Week of August 15-19

Undergraduate Research: Call for proposals for faculty, department grant program

The Undergraduate Research Faculty Grant Program is accepting proposals for grants of up to $10,000 to individual faculty, teams of faculty, or departments, to facilitate the development or support of novel programs that aim to scale and increase access to undergraduate research opportunities for Virginia Tech students. The program also seeks to widen the breadth of opportunities and participation across all majors.

Proposals can be submitted online through October 17, with awards being announced by December 1. Funded projects must be completed within FY2023.

The Office of Undergraduate Research provides research opportunities for all undergraduate students, in all fields of study, beginning their first year through a capstone experience. Their mission is to foster an undergraduate research community that promotes, enhances, and expands research opportunities for students at Virginia Tech.

For more information on the grant program, please email Keri Swaby, director for the Office of Undergraduate Research.

InclusiveVT: Recommendations, resources for faculty in establishing class ‘norm of inclusion’

Virginia Tech’s Office of Inclusion and Diversity (OID) has developed a resource document with recommendations for instructional faculty and GTAs to assist them in establishing a “norm of inclusion” in their classes beginning with the course syllabus and the first class meeting. These resources and recommendations include:

• Guidelines for a community of learners – Effective practice for fostering an inclusive classroom that emphasize the value of the classroom as a learning community with shared goals and aspirations.
• Community guidelines that make a difference – How and when to meaningfully communicate these guidelines so that students will take note.
  • First day of class: Distribute a hard copy or include as a page on course Canvas site. Revisit after several class sessions to elicit revisions or additional suggestions.
  • Midterm: Offer students opportunity to provide feedback about their experience of class interactions and learning environment. 
  • Strategic moments: Use where interactions might feel tense. Remind student of the agreement if moving into a potentially high-stakes conversation. 
  • End of semester: Provide the students with an opportunity to self-assess their participation.
• Communicating welcome, safety, and inclusion – Community guidelines are complemented by statements of welcome, safety, and inclusion. These statements are especially important to those who are historically marginalized due to their social identities or personal circumstances.

In addition to these guidelines, the downloadable document contains sample statements that help faculty set the tone of the class and demonstrate their willingness to engage with students. There are also several questions faculty can ask themselves when composing their guidelines.

Faculty and GTAs may also enroll in one of OID’s inclusive pedagogy courses offered through the Professional Development Network. Inclusive pedagogy is a learner-centered instructional approach built on the principles of respect, inclusion, and cultural engagement.

For further information on these norm of inclusion resources and recommendations, please email InclusiveVT or visit the InclusiveVT website.

Outreach and International Affairs: Register for the Rural Education Summit and Launch Party

The newly formed Center for Rural Education invites the university community to its inaugural Rural Education Summit and Launch Party on Friday, August 26 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.

The summit, sponsored by Outreach and International Affairs, will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (lunch provided) with the center’s launch party following from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Both events are free, but space is limited and registration is required.

Participants will join a diverse group of engaged rural education researchers, practitioners, community leaders, and advocates to discuss ideas, challenges, and solutions related to rural education. They will also explore ways to collaborate across the university and with national and regional experts to discuss research and outreach strategies with the goal of establishing collaborative partnerships across the rural education ecosystem.

Panels and presentations will cover topics facing rural education that include:

• Education policy and local economies 
• Community health and wellness 
• Identities and intersectionalities 
• Support of multilingual learners 
• Trauma-responsive schooling 
• Staffing and support for schools 
• Investments in rural youth 
• Models of community engagement

The Center for Rural Education aims to advance educational equity in rural communities through research and outreach. Working with transdisciplinary teams from Virginia Tech and beyond, especially partners in rural communities, the center seeks to understand and address the complex challenges that impact rural schooling.

With the overarching goal of expanding learning opportunities for young people in rural places, the Center for Rural Education engages in robust research and meaningful outreach focused on serving students and underrepresented and historically marginalized rural populations in Southwest Virginia, Central Appalachia, and other rural communities throughout the United States and around the world.

For more information on the Rural Education Summit or the Center for Rural Education, please email Amy Price Azano or visit the center’s website.

Research and Innovation, Division of IT: Update on VT SURE timeline, options for engagement

VT SURE (Virginia Tech Secure University Research Environment), a scalable and secure environment for Virginia Tech research data currently in development through a partnership the Office of Research and Innovation and the Division of Information Technology, recently underwent a change in leadership that called for a revision to project timelines and opportunities for stakeholder engagement.

As a result, project managers are expanding their work to clarify the scope of the platform, ensuring that it will meet researchers' needs for scalability and protection of PII (personally identifiable information), PHI (protected health information), and other sensitive data types. Development of the pilot version of VT SURE is continuing this fall and will include testing by a group of interested researchers.

VT SURE offers university researchers an accessible, scalable, administered space in the cloud for data storage and sharing, and will balance security and compliance with user-friendly features that enable collaboration. This cloud-based storage and analysis environment is being developed with researchers’ needs for customization at the forefront, while also meeting sponsor requirements for data security.

For faculty interested in learning more about the possibilities of this new research data platform, or becoming an early adopter, please email the VT SURE project team or visit the VT SURE website.

ICYMI: Provost Clarke, SVP-CBO Kiwus share updates, steps for a successful fall 2022 return

Provost Cyril Clarke and Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer Chris Kiwus shared a joint message recently with the university community that included updates on Virginia Tech’s management of COVID-19 and what can be done to provide on-campus student experiences and protect the community at large. The following are summary points from their message:

• COVID-19 is now one illness among many that university employees and students manage on a regular basis. 
• While the threat of COVID-19 has shifted and we have developed coping mechanisms and personal knowledge to mitigate its effects, we will continue to monitor and inform our community on guidance and available resources. 
• We believe the time has come for us to stand down the daily emergency management of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. 
• Virginia Tech continues to strongly encourage COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, and masking is always welcome anywhere at the university. 
• Employee “at-will testing” will end on August 26. Employees are encouraged to visit the VDH website to find free COVID-19 testing sites throughout Virginia. 
• Faculty should keep in mind that students who test positive for COVID-19 need to isolate and not attend in-person classes for at least five days. Students should seek absence verification from the Dean of Students. 
• Instructional resources (Continuity in Teaching and Learning) are available for facilitating student access to academic activities in virtual environments. 
• It is essential that faculty respect the medical privacy of students who have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been identified as a close contact. Please do not share with the class that a student is in quarantine or isolation, nor make testing or other recommendations based on that information. 
• We are grateful for all the support and acceptance of the reality of the impact of COVID-19 on our campus and are looking forward to a great semester.

Please read the complete message from Provost Clarke and SVP-CBO Kiwus with additional guidance/updates for faculty, staff, and students.

Additional Resources and Updates

• Fralin Life Sciences Institute executive director open forums
  Posted-August 18
  Search committee invites members of the campus community to meet the four finalists, in-person or virtually, during the open forums.
• Virginia Tech launches new Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowship
  Posted-August 18
  Fellowships intended for postdoc researchers to extend the impact of their research through new technology commercialization activities.
• Hybrid Retirement Plan Auto-Escalation begins this fall
  Posted-August 17
  Auto-escalation helps Hybrid Retirement Plan employees by increasing the amount contributed to the Hybrid 457 Deferred Compensation Plan.
• Apply now for the ISCE Social Science PREP Program
  Posted-August 11
  Program for faculty in the social sciences new to preparing proposals for extramural funding or who have had limited success in the role of PI.
• Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series
  Posted-August 9
  Call for applications for support to promote the number, diversity of scholarly voices and artistic expressions from underrepresented groups.
• Verify Search Committee Charge Workshop training status
  Posted-August 8
  Hiring managers, search committee members can access instructions for verifying those who may engage in recruitment and search processes.