Virginia Tech® home

Week of July 3-7

2023

Provost’s Office: Welcome AAD Dean Tsai Lu Liu and PCOB Dean Saonee Sarker

The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost would like to welcome our new deans Tsai Lu Liu (College of Architecture, Arts, and Design) and Saonee Sarker (Pamplin College of Business) to Virginia Tech.

“During this important transitional period for the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design (AAD), Lu brings a wealth of academic and industry leadership experience to the college and a vision for working collaboratively to elevate its programs, faculty, and national reputation. His expertise and perspectives will be invaluable to our academic leadership team and to creating a strategic path forward for AAD.”

“Saonee’s strong academic leadership experience, global perspective, and commitment to recruiting and retaining a diverse community of business faculty is well aligned with the goals and priorities of the Pamplin College of Business and the university. I look forward to her joining our leadership team and supporting her efforts to lead the college and advance our land-grant mission and global reputation.”

“I would like to thank Rosemary Blieszner and Robin Russell for their outstanding leadership, guidance, and contributions in serving as interim deans of their respective colleges. I know they will continue to support the new deans and their college’s future growth and success.”

- Provost Cyril Clarke

Liu and Sarker assumed leadership of their colleges on July 1. Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Deans Tsai Lu Liu and Saonee Sarker.

Faculty Affairs: Special leave for recipients of prestigious, highly prestigious awards

In an effort to provide support to recipients of prestigious and highly prestigious awards, both for the benefit of the faculty member and to help increase the university’s share of these awards, Special Leave (Faculty Handbook Section 2.14.2) is available to help faculty secure the time and flexibility necessary to participate in the requisite activities of the award.

In the past, on an ad hoc basis, Faculty Affairs has worked with individual faculty members on the use of Special Leave to help them take advantage of these opportunities. However, it is likely that many faculty are not aware of this option and may have passed up opportunities to apply for prestigious or highly prestigious awards or fellowships as a result.

Faculty Affairs is preparing to communicate more widely the details of this option and will work with faculty members and their department and college to appropriately structure the use of Special Leave to support participation in award activities. In so doing, Faculty Affairs will abide by the following:

  • Work to ensure there is no financial “penalty” to the faculty member for taking this opportunity, especially as it relates to the additional costs that would be incurred while they are in residence elsewhere while maintaining their primary residence. 
  • Wherever possible, protect a faculty member’s eligibility for taking a research leave, so they do not have to use their earned research leave to take advantage of their award opportunity. 
  • Recognize and try to account for the financial needs of the department in covering classes or other responsibilities while the faculty member is in residence elsewhere. 
  • Prioritize the use of Special Leaves for faculty who receive prestigious and highly prestigious awards as defined by the AAU.

For more information on eligibility and use of Special Leave to support recipients of prestigious and highly prestigious awards, please contact your department head/chair or school director, or email Rachel Gabriele, associate vice provost for Faculty Affairs.

Transportation Services: 2023-24 parking permits for faculty, staff go on-sale July 24

Faculty and staff annual, semester, evenings only, and remote parking permits for the 2023-24 academic year will go on sale July 24. Permits will be mailed beginning August 7 and are valid from the time of purchase until August 31, 2024.

Current permits for 2022-23 will expire on August 31.

Faculty and staff who wish to use their new 2023-24 parking permit to access the North End Center Garage or any of the gated lots on the Blacksburg campus before September 1 will need to email Transportation Services or call 540-231-3200. Only one parking permit can be active at a time, so the 2022-23 permit will be deactivated before the 2023-24 permit is activated.

Permits can be purchased online or in person at 505 Beamer Way on the Blacksburg campus. If you are a student or employee, please login with your PID and password using 2-Factor Authentication.

For more information including a list of FAQs, please read this campus notice or visit the Virginia Tech Transportation Services website. If you do not have a PID or need additional help with the 2-Factor Authentication process, contact 4HELP at 540-231-4357.

Provost’s Office: Share your ideas, insights for improving our Weekly Communications Update

If you have comments or recommendations for how we can improve the Weekly Communications Update, or you would like to make a request to have specific information or topics shared with faculty and academic program staff across the university, please provide your feedback and suggestions through this Google form.

Along with the Weekly Communications Update, faculty and department heads should visit the provost’s website frequently for new and updated information impacting the academic community. All employees of the university should also read their VT News Daily email for important campus events, notices, and resources.

For more information or feedback, please email Provost Communications.

ICYMI: New requirements for USDA animal facility inspection reports

The Virginia General Assembly’s Animal Research Legislation now requires (as of July 1) all Virginia state institutions to post U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) animal facility inspection reports within 30 days of an inspection and receipt of the report on a university landing page in addition to the current annual report.

To comply with the legislation, Virginia Tech, through the Office of Research and Innovation, has published a dedicated landing page, USDA Animal Inspection and Annual reports, where animal inspection reports, university responses, and the current annual report will be posted.

The inspection reports are also available on USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s website inspection reports page.

From the USDA inspection reports page:

  • Enter Virginia Tech’s certificate number 52-R-0012. 
  • Select “search,” and the tab “view inspection reports.”

For more information, to inquire about prior reports, or for questions, please read this campus notice or email the IACUC administrator.

Additional Resources and Updates

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

Please 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.