Week of August 25-29

2025

Faculty Affairs: Dependent Care Travel Grant Program offers caregiving support for faculty

Faculty Affairs announces the launch of the centralized Dependent Care Travel Grant Program designed to reduce the barriers to caregivers for attending work related conferences, workshops, professional meetings and research activities.

Eligible faculty may receive as much as $1,000 per fiscal year towards dependent care-related expenses above and beyond their regular dependent care expenses while attending professional academic events away from home. Grant funding is limited to $1,000 per household per fiscal year and subject to other conditions described on the application form.

Eligibility requirements:

Full-time, regular instructional faculty (NOTE: Graduate students in the College of Science are also eligible to apply for this grant.)
Faculty who have not met the household maximum of $1,000 in Dependent Care Travel Grant funding in the current fiscal year.

For more information or to apply, visit the Dependent Care Travel Grant Program webpage or email Rachel Gabriele in Faculty Affairs.

Virginia Tech: HigherEd+ provides faculty with career development tools, resources

Virginia Tech is an official institutional member of HigherEd+, a suite more than 100 professional development courses and resources focused on academic career development tools and knowledge for teaching and research faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students.

Faculty Affairs, in collaboration with the Offices of Research and Innovation, Postdoctoral Affairs, Career and Professional Development, and Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) is hosting two info sessions for those who want to learn more about HigherEd+ courses and instructional resources.

September 11:

Through HigherEd+, Virginia Tech faculty and instructors are also able earn associated micro-credentials, including options for Future Faculty, First Year Faculty, and AI in Academia.

For more information on HigherEd+ or the upcoming information sessions, visit the corresponding Professional Development Network course pages linked above or email Barbara Lockee in Faculty Affairs.

Division of IT: Updates to Microsoft storage plans for graduate students, employees

In response to recent feedback received by the Division of IT on the implementation of planned limits for Microsoft storage, Virginia Tech will modify some plan elements to add flexibility to storage limits and provide additional management options for users and departments. Here is what is changing:

For employees: Baseline storage allocations adjusted

For most employees, the new baseline is 50 gigabytes (GB) of OneDrive storage, and 100 GB of email storage in Exchange Online, with an additional 1.5 terabytes of email archive storage.

For graduate students: Option to request additional storage added

Starting August 29, graduate students will receive 100 GB of fixed email storage in Exchange Online, and a baseline of 10 GB of OneDrive storage.

For all students: New option to create or retain up to five Teams

To ensure that students can access collaborative online spaces for group projects and activities while at Virginia Tech, starting August 29, each student may own up to five Teams spaces, each with a storage limit of 1 GB.

A detailed outline of storage changes for each constituent group is available on the Microsoft storage changes webpage.

For more information, read this campus notice. For additional questions or individualized assistance, contact your department/school IT office.

Organizational Excellence: Join colleagues in the Change Management Community of Practice

The Change Management Community of Practice (CoP), supported through the Office of Organizational Excellence, is a space for faculty and staff to connect, learn, and master transformation via the tenets of change management.

As the Higher Education landscape continues to evolve, change management becomes more and more important, not just for operational success, but for fostering professional development and resilience across campus. This year, the Change Management CoP is excited to offer a variety of opportunities to engage:

Virtual Kickoff: Join us September 16 at 1:00 p.m. to network, explore current trends in change management, and preview the year ahead.
Fall Mini-Conference: A deeper dive into change insights, strategies and stories from across campus.
Monthly “Change for Lunch” Chats: Informal conversations spotlighting ongoing change initiatives and lessons learned.

For more information and to learn about change management resources and strategies at Virginia Tech, email Lars Schmidt, visit the change management webpage or join the Change Management CoP MS Teams channel.

ICYMI: Faculty support for students via the Early Academic Referral System

Virginia Tech’s Early Academic Referral System (VT EARS) is a tool to assist faculty in proactively identifying and referring undergraduate students who may be experiencing academic difficulty early within a semester. Research indicates that intervention within the first 6-8 weeks of the semester can make a difference.

VT EARS has a significant impact on student success because of its potential to:

Increase awareness of the academic support networks.
Reduce the number of undergraduate students on academic probation or suspension.
Reaffirm the institution’s commitment to at-risk students.
Increase engagement between faculty and undergraduate students.

For more information, visit the VT EARS webpage or email Academic Advising and Transition Support in the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. NOTE: VT EARS is not intended for urgent, sensitive, time-critical referrals. If you have an emergency or require immediate assistance, please call 911 for the police.

Additional Resources and Updates

Newsletter Spotlight: Hokie Wellness Monthly

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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.