Collections Care at VCUL

• Be open minded and willing to explore new concepts.
• Be aware of personal values, beliefs, and behaviors and respect that others may not abide by the same values and belief system.
• Focus on other’s feelings and experiences as well as your own, attempting to embrace conflicting viewpoints by giving them your full consideration.
• Bring a flexible and humble attitude and do not allow your ego to impede the learning experience.
• Engage in self-reflections as a learner and strive to critique your thoughts, actions, and behaviors as you interact with people who have both similar and opposing views as yourself.
• Support your peers as we engage in discussions and learning.
• Critique the idea, not the person.
• Try to recognize power differences and minimize them.
• Strive to demonstrate respect for your team and coworkers.
• Avoid competition, we are all on the same team.
• Pay attention to one another's focus time and space.
• Be mindful that your work is top priority if having conversations while working.
• Communicate with supervisors to resolve any issues.

Adapted from: Graham-Perel, Ashley. “Cultural Humility and Diversity in Nursing Academia: Understanding History to Create a ‘Brave Space’ Culture in the Classroom.” Nursing Clinics of North America 59, no. 1 (2024): 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2023.11.003 and Hall, Amanda F. REAL Reflection Reflective Learning Communities: A Handbook for Facilitating Critical Reflection in the Classroom and Beyond. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2019. https://uploads.provost.vcu.edu/real/reflectionhandbook.pdf.

During orientation and prior to each semester, your supervisor will work with you to set up your schedule. At the end of each semester, you will be given a deadline to provide your schedule to your supervisor so that the work and instruction schedule for the next semester can be built. 

• Students can work up to 19 hours/week during enrollment periods. They can work up to 29 hours a week during breaks, as the budget allows. 
• Students cannot work during their scheduled class times. If a class is cancelled, and you are requesting to work, you must submit proof with a written statement from the professor or academic department to your supervisor.

Attendance is very important, especially when it comes to scheduled learning sessions and mentor meetings. However, you are students first, so we understand if you need to miss a shift for illness, or during busy times with your coursework. If you are unable to come in to work for any reason:  

1. notify your supervisor, Liza Hazelwood, as soon as you can before your shift starts, preferably at least the day before when possible and 
2. update the shared Collections Care Calendar with any changes.
3. You can make up your hours at another time, if possible and schedules allow.

When you change or miss a shift, it will be logged by your supervisor and:

• If you are going to be late, you must send an email or text to your supervisor to let them know. 
• If you are fifteen minutes or more late three times or miss three shifts without rescheduling your shift for a later date (per semester), your supervisor will check in with you to see if there needs to be any changes to your schedule, discussion about time management, or if other support is necessary. 
• If you are able to make up that time, it does not count towards the three late/missed shifts. 
• If absences and/or lateness continue, it may be cause for your employment in this position to end if reasonable justifications are not shared. 
• If you do not communicate with your supervisor ahead of time and miss a shift more than once (no-call no-show), your employment will end, unless there is an emergency or extenuating circumstance.  

• If your shift is less than 4 hours long, you can take a short ~5 minute break (do not clock out).
• If your shift is 4-6 hours long, you can take a 15 minute paid break (do not clock out).
• If your shift is 6+ hours long, you must take a 30 minute unpaid break (clock out). 
• Students must not work more than eight hours in one day. These rules come from VCU policy. 

Do not use your phone to carry on text conversations, talk, or have any videos playing while you are at work. Emergency calls and texts are allowed during work hours, otherwise texts and calls need to occur during your break. Because we are working with blades and weights, this is not only a productivity concern, but a safety concern. 

Employees are allowed to use headphones/earbuds ONLY IF: 

• You are working independently. 
• You are able to concentrate on your work without it distracting you.
• Any audio is played at a low volume that allows you to hear what is going on and if someone is speaking to you. 
• You pause your device or remove your headphones/earbuds when someone speaks to you.
• The screen is facing down if you are listening to anything with video. 

Everyone who works in the Collections Care Lab has a shared responsibility to keep our spaces clean and functional. To accomplish this, there is a whiteboard that tracks tasks and projects. The Lead Collections Care Technician updates these, rotating responsibilities each week. Each person is responsible for checking their completed tasks off the lists.

Many tasks on the left half of the board can be completed on Fridays, or your last shift of the week.

Wipe down your bench and work area - use a sanitizing wipe to clean off areas you worked at.

Make sure all supplies are clean and where they belong - refers to communal and your supplies.

Clean your food out of fridge - take any food home for the weekend. 

Making paste - all steps in prepping, cooking, and straining the paste, as well as cleaning up.

Organize communal supplies and tools - refers to making sure Reemay, blotter, and Mylar strips are organized, that knitting needles are organized by color, that there are no boards out that are not being used, that boards are stacked properly, and that there are no weights out that are not being used. 

Clean the sink and put away dry items in the drying rack - clean the basin and flat part, put clean jars back into the cabinet, and put brushes in the containers on the shelves. 

Sweep - use the brooms by the door to Room 230 to clean the entirety of the floor by the benches, equipment, break table, lab area, and shelves. 

Wipe all surfaces - use a rag and spray bottle of water to wipe down both islands, the table by the Labette, the table with the other computer, the break table, and both tables in the back.