April 16, 2020

Meetings/Workshops/Events:

  1. GRADUATE PROGRAM DIRECTORS MEETING (4/16)

 Administrative Announcements:

  1. GUIDANCE FOR USING ZOOM TO CONDUCT PRELIMS AND FINAL EXAMS
  2. COVID-19 UPDATES
  3. GRADING OPTIONS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS – 2nd posting
  4. ATTENTION! GRADUATE CATALOG EDITORS – 2nd posting
  5. VT CALL FOR FACULTY PROFILES: HBCU/MSI SUMMIT – 2nd posting

Deadlines/Dates to Remember:

  • APR 15 – Extended deadline for withdrawing from a class
  • MAY 1 – Deadline for changing grading option (see below)
  • MAY 15 – Deadline to defend (possible one week extension – email grads@vt.edu)
  • MAY 29 – Graduate Catalog edit deadline

Meetings/Workshops/Events:

1. GRADUATE PROGRAM DIRECTORS MEETING
Thursday, April 16, 10-11:30, GLC Room F and Zoom
Register for the second Spring 2020 Graduate Program Directors meeting at https://gs.vt.edu/spring2020gpd. Please note that, along with registration, you are required to sign in with your Virginia Tech credentials in order to attend this meeting.

Administrative Announcements:

 2. GUIDANCE FOR USING ZOOM TO CONDUCT PRELIMS AND FINAL EXAMS
The Graduate School is providing written guidance for faculty and students on conducting preliminary and final examinations using Zoom. Please visit our website at https://graduateschool.vt.edu/academics/what-you-need-to-graduate/basics-zoom-graduate-exams.html to review our recommendations.

 3. COVID-19 UPDATES
The Graduate School is continually updating its website’s front page with COVID-19 FAQs . Please refer to https:///covid-faqs.html for regular updates.

 4. GRADING OPTIONS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS – 2nd posting
Graduate students will be allowed to change the grading option from A/F to P/F for graduate courses taken in Spring 2020.  A maximum of 6 graduate credits converted A/F to P/F in this manner will be allowed to count toward their program’s graded course credit total on the Plan of Study (research credits are graded as Equivalent Credit [EQ] and do not count as P/F).  The decision to change the grading option should be reached in consultation with the faculty advisor and the Graduate Program Director. These decisions should be made not later than May 1, 2020. Instructions for how to document and process grade mode changes in Banner are posted here

5. ATTENTION! GRADUATE CATALOG EDITORS – 2nd posting
The cycle to edit for catalog year 2020-2021 has begun. Those receiving notification from the system are responsible for content. You must review and submit content, even if the content will not be updated. The deadline to submit is Friday, May 29.

 6. VT CALL FOR FACULTY PROFILES: HBCU/MSI SUMMIT – 2nd posting
Are you interested in collaboration with faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or other minority-serving institutions (MSIs)? The HBCU/MSI Research Summit is an opportunity to build direct inter-institutional partnerships between faculty at Virginia Tech and faculty at HBCUs and MSIs. The annual summit held every October, brings several guests, students and faculty, from various HBCUs and MSIs to Virginia Tech.If interest in being listed in our directory, please complete a brief Faculty Interest Survey at https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_514e3ol0X1Bq4nj. The purpose of the survey is to collect information about interested faculty and their work at Virginia Tech to build a database of faculty profiles to facilitate collaborations with HBCUs and MSIs.