BY MICHAEL MARTZ and KARIN KAPSIDELIS

Times-Dispatch Staff Writers

Linda L. Spinelli says she ultimately refused to approve an application for a VCU degree for former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe, even though she was pressured to do so.

In e-mail messages to the Richmond Times-Dispatch this week, Spinelli, former coordinator of Virginia Commonwealth University's interdisciplinary studies program, would not identify who applied pressure for her to sign her approval Monroe's application to graduate from the program without earning enough of his credits at VCU.

Monroe had earned a total of 120 credits over time from various institutions. But like most colleges, VCU requires that to be awarded a degree, a student must earn a minimum number of credit hours -- in this case 30 -- at the school where the degree is conferred. Monroe earned only six credit hours at VCU.

Spinelli, who has retired, said she raised concerns "from the very beginning" that Monroe did not meet VCU's residency standard.

"I could not in good conscience sign the application," for Monroe's degree, she said in an e-mail message to The Times-Dispatch on Monday night.

"I felt it would have been an insult and extremely unfair to all the students and graduates in the program who, regardless of previous credits earned at other institutions, were required to complete the VCU 30 credit residency requirement," she added.

Spinelli told The Times-Dispatch that she "had been told to be very flexible" about Monroe's application before she first contacted Robyn Lacks, an assistant professor of criminal justice who would serve as Monroe's adviser, in late 2006. The Times-Dispatch reported on the e-mail exchanges in a story on Sunday. The e-mails were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Asked who gave her instructions to be flexible, Spinelli responded, "An administrator with more authority than me."

Spinelli, in a separate interview with WTVR-Channel 6, said she had not been contacted by VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder or then-Dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences Robert D. Holsworth to change her position on Monroe's application.

She told the television station that she had never met or been contacted by Monroe, who has since left Richmond to become chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina.

Monroe's curriculum plan stated the requirements for 30 hours to be completed at VCU. Spinelli advised Lacks to review the plan with Monroe.

"If he meets with you to complete the [graduation application], that is fine," Spinelli wrote Lacks on Feb. 17, 2007. "You have my OK to sign my name to it."

Asked about the e-mail, Spinelli told the Times-Dispatch on Monday: "My concerns were ignored and I felt pressured to 'go along.' As I said earlier, ultimately I changed my mind and refused to sign the application."

Spinelli voiced regret about the possible damage done to VCU's interdisciplinary studies program, which she called "a wonderful program that allows students to fulfill a lifelong educational goals."

Lacks has not responded to requests for comment.

VCU's board of visitors will meet tomorrow in closed session and is expected to discuss the investigation into how Monroe was awarded a degree. The board has overseen that investigation.

Contact Michael Martz at mmartz@timesdispatch.com

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com