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Week of April 15-19

2024

We Remember: April 16 Day of Remembrance

This week, the Virginia Tech family remembers the 32 students and faculty members who were tragically taken from their loved ones and our community on April 16, 2007. They ranged in age from 18 to 76 and represented a variety of academic areas, faiths, and ethnic groups.

The We Remember website provides online resources, news and scheduled events, information about the April 16 Memorial, and an opportunity to reflect on the tremendous promise each of the students and faculty we lost embodied for our world with creativity, intelligence, humility, and humanity. Schedule for the Day of Remembrance is as follows:

Tuesday, April 16:

  • Midnight – Lighting of Ceremonial Candle: April 16 Memorial 
    A candle will be lit by representatives of the student body and will remain lit for 24 hours. 
  • 9:43 a.m. – Wreath Laying: April 16 Memorial 
  • 11:27 p.m. – Cadet Guard: April 16 Memorial. Members of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will stand guard at the April 16 Memorial for 32 minutes. 
  • 11:59 p.m. – Extinguishing of Ceremonial Candle: April 16 Memorial

For more information including other remembrance events scheduled throughout April, read this campus notice or visit the We Remember website.

Destination Areas 2.0: Proposals for project planning, development grants due May 15

Virginia Tech is soliciting proposals for the next phase of Destination Area (DA) 2.0 projects that are aligned with our Beyond Boundaries vision and will achieve the strategic priorities in The Virginia Tech Difference: Advancing Beyond Boundaries. Projects will target transdisciplinary discovery, learning, and outreach efforts that yield solutions to complex problems that advance the human condition.

Successful proposals will articulate the transformative nature of the research and scholarship outlined and how it places Virginia Tech in the top tier of global institutions working to solve the problem identified.

The DA 2.0 Planning and Development Grants (Phase I) will be awarded up to an amount of $50,000 and are expected to support team and project development over an approximately five-month period.

The deadline for Phase I proposals is May 15 and all documentation should be submitted as a single PDF attachment.

For more information including details on sections, criteria, and key questions to be addressed, visit the Destination Area 2.0 website or email Catherine Amelink, associate vice provost in the Office of the Executive Vice Provost.

Provost’s Office: Virginia Tech Experts profile can boost scholarly presence, attract collaborators

Virginia Tech Experts is a searchable online profile system managed through University Libraries that provides a public-facing view of researchers, scholars, and educators at Virginia Tech, along with their publications, research interests, teaching, and additional activities.

Faculty can now easily set up an Experts public profile so their research and expertise can easily be found by Virginia Tech colleagues and potential collaborators around the world. Activate your profile by using the Elements database system with a few simple steps and boost your online scholarly presence.

Virginia Tech Experts supports identifying potential collaborators and discovery of research, scholarship, creative works, and areas of specialization and expertise across disciplines. Currently profiles are only available for Virginia Tech faculty and graduate students.

For more information including overview slides, workshops, and a video guide, visit the Virginia Tech Experts website.

TLOS: Zoom users are required to install desktop, mobile updates by April 22

Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) reminds all Virginia Tech faculty and staff that beginning April 22, Zoom users running outdated desktop or mobile software will be prompted to install updates before their next Zoom session can be initiated.

Zoom continuously improves its software by adding new features and enhancing security settings. As new versions of the software are released, the platform stops supporting outdated versions and requires all users to upgrade.

TLOS encourages faculty and staff to update as soon as possible to access the newest features and avoid meeting delays. The following are a few online resources to assist with the software updates:

Users can check which Zoom version they are currently running for video conferencing and follow Zoom’s release notes for updates on the latest changes.

For more information, read this campus notice or contact 4Help.vt.edu. For department-managed devices, users should contact their IT team for assistance.

ICYMI: Guidance on using artificial intelligence (AI) during research activities

The Division of Scholarly Integrity and Research Compliance (SIRC) in Research and Innovation has worked with campus stakeholders to develop guidelines for members of the Virginia Tech community who are using, or interested in using, artificial intelligence (AI) in the design, conduct, and dissemination of research. As technology continues to advance, it is essential for the research community to stay informed about emerging technologies to ensure responsible and ethical practices.

As researchers explore the opportunities and challenges presented by generative AI across various disciplines, it is important for the university to address potential risks and concerns, and to be aware of how this guidance interacts with other policies, ethics, and governing legal authority.

This guidance is not intended as legal advice or as an exhaustive set of best practices and should not be viewed as a final policy. Generative AI is rapidly evolving in terms of technology, deployment models, third-party relationships, terms of service, regulatory landscape, and academic-industry partnership structures.

For more information including PI and university responsibilities, ethical and compliance dimensions of using AI in research, and points of contact in SIRC, read this campus notice or download the AI guidance document.

Additional Resources and Updates

Please submit a Google form or email Provost Communications for comments or recommendations to improve the Weekly Communications Update or to share faculty, staff, and academic program personnel information.

Visit the provost’s website frequently for new and updated university information. All members of the campus community should also read their VT News daily email for further important updates, notices, and resources.