Week of May 13-17

2024

End-of-Year Message from Provost Cyril Clarke and Faculty Senate President Joe Merola

The end of the academic year and celebration of commencement affords us the opportunity to reflect upon our achievements and appreciate the hard work and commitment of our faculty to guiding students and supporting them in their academic endeavors. The product of this collaborative effort is evident in the graduates who walk across the stage this week to become the next generation of leaders, innovators, and advocates for a better global community.

On behalf of faculty and university leaders across the campus, we would like to thank each of you for all you have contributed and accomplished, and for your continued dedication to our mission, university goals and priorities, and most of all, our students. Throughout the 2023-24 academic year, you have been the driving force behind Virginia Tech’s unwavering commitment to academic and research excellence, active and engaged learning, and student growth and success.

As we look ahead to the future, let us reaffirm as an academic community, our commitment to our land grant mission, strategic priorities, Principles of Community, and university motto, Ut Prosim. It is through this commitment and our partnerships and collective efforts that we continue to provide students with an unparalleled educational experience and the support, knowledge, and skills needed to excel in their studies and reach their full potential.

Thank you once again for all you have done on behalf of Virginia Tech during the 2023-24 academic year, and please know how much we value your perspectives and contributions. We hope you have a wonderful summer, enjoy time with family and friends, and pause to reflect on your successes and service to our university.

InclusiveVT: Applications now open for annual Future Faculty Diversity Program

The Office of Inclusion and Diversity is excited to announce the 14^th annual Future Faculty Diversity Program, taking place October 6-9, at The Inn at Virginia Tech. The program is designed to help departments identify and recruit talented scholars from historically underrepresented populations, specifically U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are African Americans, Hispanics/Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders.

During the three-day event, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the university's culture, meet with senior leaders, department heads, and faculty members, and gain valuable insights into life as a faculty member at Virginia Tech. College and academic departments will have the opportunity to identify and recruit diverse talent who could succeed at Virginia Tech and advance the university’s strategic plan diversity goals.

The deadline to apply is August 16.

For more information including a complete list of eligibility and application requirements, please visit the Future Faculty Diversity Program webpage or email Erica Cooper in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity.

CPD: Learn to become a Career Champion for Virginia Tech students

Career and Professional Development (CPD) invites faculty and staff to become a Career Champion for Virginia Tech students and learn more about CPD’s support services for both undergraduate and graduate students, career resources, and strategies for career-related conversations.

The online Career Champion program, consisting of interactive asynchronous learning, hands-on reflection, and content application, is designed to provide participants with tools and referral resources for career-related discussions with students. Through the Career Champion program, faculty and staff will:

Learn the components of the career development process.
Increase knowledge of resources available through CPD for undergraduate and graduate students with varying career needs.
Increase confidence in ability to have career conversations with students.
Understand the importance and value of Virginia Tech student reflection on career-related experiences.
Increase awareness of current career trends.

Registration for the program closes Friday, May 31.

For more information and to register for the next training session, please read this campus notice or visit the TLOS Professional Development Network webpage for this program. Additional question or inquiries may be emailed to the CPD office.

Division of IT: New process for handling of quarantined, potentially harmful email

Virginia Tech uses Exchange Online for email and calendaring. When Exchange Online detects a message that is likely to be harmful, it isolates the message in "quarantine” to prevent the user from accessing it. Messages may be placed in quarantine if they are suspected of being phishing emails or may possibly contain malware or harmful attachments.

Recently, the Division of Information Technology (IT) announced that Exchange Online has changed the location of quarantined emails from the “Junk” folder in Outlook, to Quarantine in Microsoft Defender. With this change, you will now receive an email from quarantine@messaging.microsoft.com notifying you when a message sent to you has been quarantined.

How to access and address quarantined messages:

When logged in to your Virginia Tech Microsoft 365 account, you can view the quarantined emails.
Under the 'email and collaboration' section, click 'review' to access the Quarantine emails.
From the Quarantine view, you can choose whether to release the message to your inbox, preview it without releasing it, delete the message, or block the sender, which also deletes the message.

For more information about quarantined emails and your options for managing them, please read this campus notice or visit Understanding Quarantined Emails in the 4Help Knowledge Base.

ICYMI: Faculty, course instructors encouraged to prepare for Kaltura/My Media changes

Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) announces that beginning on or soon after May 15, retention settings for Zoom meeting recordings and other videos stored in Kaltura at video.vt.edu or Canvas My Media will change. Videos that have not been published to a Canvas course or a video.vt.edu channel or collection will be deleted if they have not been viewed in the past 24 months.

Video owners will receive a notification email 14 days before removal and can delete unneeded files anytime. To retain a file, owners just need to play the video for 15 seconds. TLOS encourages users to take the following actions:

Before May 15:

Delete unneeded video files in Canvas My Media or at video.vt.edu. Reviewing stored files now will reduce the number of future notifications received.
Set notifications@kaltura.com as a trusted contact or safe sender in their email application.

On or after May 15:

Video owners will receive a notification email 14 days before the scheduled removal of their unpublished or unwatched video(s).
To retain a recording, visit the video using the link in the email notification and play it for at least 15 seconds.

For more information on these changes, read this campus notice or email TLOS.

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.