Maureen Burns & Jeanette Mills, Co-Chairs
Education Committee
February 9, 2004
Annual Report 2003

Current Charge
Charge under review by the VRA Board:
To engage in research, build accessible resources, and share information about educational and professional development opportunities for the VRA membership by remaining in contact with appropriate members of related professional organizations and educational institutions. To regularly solicit information from the VRA membership about interests and educational concerns in order to develop supportive programming at the annual conference and as other opportunities arise.

Accomplishments
Portland conference workshop ideas were explored and implemented by Betha Whitlow, Margo Ballantyne, and Jeannette Mills. Potential workshop topics were obtained by polling the VRA membership through the feedback form on the Education Committee web site (http://vraeducation.ucdavis.edu/Feedback.htm) and by using the results of the Education Committee membership survey compiled by Karin Whalen. The committee members attending the annual meeting in Houston discussed the possibilities, considered the likelihood of implementation, and then determined priorities to pursue.

Jeanette connected with the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and they are interested in offering their pre-packaged workshops at our conferences, but they traditionally collect all of the income from such an arrangement. The VRA would provide the space, AV equipment, and refreshments while SAA would provide the instructors (including associated costs), course materials, and one free registration to a VRA member. Although they were open to new ideas about co-sponsorship, especially with this type of professional collaboration, adjustments to this agreement were not explored at this time. The Education Committee voted and came up with a prioritized list of the existing SAA workshops that they think have the most potential for VRA: 1) Grant Proposal Writing, 2) Archival Perspectives on Digital Preservation, and 3) Ethical Problem Solving (votes were placed for other workshops too and a list has been archived). All of this information was sent to the Portland program planners. Although excited about the prospect of SAA collaboration, they expressed concerns about the business model proposed by SAA and the need to tailor the SAA workshops specifically to the VRA membership's needs. Also, the high number of excellent workshop proposals for the Portland conference led to a decision not to offer the SAA workshops in 2004.

Other workshop ideas were then pursued. John Taormina of Duke University
originally offered to teach a digital imaging workshop, but deferred to Trudy Levy of Image Integration who proposed an all-day workshop along the same lines. This resulted in Portland's "Workshop 1" entitled "Managing a Digitization Project" and Trudy agreed to allow the Education Committee to sponsor it. Margo Ballantyne followed-up on the VRA membership's request to have a workshop focused on licensing digital images. She organized "Workshop 2" entitled "Negotiating and Licensing Electronic Content" led by Frederic S. Silber, an attorney specializing in copyright, licensing, and intellectual property. Betha Whitlow explored the possibilities of a workshop focused on job status, also a high priority of the VRA membership. She enlisted Margaret Webster of Cornell University and Mary Ann Wersch of Reed College to lead "Workshop 6" entitled "Job Status and the VR Professional." In then end, these three workshops were sponsored by the Education Committee for the 2004 conference.

At the end of November, Maureen Burns sent a letter on behalf of the Education Committee to each VRA Regional Chapter Chairperson (both electronically and through the post) announcing the availability of one subsidized workshop (regardless of cost) per regional Chapter for the local leadership to attend workshops at the VRA annual conference in Portland. At the VRA Board's request, this subsidy is a slight adjustment from last year where $100 stipends were provided to each Chapter and in some cases split amongst the leadership. Although encouraged to consider the three workshops sponsored by the Education Committee, the Chairpersons were informed that any of the Portland workshops were acceptable since regional needs may differ. The subsidy recipients must agree to share the information that they obtain from the workshops with their regional VRA members and many volunteered the information that in past years this was successfully accomplished at local meetings. Subsidy recipients understand that they must register and pay in advance for the workshops and that the funds will not be released until their attendance can be confirmed after the conference. The following is a summary of the applicants (in alphabetical order) and the workshops of interest:

The timing and response both worked better this year, but perhaps this can be attributed to past experience. The proximity of the holidays to the opening of VRA conference registration complicates issues since the workshops operate on a first-come, first-served basis. The Committee has been concerned that Chapter leaders might not be able to attend their first workshop choice if they don't register early. However, the Chapter Chairs are reminded of the timing issues and to our knowledge this has not yet been a problem. It appears that all of VRA Regional Chapters will be able to take advantage of the subsidized professional development opportunity provided by the VRA Board for local leaders to attend VRA Portland workshops. The Education Committee will follow-up on the uncertainties and notify the Treasurer of any changes.

To better communicate with the Regional Chapters, each Education Committee member has taken responsibility for a different Chapter. These liaisons have contacted the Chapter Chairpersons and are working towards an ongoing dialog to obtain feedback on educational issues. Below is a summary of the assignments (in alphabetical order by Chapter):

Great Lakes/Madelyn Millen
Greater New York/Jenni Rodda
Greater Philadelphia/Carolyn Lucarelli
Mid-Atlantic/Joy Robinson
Midwest/Betha Whitlow
New England/ Jeanette Mills
Northern California/Leah Theis
Pacific Rim/Karin Whalen
Southern California/Maureen Burns
Texas/Susan Sanders
Upstate New York/Marcia Focht.

The listserv set up by Jeanette Mills at vraed@mailman.u.washington.edu has continued to provide the Education Committee with an efficient way to communicate and her support of this service is appreciated. The web site for the VRA Education Committee in now at the following URL due to a change in professional affiliation by the webmaster, Leah Theis: http://vraeducation.ucdavis.edu/. Leah has done a terrific job of designing, adjusting, contributing content, and supporting the Education Committee web site. It is accessible from the VRA web site and presently has the committee charge, a list of committee members, reports, an education feedback form, and a links and resources page. The latter has been developed extensively over the last year by Leah with input and feedback from the rest of the Education Committee members. To ensure that information about educational opportunities is current and updated on the web site (as well as archived), Education Committee members have volunteered to monitor other professional organizations' listerservs as follows (in alphabetical order by listserv):
ACCESS-L Jenni Rodda
ARCHIVE-L Joy Robinson
ARLIS-L Leah Theis
CHART-L Maureen Burns
IMAGELIB-L Carolyn Lucarelli
MCN-L Maureen Burns
NYVR-L Jenni Rodda
PADIFORUM-L Marcia Focht
SLA/SOLO-L Joy Robinson
VRA-L Madelyn Millen
VRA/SC-L Maureen Burns

Karin Whalen was the liaison between the Education Committee the ARLIS/VRA Joint Task Force developing the Summer Institute for Visual Resources, but planning the Portland conference became a priority. The Committee is grateful for all her efforts in sharing this information. The Education Committee Co-Chairs were invited to attend the meeting of this group in Houston (the minutes of which were forwarded to the rest of the Education Committee), were asked to participate on the Task Force which they have done since June, and have since been added to the Summer Institute listserv.

Jeanette Mills announced her resignation from the Education Committee Co-chairmanship effective after the Portland conference. The Education Committee is very grateful to Jeanette for all her leadership, guidance, and effort. Margo Ballantyne had to adjust her Education Committee responsibilities when she stepped-up to the VRA Board, but was still able to assist with a variety of projects. We are pleased that she continues to be the liaison to the Education Committee from the VRA Board. Madelyn Millen from the University of California, Riverside joined the committee mid-year. Betha Whitlow volunteered to Co-chair the Education Committee with Maureen for the next two years.

Goals
Discuss the VRA Strategic Plan education recommendations to guide the future work of the Education Committee and communicate with the VRA Executive Board to further clarify the Education Committee's mission.

Consider the process for subsidizing Chapter leaders for workshop attendance at the VRA conferences and discuss potential improvements.

Continue to solicit and discuss ideas for national conference workshops and prepare 2005 proposals.

Discuss the effectiveness of the Education Committee website considering any additions or adjustments that might expand its usefulness to the VRA membership. Continue to send quarterly reminders to the VRA-L about the information available on the Education Committee web site. Remind VRA-L of the education feedback form on web site and encourage such feedback before the Portland conference. Continue the process for regularly gathering information about regional and national educational activities offered by allied organizations and make this information available to the VRA membership via the website.

Discuss the Regional Chapter liaison assignments and determine how best to develop ongoing communication related to educational issues. The need to better define the role of the liaisons will be addressed in Portland. Consider ways to bring regional educational opportunities to the attention of all VRA members. After this information is forwarded to the Education Committee web site and becomes dated, an archival master list of library, museum studies, and collection management educational opportunities will be compiled. Chapter chairpersons will also be encouraged to invite members of allied organizations to participate in chapter activities and to plan joint meetings that combine like-minded professional groups.

Contact the VRA Membership Committee for a list of associated professional organizations and consider priorities for potential collaborations. Continue contact with allied organizations to develop ideas for joint programs and other cooperative ventures. Invite representatives of these organizations to consider attending the VRA conference to meet with the Education Committee in Portland. These organizations include, but are not limited to the American Library Association, the Art Libraries Society, the Museum Computer Network, and the Society of American Archivists.

The Co-chairs of the Education Committee will continue to be liaisons to the ARLIS/NA-VRA Joint Task Force on Education and will communicate about the Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources.

Develop a timeline of Education Committee activities throughout the year to guide progress.

Reorganize the Education Committee adjusting for changes in leadership and committee composition.

Board Action Requested
Review and clarify this committee's purpose and charge in the light of the VRA Strategic Plan.

Continue the existing process for providing subsidized workshops to Regional Chapter leaders at the annual VRA conferences. Consider process improvements and communicate potential adjustments.

Discuss the potential workshop collaboration with the Society of American Archivists and determine whether future negotiation or communication would be appropriate.

Assist the Education Committee in prioritizing the professional organizations with which it might be most appropriate to build collaborative relationships and the listerservs best monitored to obtain information about educational opportunities.

Consider extending the appointment of Maureen Burns as Co-chair of the Education Committee and appointing Betha Whitlow as the new Co-chair both for a term of two years.

Budget Request
None at this time.

OPTIONAL-Micellaneous (Financials, Membership Action Requests, etc.)
None at this time.

List of Members of Committee/Chapter/Task Force (cite names and note officers' titles only):

Margo Ballantyne, Liaison to the VRA Board
Maureen Burns, Co-chair and Liaison to the VRA/ARLIS Joint Task Force on Education
Marcia Focht
Carolyn Lucarelli
Madelyn Millen
Jeanette Mills, Co-chair and Liaison to the VRA/ARLIS Joint Task Force on Education
Joy Robinson
Jenni Rodda
Susan Sanders
Leah Theis
Karin Whalen
Betha Whitlow

Respectfully submitted,

Maureen Burns, Co-chair
Jeanette Mills, Co-chair

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