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Week of July 25-29

2022

Transportation Services: Parking permits now available for 2022-23 academic year

Parking permits for the 2022-23 academic year are now on-sale and can be obtained through Virginia Tech Transportation Services. Available options for faculty/staff and general graduate student parking include Annual, Semester, Evenings Only, and Remote. Permits will be mailed beginning August 8, 2022.

Current permits for the 2021-22 academic year expire on August 31. 2022-23 annual permits are valid from the time of purchase until August 31, 2023.

Faculty and staff who would like to use their new 2022-23 parking permit to access the North End Center Garage or any of the gated lots on the Blacksburg campus before September 1 should email Transportation Services or call 540-231-3200. Only one permit can be active at a time, so the 2021-22 permit will be deactivated before the new one is activated.

Permits can be purchased online (login with your PID and password using 2-Factor Authentication) or in person at 505 Beamer Way. For more information, please read this campus notice or visit the Transportation Services website.

Faculty Affairs: Faculty, instructors invited to register for Summer Virtual Writing Retreat

Faculty Affairs invites Virginia Tech instructional faculty (tenured or tenure-track, collegiate, continued appointment or continued appointment track, research, extension, clinical, instructors, adjuncts) to participate in the Summer 2022 Virtual Writing Retreat.

Join colleagues from across the campus via Zoom on August 12 for a morning session (9:00 – 11:15 a.m.) and/or afternoon session (2:00 – 4:15 p.m.) of dedicated time to work on scholarly writing projects, teaching materials, creative or personal works, or any other writing activity you choose. The group will also work together during timed writing sessions (Pomodoros) with regular goal setting, check-ins, and celebrations.

The Summer 2022 Virtual Writing Retreat is free to attend, but registration is required. Faculty may attend one or both retreat sessions. Once registered, attendees will receive a Zoom link, which will work for both the morning and afternoon sessions. We understand that schedules are in flux, so registration is an expression of interest in attending, but does not obligate the registrant to attend.

For more information, please visit the Faculty Writing Retreats website. If you are a retreat attendee with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email Catherine Piché at least 10 business days prior to the event.

Research Development Series: Strategies for Winning NIH Program Project/Center Grants

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide the largest amount of public funding for biomedical research in the world. The most substantial awards are program project/center grants (P-series) that support large, multi-project efforts that generally include a diverse array of research activities.

As its first seminar in the 2022-23 Research Development Series, the Office of Research and Innovation is hosting a virtual discussion designed to inspire both experienced and new research faculty, by providing an overview of P-series grants and the winning strategies used by invited guest speakers.

“Strategies for Winning National Institutes of Health Program Project/Center Grants” will take place, via Zoom, on September 9 from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. All members of the research community are invited, but registration is required.

The seminar will be hosted by Vince Baranauskas, senior research development coordinator in the Office of Research and Innovation, and will include the following guest speakers:

  • Sheree Toth, director of the Mt. Hope Family Center and professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Rochester. 
  • Mark Peeples, professor in the Department of Pediatrics with The Ohio State University’s College of Medicine, and principal investigator for the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

The Research Development Series is designed to help faculty in their journey to increase the scope and impact of their research, creativity, and innovation portfolio. With events focused on different facets of sponsored research, from sponsor-specific perspectives to how to work with partners, this webinar series is intended to answer researchers' biggest questions and enlighten scholars at every step in their career.

For more information on this and other Research and Innovation events, please visit their Events and Programs website.

Reminder: Registration open for faculty, staff to attend the 2022 InclusiveVT Summit

The Office for Inclusion and Diversity invites the Virginia Tech community to participate in the 2022 InclusiveVT Summit (formerly called Diversity Summit) on Wednesday, August 10 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.

InclusiveVT is Virginia Tech’s institutional and individual commitment to Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) in the spirit of community, diversity, and excellence.

The keynote speaker is Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE). She will lead a conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. Both the keynote address and morning presentations will be live streamed on the InclusiveVT YouTube channel for those who join remotely.

The afternoon sessions include tours of the Solitude-Fraction site, as well as a variety of in-person, virtual, and asynchronous sessions about diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Virginia Tech.

The InclusiveVT Summit is an opportunity for all faculty and staff to learn and engage with InclusiveVT’s Four Institutional Goals through diversity and inclusion related initiatives, education and events across the university.

Registration is now open and required to attend the summit. The Canvas course includes a schedule of events and accompanying content for the summit. Participants will have access to content in Canvas (Professional Development Network or Orange Canvas) throughout the fall semester.

For more information about the event, please email Michelle Carter, director of diversity engagement, or visit the InclusiveVT website. If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Michelle Carter at least ten business days prior to the event.

ICYMI: Hokie Mentorship Connect networking platform to be discontinued

Effective August 31, 2022, Hokie Mentorship Connect, a platform designed to provide networking opportunities for Virginia Tech students and alumni, will be discontinued. Career and Professional Development is currently working with Alumni Relations to develop a new approach to encourage student-alumni networking, which will be announced later this summer.

The decision to discontinue the Hokie Mentorship Connect platform is based on data indicating that the program in its current format is not meeting the intended outcomes.

Virginia Tech is seeking an alternative path to unite students with alums for career-related support and to connect them with graduates who took similar paths through college and beyond in order to foster career-focused relationships.

Career and Professional Development is asking that all faculty assess course syllabi and websites and remove references to Hokie Mentorship Connect.

If you have questions about the discontinuance of Hokie Mentorship Connect, please email Donna Cassell Ratcliffe, director of Career and Professional Development.

Additional Resources and Updates

If you have comments or recommendations for how we can improve the Weekly Communications Update or suggestions for specific information and topics that should be shared with faculty, staff, and academic program personnel, please provide them through this Google form or email Provost Communications.

Please visit VT Ready and the Provost’s website frequently for new and updated university information. All members of the campus community should also read their VTx Daily email for further important updates, notices, and resources.