Week of January 8-12

2024

Global Education Office: Mandatory training for faculty leading student groups abroad

The Global Education Office (GEO) offers several trainings throughout the academic year to support faculty and administrators in their efforts to lead study abroad programs. Virginia Tech Policy 1070: Global Travel Policy requires university employees leading either credit-bearing or co-curricular student groups abroad to complete training with GEO prior to departure. Register for spring GEO sessions by February 3.

New Program Leader Training (February 8, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) is designed to provide program leaders and those supporting programs with the tools and resources to lead students abroad.
Program Leader Community Update is for those who have previously attended the New Program Leader Training. GEO is offering several sessions this semester:
- February 7, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. in GEO Conference Room
- February 15, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Virtual
- February 22, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. in GEO Conference Room
- February 28, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Virtual
- March 20, 1:00pm to 3:00 p.m. Virtual
- March 28, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Virtual

For more information on these trainings, read this campus notice or email the Global Education Office.

SSD: Notetaker request process moving to Accessible Information Management system

Beginning at the start of spring 2024 semester, Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) will be transitioning the entire volunteer notetaker request process from the existing online form to the Accessible Information Management (AIM) platform. This change is aimed at providing a more streamlined and effective communication system for both faculty and students. Here are the updated changes:

Effective January 13, student requests for a notetaker will be managed through the online AIM system.
Volunteer Form: Other notetaker request processes will now be exclusively handled through AIM in order to improve coordination and communication regarding notetaking accommodations. For recruitment of volunteer notetakers from your classes, use the online Volunteer Notetaker Application portal.
Online Forms Decommissioning: The previous online forms for notetaker requests have been deactivated as of the end of fall 2023 semester. Faculty should no longer direct students to sign up with these forms.

This transition will centralize management of notetaker requests to improve communication between faculty and students and enable real-time updates on the status of notetaker requests.

For more information, visit the notetaking support page on the SSD website or email SSD notetaker support staff.

Policy and Governance: Tutorials available on university shared governance system

To assist faculty and staff in understanding Virginia Tech’s shared governance structure and how it serves stakeholders across the university, the Office of Policy and Governance has created a series of self-paced online tutorials that outline the history of and guiding principles for effective governance, and the role that faculty, staff and student representative bodies play in the process.

The tutorial modules, which run from three to 20 minutes, are as follows:

In addition to the online tutorial modules, Policy and Governance offers a Governance 101 resource with information on structures and procedures as well as links to the contributing shared governance bodies, resolution tracker, and how to get involved in the shared governance system.

For more information or to access these valuable resources, please visit Virginia Tech’s shared governance system website.

University Libraries: Technology lending program available to faculty through spring semester

The University Libraries is continuing its long-term technology lending program to make equipment available for semester-long special research, teaching, and personal projects. Interested faculty and staff must apply through the application form for the spring 2024 semester by January 17.

Lending decisions will be made through a weighted random lottery. Research or teaching projects and projects involving a library or TLOS partnership carry more weight. Equipment pickup will be the second week of the semester and must be returned within a week of the end of the semester.

See a full list of equipment available with model information and specifications. This program cannot replace student requirements to purchase a computer for their coursework. Should this project be successful and meet a need on campus, we will seek to expand the technology available through this program.

For more information, read this campus notice or email the technology lending program staff in University Libraries.

Reminder: All users must empty Google Photos prior to January 16

The Division of IT reminds all faculty and staff that the Google Photos app will be removed from Virginia Tech Google accounts on January 16. Because Virginia Tech does not have administrative control over the content placed in the Photos app for university Google accounts, once the Photos app is removed, the university will not be able to retrieve any files left in your account.

Before January 16, all faculty and staff need to do the following:

Disable any automatic photo uploads or syncing from your phone or other devices to your Virginia Tech Google Photos app. If you don’t have that feature enabled, you can skip this step.
Export and move any files that you wish to keep from the Photos app on your Virginia Tech Google account to an alternative storage location.
Once you have exported the needed files, delete all contents from the Photos app until you have zero data remaining within the app.

For more information and resources, read this campus notice or visit the license changes website for information specific to employees. If you have further questions or need help with Google Workspace or another IT service, contact 4Help.

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.