Announcements & Deadlines:
Call for nominations for graduate student awards – submission deadline January 26, 2007. Departments and colleges are encouraged to consider nominating their students for outstanding contributions to teaching, research, service, and other scholarly accomplishments. See attached details.
Deadline to accept international students for spring 2007 – November 1
The spring 2007 deadline to accept international students residing outside the United States is November 1st. Since the visa application process may take 2-3 months, we must allow sufficient time for students to make all their arrangements. International students are expected to arrive no later than January 14 and participate in the mandatory international student orientation. Departments may request an exception for specific individuals by contacting the National Capital Region international student advisor Marija Telbis-Forster, Northern Virginia Ctr., 7054 Haycock Road, Room 203, Falls Church, VA 22043 or at 703/538-3743. Blacksburg Immigration Specialists may be reached at the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown, or 540-231-8486, igss@vt.edu
National Capital Region Open House
Virginia Tech in the National Capital Region held a Graduate School Information Fair, Wednesday, October 18, 7-9 p.m., at the Northern Virginia Center, 7054 Haycock Road, Falls Church, Virginia, for prospective students to explore opportunities in master’s, doctorate and certificate programs. If you have any questions please contact the Graduate Student Services Office at 703-538-8327 or gsso@nvc.vt.edu
Nominations for Cunningham Doctoral Scholars
As an integral part of our recruitment efforts to attract outstanding doctoral students to Virginia Tech, I am pleased to open the competition for the 2007 Cunningham Doctoral Scholars Program. Please review the guidelines and timelines available on the Graduate School web site , http://www.graduateschool.vt.edu/index.html
Graduate Congressional Scholarship (Spring 2007)
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the availability of a one semester Graduate Congressional Scholarship for students currently enrolled at Virginia Tech. The scholar will be able to participate in the everyday work of Congressman Boucher’s office. While specific duties will depend on the scholar’s experience and interests, as well as the needs of Congressman Boucher’s office, duties will likely include constituent services, special studies, and support of on-going office activities such telecommunications, science and technology, social issues, labor and education.
The scholarship is open to master’s and doctoral students in all fields. Applicants must be currently enrolled in a graduate program at Virginia Tech and have completed at least 18 credits of graduate coursework. The ideal candidate should possess excellent writing skills. The successful applicant will receive a one semester stipend and tuition scholarship up to $16,000.
Applicants should submit a 250 word statement of career goals, a current resume, and two letters of support, at least one of which must be from a Virginia Tech faculty member in the student’s graduate degree program. Please submit applications or nominations by December 15, 2006 to Dr. Karen P. DePauw, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate School, Mail Code 0325, Blacksburg, VA 24061.
New Faces at the Graduate School
Dr. James Turner (Mathematics) is serving as associate provost for diversity in the Graduate School and chairs the “Diversity Think Tank”. Ms. Sheila Steele is the new administrative assistant in the dean’s suite. Ms Kristen Hicks, Ms. Jennifer Mitra, and Ms. Mary Reed have joined the Admissions and Academic Progress team.
Enrollments & Earned Doctorates
Graduate enrollments for fall ’06 have reached an all time high of 6111 university-wide. This includes full-time and part-time enrollments in Blacksburg, extended campuses, and beyond. Doctoral students now comprise 40% of the graduate enrollment. The number of individuals who have earned doctoral degrees has also increased to 366 for ’05-’06.
Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees (IPGD) – Call for Proposals
The Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees (IPGD) provides the overview of our academic plans for graduate education at Virginia Tech. The IPGD is updated annually and in this regard, I’ve included the call for proposals below.
Commission on Graduate Studies & Policies
The Graduate Curriculum Committee has approved the Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Education. The degree proposal will be presented to the Commission on Graduate Studies and Polices for a second reading at the November 1st meeting.
Policies & Procedures Reminders/Updates
Reminder: Banner report, SYRB601, allows departments to review and sort the list of applications that are still waiting for a decision. The report provides a data file that you can pull into an Excel file so that you can sort the data by student name, ID, campus, application status and citizenship status. If you need assistance in accessing or running the report, please contact the Graduate Student Services Office in the National Capital Region at 703-538-8327 gsso@nvc.vt.edu or the Admissions and & Academic Progress Office in Blacksburg at 540-231-2727.
Annual Call for Proposals
Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees (IPGD)
The Graduate School calls for new degree proposal for inclusion on the Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees (IPGD). The IPGD is comprised of a list of degree programs that are approved for development to begin during the 07/08 academic year. The intention is that these programs would be implemented no later than Fall 2010.
We anticipate that colleges will review and select from proposals generated by their academic units. We would like to receive the college-approved proposals by February 1st so that we can finalize the ‘07’-’08 update to the IPGD by the end of the Spring 2007 semester.
Please provide the following information (in two pages or less) for degree programs you wish to have considered for inclusion on the plan:
- Need and Demand for the degree
- Target audience
- Faculty resources to be utilized
- Graduate courses (existing and proposed) underpinning the degree
- Conformity with the VT Strategic Plan particularly with regard to research emphasis and interdisciplinary nature
- Source of financial support
- Anticipated implementation date
The proposed degrees currently listed on the wish list will be considered for pre-approval in this review cycle. Please review the current “wish list” and indicate those proposals that should be removed from consideration.
Please send proposals to Karen P. DePauw in the Graduate School by February 1, 2007.