Week of March 2-6

2026

Provost’s Office: Spring Break 2026 is March 7-15

Spring Break 2026 will take place March 7-15. In accordance with the university’s official academic calendar, undergraduate and graduate faculty/instructors are reminded that they should not hold any class meetings, have assignments due, or administer exams during spring break or any other designated student holiday.

The week of Spring Break is important to the mental health and wellness of all Virginia Tech students and faculty/instructors should preserve these as non-instructional, assignment, or assessment days.

Reminder: Share your perspectives, feedback through COACHE faculty job satisfaction survey

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) faculty job satisfaction survey has launched and Virginia Tech teaching and research faculty are encouraged to participate and contribute to this important assessment process. COACHE is specifically designed to determine current job satisfaction among faculty at Virginia Tech compared with those at peer institutions.

Check inboxes and spam folders for an email from coachefaculty@abtsurvey.com or coachefaculty@abtglobal.com, directing you to the online survey. COACHE will provide our campus with their summary analysis, as well as the confidential unit-record database, stripped of names and email addresses.

As results from the 2026 survey become available, the Office of Faculty Affairs will share findings with the university community in a town hall-style meeting and on Virginia Tech’s COACHE webpage.

For more information, email Rachel Gabriele in Faculty Affairs or call 540-231-4508. Faculty can also email COACHE directly with survey-related questions.

Research and Innovation: RISE Lecture Series discussion on responsible use of AI in research

The Research Integrity and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Lecture Series welcomes David B. Resnik, senior advisor for research integrity in the Office of Intramural Research at the National Institutes of Health, for a presentation on, "Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Research and Scholarly Writing.”

The discussion will take place April 20 from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. in Steger Hall Auditorium. Faculty and staff are invited to attend in-person or via Zoom.

Resnik will examine ethical challenges related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in research and writing, with a special focus on generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. He will explore key issues including:

Authorship and transparency
Accountability and bias
Data integrity and trust
Individual and social responsibility in AI‑supported research

For more information, read this RISE Lecture Series campus notice or visit the Office of Research and Innovation’s featured events webpage.

CRCPE and TLOS: ADA Title II requires accessibility conformance for digital content by April 24

Critical revisions to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II require accessibility conformance to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for digital content provided by Virginia Tech or through paid third-party resources by April 24, 2026. WCAG represent rules for creating accessible documents and webpages.

All Canvas content, webpages, apps, word-processing documents, PDFs, images, videos, spreadsheets, forms, and social media posts must be equally usable for everyone. Many documents actively used to support university operations and teaching and learning will need remediation.

Civil Rights Compliance and Prevention Education (CRCPE) and Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) are leading this initiative to address the impact of new regulations which will affect all areas of the university.

For more information, visit the ADA Title II Digital Accessibility webpage or Virginia Tech's Accessibility Portal for additional guidance and resources.

ICYMI: 'My Virginia Tech’ platform slated to go live in May, will replace HokieSPA

Virginia Tech is preparing to replace HokieSPA with a new cloud-based platform called "My Virginia Tech" (my.vt.edu). The conversion is scheduled to begin prior to the Memorial Day weekend on Thursday, May 21, at 5:00 p.m. and continue until Tuesday, May 26, at 8:00 a.m.

My Virginia Tech will provide a far more flexible and contemporary way to access the tools that students and employees rely on to conduct business, register for classes, conduct financial transactions, and keep their personal information up to date and accessible. With the new platform, the campus community will experience:

A clean, mobile-enabled, user-friendly look and feel
Intuitive self-service portals for registration, advising, and financial aid
A personalized student experience including advising support and integrated academic planning tools
Streamlined administrative workflows
Centralized curriculum and catalog management
Robust reporting and analytics to support enrollment management, budgeting, and accreditation

The Division of IT will host an information session for faculty and staff will be held on Tuesday, March 3, at 2:30 p.m. in 310 Kelly Hall and via Zoom. This session will feature members of the project team with a Q&A session at the end.

For more information, read this My Virginia Tech announcement, visit the Division of IT's ERP Changes webpage, our email the IT project team.

Additional Resources and Updates

Newsletter Spotlight: Research Services (University Libraries)

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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.