told graduates of his alma mater. Fifty-five years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing school segregation, much work still needs to be done to change the paradigm of educational opportunities, he said.

Richmond could need a fresh supply of school principals in the near future. Educators at Virginia Commonwealth University think they know how to fill that need. Thanks to a $5.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that was announced yesterday, the two can begin working together on a novel approach to training school administrators.

With the cost of higher education continuing to rise, many parents are left trying to figure out how to pay for their child to go to college. Financial aid experts say there are many opportunities that will help parents and students pay for school. The best place for parents to look is at the schools where they’ve applied and been accepted.

Trani and his wife, Lois. Eugene Trani will begin his new role teaching in VCU’s Honors College in the fall of 2010 after a yearlong sabbatical. Trani, who will have the title of distinguished professor, also will conduct research as a 12-month employee. Under terms of his contract, he will receive about three-fourths of his presidential salary.

Virginia Commonwealth University will have a food drive starting Tuesday to help support the Central Virginia Foodbank, Meals on Wheels and Community Kitchen. This is the first time individual departments and organizations have collaborated on a universitywide effort, and VCU officials hope for a good turnout. “We have a lot of contacts and a lot of people who have huge hearts,“ said Rebecca Jones, marketing and public relations manager for VCU business services.

Maybe it was one of those inexplicable, intuitive bonds between twins. Perhaps it was a premonition of the horrible news that lay immediately ahead. Then again, it could have been nothing more than a coincidence.

Some might call Virginia Commonwealth University’s Amy Hauft the “Queen of the Hill” as chairwoman of the sculpture department ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report. The heads of the schools nipping most persistently at Hauft’s heels - Yale University (No. 2 in the rankings ), the Rhode Island School of Design (No. 3) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (No. 4) - no doubt would love to knock Hauft off her summit and claim the hill for themselves.