Virginia Tech® home

Week of July 1-5

2024

University Libraries: Experts profile can boost scholarly presence, attract collaborators

Virginia Tech Experts is a searchable online profile system managed through University Libraries that provides a public-facing view of researchers, scholars, and educators at Virginia Tech, along with their publications, research interests, teaching, and additional scholarly activities.

Faculty can now easily set up an Experts public profile so their research and expertise can easily be found by Virginia Tech colleagues and potential collaborators around the world. Activate your profile by using the Elements database system with a few simple steps and boost your online scholarly presence.

Virginia Tech Experts supports identifying potential collaborators and discovery of research, scholarship, creative works, and areas of specialization and expertise across disciplines. Currently profiles are only available for Virginia Tech faculty and graduate students.

For more information including overview slides, workshops, and a video guide, visit the Virginia Tech Experts webpage.

CETL: Faculty preparing for fall instruction invited to attend summer Course Design Clinic

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) invites faculty preparing for fall 2024 semester course instruction to attend the summer Course Design Clinic on August 14-15, 2024.

During the Course Design Clinic, activities will focus on identifying areas of both strength and weakness in existing course design, incorporating engaging pedagogy, identifying moments to check in with students, and building a stronger community and sense of belonging. The clinic will involve stages of course design to include:

  • Identifying goals and learning outcomes 
  • Organizing the syllabus and schedule 
  • Designing individual class meetings, activities, and assignments 
  • Planning for assessment of student learning

The goal is to encourage faculty and instructors to think through the multiple levels of granularity for courses and to complete much of the planning while having instructional experts on hand. Over 500 Virginia Tech faculty have completed the Course Design Clinic since 2018.

For more information and updates on registration and event location, visit the Couse Design Clinic webpage or email CETL.

Global Strategic Services: Changes to J-1 visa processing, fees

The Office of Global Strategic Services (GSS) has announced the following changes to J-1 processing which will impact department heads, chairs, and school directors.

  • Department head approval required for all J-1 sponsorship requests – GSS now requires department head approval for any J-1 request initiated in Sunapsis. The department/unit head (or designee) will be required to sign off on the Invitation Letter that the host faculty member prepares. It will be the responsibility of the host faculty to obtain the relevant signature before uploading the letter to Sunapsis. Failure to get DH approval prior to submitting the request will delay processing of the DS-2019. 
  • Increase in funding requirements for J-1 Scholars – To ensure that the funding requirement accurately reflects the cost of living in the location of the J-1 scholar’s “Site of Activity,” GSS has implemented higher funding requirements for scholars who will work at university facilities in specific regions throughout the commonwealth. 
  • Increase in GSS processing fee (from $100 to $150) for each DS-2019 – Virginia Tech is required by federal regulations to provide cultural programming and other services to J-1 visitors. The costs of doing so have risen as have expenses for other operations. To keep pace, GSS implemented a $50 increase this past fiscal year and an additional $50 for this fiscal year.

All J-1 requests submitted in Sunapsis with a program start date on or after July 1 will be subject to the increased funding requirements and processing fee.

For more information or an overview of program processes and requirements, visit the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program webpage or email GSS’ J-1 program manager.

Reminder: Faculty, staff participation in elections and political activity

Virginia Tech is supportive of all faculty and staff exercising their right to vote and participate in upcoming local, state, and federal elections. While the university encourages civic engagement, all political activity should be kept separate from the workplace. A political opinion should not be shared as a Zoom background, email tag line, poster, or in other forms in the workplace.

Per the university’s Statement of Business Conduct Standards (Professional and Personal Integrity), “Employees must take care to ensure that their university-related activities are kept separate from political activities; it must be clear that they act as citizens in such activities, not as representatives of the university. Further, employees must not use university resources, including computer and network systems and university work time to promote political positions or political campaigns.”

For more information, refer to the Statement of Business Conduct Standards and the Faculty Handbook (Section 2.25: Political Activity). For questions or concerns, email the HR Service Center or call 540-231-9331.

ICYMI: New Faculty Welcome set for 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 is required and 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.

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.