VIVA Outreach
Publicity & Promotional Materials
Jaffe, John. "The VIVA Private College Funding Initiative."
in Virginia Libraries 43(4) (Oct.-Dec. 1997): 6-7.
John Jaffe is Director of Libraries & Integrated Learning Resources at Sweet Briar College. Copyright Virginia Library Association. Reprinted with permission.
The VIVA Private College Funding Initiative
By John Jaffe
The following remarks are in response to my request to explain the rationale behind the Virginia Private College and University Library Association's legislative funding request for $500,000 in matching funds to Virginia Libraries readers. As we go to press, the money asked for is not in Governor Allen's proposed budget, but the efforts continue with the General Assembly. CD
The initiative to expand VIVA to include funding for independent colleges is a natural outgrowth of VIVA's success. VIVA has always included the independent institutions in each resource initiative it has pursued. Each contract negotiated has provided a mechanism for independent colleges to buy in to the sharing of information and resources that is the core of VIVA, and that is one component of how VIVA is transforming libraries in the Commonwealth. The impetus to expand VIVA to fully include all the independent institutions (eligible non-profit institutions of higher education as defined in 23-9, 10:3 of the Code of Virginia) in VIVA contracts that are newly negotiated in the next biennium arises from several sources and will bring several benefits.
First, in the initial ventures, VIVA was able to achieve significant benefits from extending resources in cost effective contracting because the number of institutions involved represented all the publicly funded colleges and most of the independent institutions. The benefits of negotiating contracts for the higher education institutions in the Commonwealth that represent both independent and publicly funded colleges is greater than benefits that can be had from negotiating for the two groups separately. In addition, as the variety of resources increased, independent colleges participated at differing levels in each, diminishing the sense on the part of information providers of the uniform nature of VIVA and raising questions about its future growth. The move to include independent institutions in all resource sharing efforts will address this potential difficulty.
Another impetus to the initiative, and one that is seen by many as the primary reason to expand VIVA in this way, is the increase in educational offerings for citizens in the Commonwealth available through distance education. Learners in these programs require access to a level playing field of library resources. Often, they access collections and information at independent institutions. Instructors and area coordinators of these offerings also use independent college libraries. Through expanding VIVA to provide a uniform base throughout the Commonwealth for learners accessing higher education institution libraries, the value of these educational offerings can be increased and the success of the opportunities to learn offered citizens will be enhanced.
There are also expansion ideas for VIVA that include extension beyond higher education. The desire to enable VIVA, which began as a clearly focused higher education initiative, to cover higher education as comprehensively as it is able and to demonstrate its success prior to expanding beyond higher education is another impetus for the independent college initiative.
Benefits from the initiative will accrue to a wide variety of the Commonwealth's learners. Students at independent institutions, many of whom are citizens of Virginia, will benefit. Faculty at all institutions will have expanded resources available that can enhance the quality of education available. Distance learners, distance education practitioners and others who use independent college libraries will benefit from the uniform resource base an expanded VIVA can provide. By having expanded resource access available and expanding access to independent college collections, the sum total of library resources available in the Commonwealth will increase. Just as at Sweet Briar, several faculty live in Charlottesville and use the resources of the University of Virginia in their research and class preparation on evenings and weekends, so too there are several Sweet Briar faculty either also teaching at the University or University faculty resident in the Sweet Briar area who use our library. The VIVA expansion will benefit both groups and their students. Countless similar examples can be found throughout Virginia.
The fiscal benefits are also of value as the expansion is on a matching fund basis in that the independent colleges are providing $500,000 to increase VIVA funds and match the legislative investment. This increased purchasing power along with the increased and uniform nature of VIVA, incorporating the majority of higher education institutions, will lead to greater negotiating presence in working to increase shared resources.