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Week of September 5-9

2022

CETL: Nominations for University Exemplary Department or Program Award

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is currently accepting nominations for the 2022 University Exemplary Department or Program Award (UEDPA). The award recognizes the work of departments and/or programs that maintain exemplary teaching and learning environments for students and faculty.

This year’s theme is “creating and sustaining support for early career faculty to develop as effective teachers and/or to contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning.”

Nomination materials are due by November 15. A total of $40,000 will be available for awards to the department(s) and/or program(s) determined by the selection committee drawn from the university community.

For more information on the award and nomination instructions/criteria, please visit the UEDPA websiteor email CETL.

Faculty Affairs: Pre-Tenure Pandemic Course Relief Program to support faculty advancement

The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, in coordination with Faculty Affairs and the academic colleges, has created the Pre-Tenure Pandemic Course Relief Program. It is designed to help mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on faculty advancement by providing funding for course relief.

Pre-tenure, tenure track faculty impacted by pandemic-related factors, such as an increase in time devoted to instruction; unexpected care obligations; delays in research, scholarly, creative, or extension opportunities; changes in areas of research emphasis by federal agencies and other research sponsors; and damage to reputation building due to reduced professional opportunities are eligible to apply for a one-course buyout in one semester.

The Provost’s Office will provide up to $5,000 in matching funds to the faculty member’s college or department for a one-course buyout to be used prior to their mandatory promotion and tenure year. The goal is to allow additional time for these faculty (hired prior to academic year 2022-23) to focus on their research programs as they prepare for promotion and tenure.

Requests for spring 2023 course buyouts are due by October 15, 2022. Requests for fall 2023 or spring 2024 course buyouts are due by January 31, 2023. Applications require approval by the faculty member’s department head and dean.

For more information, eligibility criteria and the application form, please read this campus notice or visit the Pre-Tenure Pandemic Course Relief Program webpage. Questions may be directed via email to Faculty Affairs.

Faculty Athletics Representative: Fostering academic success for student athletes

Jennifer Irish, Virginia Tech’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the ACC and NCAA, shares the following information with faculty and university administrators to highlight the academic accomplishments of the nearly 600 Virginia Tech students who represent the university through participation in NCAA Division I sports.

The report also seeks to raise awareness of the commitment student athletes make to the university through athletics participation and to foster academic success by clarifying student expectations and faculty opportunities associated with missed classwork due to participation in university sanctioned events.

Academic Performance
Virginia Tech’s student athletes excelled in the classroom in the 2021-2022 academic year, earning an average 3.19 GPA, with women’s and men’s basketball registering the highest overall team GPAs. In all, 90 percent of Hokie Sports teams achieved an average team GPA of 3.0 or above.

Student-Athlete Expectations
Student athletes choose Virginia Tech for its combined academics and athletics strengths. All student athletes are full-time students who are expected to remain in good academic standing per Virginia Tech’s and NCAA’s standards.

When their sport is in season, student athletes are expected to engage in 20 hours per week of athletics-related practice, competition, and other activities. Student athletes are further expected to engage in eight hours per week of athletics-related activities during their sport’s off season.

Competition Scheduling and Travel
Virginia Tech is privileged to be a member of the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC), which holds paramount both academic excellence and athletic excellence. With this privilege, Virginia Tech commits to accommodating ACC competition scheduling, which may include last-minute rescheduling due to ACC Network programming priorities. In addition to balancing changing schedules, most of Virginia Tech’s student athletes travel by bus or van to all their competitions, which lengthens their time away from campus.

Student athletes are expected to communicate their competition and travel schedule with instructors at the beginning of the term and to update the faculty members if the schedule changes. The student should work with the faculty member to develop strategies to complete missed work due to university-sanctioned competition and travel. To facilitate open communication, faculty are encouraged to include statements in their syllabi inviting any students with special circumstances to reach out to the instructor early in the semester.

For more information on academic performance and expectation for Virginia Tech student athletes, please email Jennifer Irish.

Career and Professional Development: On-campus internship program seeking hosts

Career and Professional Development (CPD) is committed to providing quality experiential learning opportunities to Virginia Tech students through internship and cooperative education programs. The Campus internEXP (Campus Intern Experience) is an on-campus internship program where departments can host quality, paid internships for Virginia Tech students.

Departments that currently hire interns, would like to turn a student wage position into an internship, or would like to hire an intern but don’t know how to get started are invited to register for one of CPD’s Campus internEXP information sessions to learn more about how to apply to be an internship host/site. During these sessions, department representatives will learn how the program works, how to apply to be a host, and how to write a detailed job description for a student intern.

The staff of CPD are also available to departments to answer questions and explain details of the Campus internEXP program and process including:

  • What offices/units at Virginia Tech can host interns? 
  • Who can be a supervisor? 
  • Who should submit the application for a campus office? 
  • How do we access the intern hosting application? 
  • What are the deadlines for submitting an application? 
  • How will supervisors and host offices be selected?

For more information on the program, please visit the Campus internEXP page on the CPD website.

ICYMI: Customized teaching and course design services available to faculty

Throughout the 2022-23 academic year, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is available to partner with faculty and instructors to support the design, development, and implementation of learner-centered instruction. This partnership includes a variety of customized and confidential consulting services to support research-based teaching and learning design and strategies. Through these customized services, faculty and instructors work closely with CETL staff to set goals and action plans.

  • Class Observations: Class observations, performed by center staff, are available for faculty to receive feedback on classroom management, communication effectiveness, students' engagement, or other teaching and learning practices.
  • Mid-Semester Feedback: An opportunity for instructors to gather structured feedback from their students regarding the functioning of the class and the quality of student learning. 
  • One-on-one Consulting: General course consulting is offered to faculty members to address a myriad of questions and issues. 
  • Program or Departmental Consulting: CETL partners and works closely with programs and departments to offer specific and tailored services. 
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): Workshops, consulting, grants, and an annual writing retreat to support Virginia Tech faculty and instructors with their SoTL.

In addition to teaching and consulting services, CETL offers faculty several programs and networking opportunities that support research-based teaching and learning design and strategies.

  • Book clubs: An opportunity to build a small community that explores topics presented in books CETL has identified as timely and supportive of teaching and learning. 
  • Bridge Experience: Plan for all undergraduate students to learn experientially through place-based opportunities and to develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities for success in their future endeavors. 
  • Project-Based Learning: A method of engaging students in authentic, real-world problems or challenges over a period of time. It is considered a high-impact practice due to its effectiveness for promoting learning, collaboration, and critical thinking. 
  • Principles of Effective Teaching Certificates: Program provides a learning community and support structure within which faculty can become better teachers. 
  • Effective Teaching Workshops  

For more information and additional programs and services offered to instructional faculty, please visit the CETL website.

Additional Resources and Updates

If you have comments or recommendations for how we can improve the Weekly Communications Update or suggestions for specific information and topics that should be shared with faculty, staff, and academic program personnel, please provide them through this Google form or email Provost Communications.

Please visit VT Ready and the Provost’s website frequently for new and updated university information. All members of the campus community should also read their VTx Daily email for further important updates, notices, and resources.