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Week of June 5-9

2023

Board of Visitors: Faculty promotions, tenure, and continued appointments approved

During their June 6 meeting, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors (BOV) approved faculty promotion, tenure, and continued appointments for 2023.

Faculty and instructors were recognized for their scholarship, research, and service with promotions to associate professor with tenure, tenure at the currently held rank of associate professor, professor, associate professor, advanced instructor, senior instructor, assistant professor of practice, associate professor of practice, professor of practice, collegiate assistant professor, collegiate associate professor, collegiate professor, clinical associate professor, continued appointment with promotion to associate professor, research assistant professor, research associate professor, research professor, Extension agent, and senior Extension agent.

For the complete list of 2023 promotions approved by the BOV, please read this VT News article. Congratulations to all our newly promoted colleagues!

Provost’s Office and Human Resources: 2023 faculty, staff salary and merit increases

The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and Commonwealth of Virginia have approved a five percent pool to increase the compensation of our valued employees. With these approvals:

  • Earned increases for calendar year faculty and university and classified staff will be effective June 10, 2023. Employees will see any increase in their July 3 paycheck. 
  • Academic year faculty earned increases will be effective August 10, 2023. Employees will see any increase in the September 1 paycheck.

To be eligible to receive merit pay:

  • Faculty must have been hired by December 10, 2022, to be eligible, and merit increases were informed by the content of their Faculty Activity Report. 
  • University staff must have been hired by March 10, 2023, and have at least an “acceptable/developing” performance level on their most recent evaluation. University staff merit increases were based upon a review of performance evaluations. 
  • Eligible classified staff received a base salary increase of five percent as these positions are governed by the state.

Employees who are receiving an increase will receive a notification prior to the increase effective date.

For more information and to see a table for how Virginia Tech’s compensation plan will be implemented, please read this campus notice. If you have questions about the 2023 compensation program, please contact your supervisor or college or department human resources representative.

Faculty Affairs: Join colleagues for a Summer In-Person Faculty Writing Retreat

The Office of Faculty Affairs invites faculty to join colleagues from across the campus for a Summer 2023 In-Person Faculty Writing Retreat, August 7-8 or August 9-10 at Rising Silo Brewery (2351 Glade Road in Blacksburg).

In order to meet increased interest, Faculty Affairs will hold two summer retreat sessions that are designed to draw on the collective energy of our writing community and will feature short workshops and optional consultations from Monique Dufour. Faculty are asked to bring their own computer and other writing/research materials, and a project they would like to work on. (Note: Rising Silo has limited wifi access.)

Registration for either session is open until June 15. All Virginia Tech instructional faculty (tenured or tenure-track, collegiate, continued appointment or continued appointment track, research, extension, clinical, instructors, adjuncts) are invited to participate.

The event is free to attend but because space is limited, Faculty Affairs asks that registrants commit to attending any dates for which they register. They will confirm your spot after the registration deadline. Preference will be given to those who have not participated in a prior summer retreat at Virginia Tech.

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

Undergraduate Education: Thank you to faculty for a successful 2023 Summer Institute

The Office of Undergraduate Education recently hosted the ninth annual Summer Institute, a professional development event that brings together the faculty and staff who participate in the Pathways General Education, First-Year Experience, and Inclusive Excellence programs. The two-day event held in May had record participation with more than 200 faculty and staff representing every college and multiple units in the Provost’s Office.

The Office of Undergraduate Education would like to thank all faculty who participated and contributed to the success of this event.

Sessions were provided by faculty and staff from TLOS, Hokie Wellness, Academic Integrity, Office of Undergraduate Research, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Department of Psychology, Department of Geosciences, VT Engage, Center for Excellence in Teaching, Global Education Office, University Libraries, School of Education, Department of Computer Science, Department of Religion and Culture, Undergraduate Admissions, University Studies, Department of Political Science, Engineering Education, School of Visual Arts, Department of Statistics, and Department of Physics.

A full list of the people who made the event successful, along with a detailed schedule, is available on the Summer Institute page.

The 2023 Summer Institute was sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, along with grant funding from the School of Plant and Environmental Science, Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, and the School of Animal Sciences.

ICYMI: TikTok, WeChat no longer permitted on university networks, devices beginning July 1

Effective July 1, use of TikTok, WeChat, and other products from ByteDance, Ltd. or Tencent Holdings, Ltd. will not be permitted on Virginia Tech networks or on university-issued devices.

The university is taking this measure to comply with a new Virginia law which prohibits access to and use of apps or websites from the above entities on state-issued devices or on state-maintained networks. The Virginia General Assembly passed this law earlier in 2023, and the bill was signed by the governor in April.

Restrictions set forth in the new law will impact the university community in the following ways:

  • Beginning July 1, access to these apps and websites will be restricted on all Virginia Tech and state-managed networks, including eduroam at Virginia Tech. 
  • TikTok, WeChat, etc. may not be used on any university-issued device, regardless of what network is being used at the time. Apps should be deleted from university-issued devices. 
  • Virginia Tech-sponsored TikTok accounts, such as those administered by colleges and departments, may not be used in any manner after July 1. Social media managers are advised not to delete accounts, but simply to stop using them - this will protect the accounts from being spoofed in the future.

The new law does not restrict use of TikTok, WeChat, or any ByteDance or Tencent product on personally owned devices when connected to networks that are not maintained by state agencies including Virginia Tech. Employees and students who violate these new restrictions will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, as stipulated in Virginia Tech’s Policy 7000: Acceptable Use and Administration of Computer and Communication Systems.

For more information and answers to FAQs about these state-mandated app and website restrictions, please read this campus notice or visit the IT Application Restrictions website.  

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.