Week of August 5-9

2024

Provost’s Office: New Faculty Welcome takes place August 22-23 at The Inn at Virginia Tech

The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost cordially invites all new Virginia Tech faculty to the New Faculty Welcome on August 22-23 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.

The annual event, hosted by Faculty Affairs in partnership with units across the university, is designed to provide overview information about the university, perspectives from current faculty, and an opportunity to network with colleagues. Separate and different from orientation sessions provided by Human Resources, the program allows new faculty who have joined Virginia Tech between August 10, 2023, and August 10, 2024, to connect with faculty and leaders across the campus.

The event is free to attend, but registration should be completed by August 11.

In addition to the general welcome session on August 22, special sessions for new teaching and research faculty, administrative and professional faculty, international faculty, and postdocs will be held during the event.

Informational presentations from past years' events and other resources are available on the New Faculty Welcome webpage. Faculty are encouraged to continue to check this webpage before and after the event for updated resources.

For more information on the event or registration, visit the New Faculty Welcome webpage or email Leslie Stevens, project director for the Office of Faculty Affairs.

CETL: Faculty Teaching Group Grant proposals for 2024-25 due September 1

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) offers the Faculty Teaching Group Grant Program to support Virginia Tech faculty members who would like to explore a topic related to higher education teaching and learning in a small and interactive learning community.

The primary goals of this grant program are 1) to encourage faculty members to form collaborative support networks within or outside of their home departments and colleges at Virginia Tech and 2) to encourage exploration and discovery related to teaching and learning in higher education.

Approximately five Faculty Teaching Groups will be funded with each awarded group receiving up to $2,000 toward their proposed goals. Groups should have a designated faculty convener who will serve as the main point of contact and will facilitate and participate in the collective work of the group.

Examples of previous topics, proposal submission information, and proposal evaluation criteria are provided on the Faculty Teaching Group Grants webpage.

For more information, program guidelines, and access to the online proposal submission form, read this campus notice or email CETL.

TLOS and IT: M365 training sessions available through the Professional Development Network

Through Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies’ (TLOS) Professional Development Network, the Division of IT is offering faculty and staff a series of online courses throughout the fall semester designed to introduce users to the Microsoft 365 (M365) tools available at Virginia Tech.

Each course will provide a brief introduction and discussion of the tool, explore its features and benefits, and demonstrate its various uses for collaboration within research groups, classes, and projects.

Microsoft Teams – Advanced course where participants will learn how to declutter their inbox using Microsoft Teams for communication and collaboration and explore project management tools to enhance opportunities to collaborate efficiently and effectively with colleagues. 
Microsoft Copilot – Introduction to MS Copilot that covers the basics of artificial intelligence, the functionality of Copilot, and its potential applications in teaching and learning.
Transition to Microsoft Outlook – Course designed to support those who are new to Outlook, or who want to learn how to use it more effectively. Topics include email management, calendar scheduling, task organization, and effective communication.
Modern Work, A Microsoft Paradigm Shift – Course covers Windows 11’s accessibility features and how to enhance proficiency with the latest versions of some of Microsoft’s popular work tools, such as Word and PowerPoint.

For more information including dates, times, and links for course registration, read this campus notice or visit TLOS’ Professional Development Network website.

InclusiveVT: Join Virginia Tech colleagues for the annual InclusiveVT Summit

The Office of Inclusion and Diversity invites faculty and staff to attend the annual InclusiveVT Summit (formerly the Diversity Summit) on Tuesday, August 20 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Goodwin Hall on the Blacksburg campus. This year's event is taking an “unconference” approach which is a participant-driven model that focuses on questions and topics generated by the participants.

To guide discussions, a broad theme of “Virginia Tech in the Historical Moment” has been established. Discussions topics include, but are not limited to the following:

What we are thinking about in this historical moment
Addressing faculty diversification practices in an anti-DEI climate
Applying restorative justice praxis in the university
Building community and engagement in the post-COVID classroom
Leveraging your position to be a transformational ally
Preparing ourselves and our students for the 2024 election
Responding to and resisting anti-LGBTQ and anti-DEI campaigns

The InclusiveVT Summit is an annual InclusiveVT Touchpoint event that brings together diversity and inclusion stakeholders from across the university to prepare for the upcoming academic year.

For more information or to register, visit the InclusiveVT Summit webpage or email Jeneen Preston in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity.

ICYMI: Honorific awards program supports, facilitates recognition of faculty achievement

The Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) is home to Virginia Tech’s honorific awards program that supports and facilitates external and university award recognition for Virginia Tech faculty.

External awards can be vital to faculty at any stage in their careers. An important component of professional development, honorific awards can increase visibility, open doors to new communities of scholarship, forge connections, create research opportunities, and provide acknowledgment for extraordinary contributions.

As part of its mission to advance research at Virginia Tech, ICTAS is building a program to facilitate faculty awards through:

Maintaining updated lists of available awards and application requirements.
Using data to strategically identify and evaluate promising opportunities.
Curating resources that may be useful to faculty.
Working as a liaison to faculty to support nominations and submissions on a case-by-case basis.

Deans, department heads, and program faculty are encouraged to review the awards information and nominate faculty and colleagues. Resources are available regarding award deadlines, processes, and submitting a strong application.

For more information, visit ICTAS’ honorific awards program website. Additional information about external awards support and resources are available on the Faculty Affairs and the Office of Research and Innovation websites.

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.