Week of December 9 - 13

2024

Faculty Affairs: Call for proposals for 2025 Faculty Mentoring Forum

The Office of Faculty Affairs announces a call for proposals for the 2025 Virginia Tech Faculty Mentoring Forum that will take place on March 5, 2025 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.

During the day-long event, academic faculty and administrators will share effective mentoring strategies, explore issues and challenges, and develop actionable solutions to support faculty professional growth.

Proposals are welcome for topics that address, but are not limited to, the following:

Effective strategies for mentoring students and postdoctoral researchers
Best practices for peer mentoring and mentoring networks
Developing inclusive and supportive mentoring relationships
Mentoring others for career development and professional growth
Mentoring across the career trajectory
Tools and technologies for enhancing mentoring experiences

Proposals are submitted online and are due by December 16. Notifications of acceptance will be sent to presenters by January 10, 2025.

For more information, read this campus notice, visit the Office of Faculty Affairs’ Mentoring and Support webpage, or email Faculty Affairs.

Division of IT: Timeline announced for Microsoft storage changes

In August 2023, Virginia Tech announced its plans to cap Microsoft storage allocations across the university following Microsoft’s decision to move to a consumption-based storage cost model starting in 2025. The university is now taking steps to prepare for these Microsoft storage changes, which will affect students, employees, and those retirees who receive Microsoft services.

Please be aware of the following dates and changes:

April 21, 2025: departmental Microsoft storage plans for employees take effect. Employees will receive a minimum baseline storage amount (25 GB, in most cases) to use within Exchange Online and OneDrive; departments may allocate additional storage for individual employees.
June 2, 2025: Microsoft storage caps for students and retirees take effect. Students, retirees receive 10GB to use in Exchange Online and OneDrive.
June 2, 2025: all Microsoft shared resources (Teams, SharePoint sites, and Groups) must be claimed by a department to remain active. Unclaimed shared resources will no longer be accessible after this date. Starting in February, employees can use the MyCAT Tool to indicate which of their shared resources should be kept and claimed by a department.
July 14, 2025: Unclaimed Microsoft shared resources will be deleted.
Departmental approval is now required for employees to create new Microsoft Teams sites, SharePoint sites, or Groups (as of August 16, 2024).

For more information about these changes, read this campus notice or visit the Microsoft Storage Changes at Virginia Tech website.

OEA: Include accommodation statement in university event notices

Virginia Tech is committed to ensuring that programs, services, events, and activities are accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Through the Office for Equity and Accessibility (OEA), our goal is to proactively plan events free of physical, communication, or other barriers so all individuals may participate.

Accommodation statements:

All institutional and departmental publications that describe or invite public participation or attendance in programs at the university, and all university-sponsored events held off campus, are required to contain a disability accommodation statement.
The statement must be in the invitation or announcement of the event and should provide an event contact, email, and phone number.
Comprehensive event description should include location, environmental conditions, availability of captioning or ASL interpreting, and accessibility features of overnight lodging, if applicable.

Response to accommodations requests:

When responding to a request for accommodation, event planners should focus on the accessibility issue and the requested accommodation.
Respond as quickly as possible as it may take several communications to work through details of a particular request. Preferred accommodation should be given primary consideration.
If the preferred option proves difficult to provide or if there are questions, consult ADA and Accessibility Services (employee and visitor requests) or Services for Students with Disabilities (student requests).

For more information, read this campus notice or visit OEA’s Physical and Digital Accessibility webpage.

Women’s Center: Program proposals now being accepted for Women’s Month 2025

Women’s Month at Virginia Tech has historically represented the university’s broad commitment to celebrating diverse and inclusive communities. To honor this ongoing commitment, the Women’s Month 2025 calendar highlights programs and events aligned with the Virginia Tech Principles of Community.

The Women’s Center at Virginia Tech has announced a call for program proposals for this year’s celebration designed to promote, advance, and celebrate women at Virginia Tech and beyond. Events should be open to all who wish to participate and offer opportunities to celebrate as well as explore women's and gender issues.

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, February 5.

Women’s Month (March) recognizes, affirms, and showcases the achievements, concerns, and diversity of women, and occurs in conjunction with National Women’s History Month. The 2025 theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating and Inspiring Generations,” which recognizes the influence of women who have dedicated their lives to education, mentorship, and leadership.

For more information or to submit a proposal, read this campus notice, visit the Women’s Month program website or email the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech.

ICYMI: Fall Commencement ceremony information, schedules for faculty and guests

Virginia Tech’s Fall 2024 University and Graduate Commencement Ceremonies will take place on Friday, December 20 in Cassell Coliseum. University Commencement will start at 10:30 a.m. and Graduate Commencement will begin at 2:30 p.m.

The Commencement 2024 website has detailed information on schedules, parking, live stream, regalia, and frequently asked questions. Doors to Cassell Coliseum will open at 9:30 a.m. and students are asked to arrive one hour before commencement begins. There is no shuttle service available for fall commencements, but Blacksburg Transit will be operating.

Requests for accommodations for guests attending the University or Graduate Commencement Ceremonies must be made to the Office of Equity and Accessibilityat least two weeks before the events. For additional information concerning accessibility and disability accommodations, contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD).

For more information, schedule updates, and speaker announcements, please visit the Commencement 2024 website.

Additional Resources and Updates

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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.