Week of November 6-10

2023

Research and Innovation: Monitoring potential federal government shutdown, sponsored activity

Virginia Tech continues to closely monitor developments in Washington, D.C. to evaluate the likelihood of a federal government shutdown.

Congress must enact a number of appropriations bills that establish discretionary spending levels for the new federal fiscal year or agree to pass a continuing resolution to temporarily fund federal agencies. If Congress fails to enact required appropriations bills by November 17, the lapse in enacted appropriations will require a government shutdown, halting nonessential functions until funding bills are passed.

The Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation and the Office of Sponsored Programs have developed a webpage to provide the most up-to-date information and guidance on what a U.S. government shutdown would mean for research activity. The webpage includes a set of frequently asked questions and contacts for pre-award and post-award questions.

For more information, updates, and guidance on this matter, visit the Potential Federal Government Shutdown and Sponsored Activity webpage.

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

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

The clinic will take place December 18-19. 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 about the December Course Design Clinic, visit the program webpage or email CETL.

TLOS: Help create the future of Extended Reality learning experiences at Virginia Tech

The Extended Reality (XR) Faculty Community of Practice seeks input from faculty, staff, and students about their experiences using or creating XR immersive experiences, including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR).

With support from Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS), the XR Faculty Community of Practice has developed a survey to identify the most impactful areas where the university could support the creation of future XR learning experiences at Virginia Tech.

Survey responses will be collected through January 30, 2024. Those who participate can choose to be included in a drawing for $50. Faculty who agree to take part in a follow up focus group research study will receive $25 for their time and participation.

For more information, read this campus notice. Questions, concerns, or requests for more information can be emailed to the XR Faculty Community of Practice.

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: All faculty, staff must empty Google Photos prior to January 16, 2024

Virginia Tech is facing many changes to cloud storage services over the next year. One important change is that the Google Photos app will be removed from Virginia Tech Google accounts on January 16, 2024. Because Virginia Tech does not have administrative control over the content placed in the Photos app for university Google accounts, once the Photos app is removed, the university will not be able to retrieve any files left in your account.

Before January 16, 2024, all faculty and staff need to do the following:

Disable any automatic photo uploads or syncing from your phone or other devices to your Virginia Tech Google Photos app. If you don’t have that feature enabled, you can skip this step.
Export and move any files that you wish to keep from the Photos app on your Virginia Tech Google account to an alternative storage location.
Once you have exported the needed files, delete all contents from the Photos app until you have zero data remaining within the app.

To help faculty and staff export their files from Google Photos, the Division of IT has created the following resources:

For more information, read this campus notice or visit the license changes website for information specific to employees along with a timeline for service changes, FAQs, and support resources. If you have further questions or need help with Google Workspace or another Virginia Tech IT service, contact 4Help.

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.