Week of March 25-29

2024

From Provost Cyril Clarke: Support for students, employees observing religious holidays

Many Virginia Tech students and employees engage in religious observances that may impact their workplace or classroom participation. As stated in the Faculty Handbook (section 9.6.2: Class Attendance), “in accordance with the Virginia Tech Principles of Community, faculty are encouraged to accommodate students when the observance of religious, cultural, ethnic, meaning- making, or faith-based beliefs conflict with academic requirements.”

We acknowledge that every course section and class is different, and some are able to be adapted more easily than others. Recognizing that faculty are primarily responsible for making decisions on academic requirements for their courses, including modifying assignments and exam timelines, please do your best to support students and colleagues who are observing religious holidays and practices whenever it is academically feasible.

CETL: Faculty, instructors invited to take part in spring Course Design Clinic

Faculty and instructors planning for their summer and fall 2024 courses are invited to join the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) for its spring Course Design Clinic and leave with a plan and syllabus for the upcoming semester.

The clinic will take place May 13-14. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. During the two-day clinic, faculty and instructors will be guided through several 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

Through working with CETL staff, participants will receive guidance on rigorous instructional design, assignment-based assessment, active learning strategies, and inclusive course design. The goal of this clinic 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.

For more information, visit the spring Course Design Clinic webpage or email CETL.

Women’s Center at Virginia Tech: Celebration of 30th anniversary, close of Women’s Month 2024

The Women’s Center at Virginia Tech invites the campus community to join them in celebration of the Women’s Center’s 30th anniversary and the close of Women’s Month 2024. Events and activities will take place on Thursday, April 4, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at 206 Washington Street in Blacksburg.

Founded in 1994, the Women’s Center serves as a resource for the university and local community on gender-related and women’s issues; sponsors educational programs and events that raise awareness of women’s issues; and serves as an on-campus focal point for services for survivors, their friends, and families.

Women’s Month at Virginia Tech has historically represented the university’s broad commitment to celebrating diverse and inclusive communities through events aligned with the Virginia Tech Principles of Community. The annual event occurs in March in conjunction with National Women’s History Month.

The April 4 celebration is an open house style event, so guests may come and go as they wish. The event is free to attend, but an RSVP is requested by March 29.

For more information, visit the Women’s Center website or email Anna LoMascolo, director of Education, Outreach and Engagement.

Division of IT: Upcoming key dates related to Google-Microsoft service changes

The Division of IT would like to remind Virginia Tech faculty and staff of some upcoming key dates related to the Google-Microsoft service changes. The following is the current timeline for changes:

April 3: Deletion of data from unclaimed Virginia Tech student- or retiree-managed Shared Drives begins. Faculty and staff are asked to alert their students to this deadline.
April - June: Final actions to reach storage allocations are completed. Any Virginia Tech Google accounts that remain over their assigned storage allocation and unclaimed (no departmental sponsorship) shared drives are subject to data removal.
May 1: Organizational units/departments confirm FY2025 storage purchases.
July 1: Virginia Tech Google services operate under new cost-based licensing model; all accounts must be within their allocated storage amount.

The Division of IT reminds employees that storage caps went into effect March 15 with default storage limits in Google Workspace set at 5GB. Your department may assign you additional storage to meet your needs.

For more information, guidance, and resources for managing these service changes, visit the Google and Microsoft Service Changes webpages. For individual assistance, go to 4help.vt.edu or call 540-231-4357.

ICYMI: Share your feedback, perspectives via the 2024 employee campus climate survey

Virginia Tech has launched its 2024 employee campus climate survey to collect valuable feedback from faculty and staff about their Virginia Tech experience. Information collected through this survey will help the university understand:

How to support developing a culture of attracting and retaining talent and encouraging a culture of belonging and connection for all.
The perceptions of employees as it relates to job satisfaction and work environment and the university’s diversity, inclusion, and leadership.
The campus experience for different groups of people and across locations.
How the university climate has changed since the last survey in 2021.

All employees with a Virginia Tech email account will receive an email from climatesurvey@vt.edu that contains a personalized link to the survey. While the survey has been pre-populated with some organizational information to ensure accurate reporting, responses are confidential.

For more information, read this campus notice or contact your supervisor or college/department HR representative.

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.