GRADUATE SCHOOL BULLETIN
A publication of the Graduate School for Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators
Postings are distributed on the Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators listservs on the 1st and the 16th of the month and are also available in a blog for public viewing here: https://monthlymemo.graduateschool.vt.edu/
April 16th, 2025
IN THIS BULLETIN:
Meetings, Workshops, & Events
1. Mentorship Workshop on April 29th
Deadlines & Dates to Remember
None at this time.
Policy Updates
None at this time.
Administrative Announcements
2. 2025-26 Graduate Catalog Update Process
3. Doctoral Candidacy Status Tuition Discount Process Update
4. Call For Nominations for CGS ProQuest Dissertation Award
Announcements for Distribution to Students
None at this time.
Meetings, Workshops, & Events
____________________________________________
1. Mentorship Workshop on April 29th
Mentorship training is invaluable to VT faculty members and postdocs, and the Graduate School is committed to enhancing mentorship training opportunities at VT. Towards that end, we are presenting a mentorship workshop on April 29th from 10:30am to 12:00 pm in Room C of the Graduate Life Center (GLC); lunch will be provided. We encourage interested early career faculty members and postdocs, especially, to sign up: https://gs.vt.edu/1o
Administrative Announcements
____________________________________________
2. 2025-26 Graduate Catalog Update Process
The update process for the 2025-26 edition of the Graduate Catalog is now under way. GPDs and faculty members responsible for certificate programs (or their designees) are asked to review their current catalog listings at https://catalog.vt.edu/graduate/ and complete this survey to either confirm the accuracy of the current content or provide the details about necessary updates: https://gs.vt.edu/2025catalog.
Submissions are due by June 30. If you have any difficulty completing the survey or have any questions about the process, please contact Bill Huckle at wrhuckle@vt.edu or Monika Gibson at gibsonm@vt.edu.
3. Doctoral candidacy status tuition discount process update
Effective Fall 2025, the doctoral candidacy status tuition discount request will become an opt-out process. The Graduate School will automatically add the doctoral candidacy status tuition discount for any doctoral student who has passed their preliminary examination and meets all qualifications for the status as well as remove the discount for any doctoral student not meeting all qualifications for the status. Any doctoral student qualifying who does not wish to utilize the tuition discount may submit the Candidacy Status Tuition Discount Opt-Out form no later than the last day to add course registration for the semester. Questions regarding this change in process can be directed to the Graduate School at grads@vt.edu.
4. Call for nominations for CGS ProQuest Dissertation Award
The ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards are made annually to individuals nominated by a member institution, who have completed dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the discipline. The fields of competition in 2025 are:
- Biological Sciences
- Humanities and Fine Arts
Deadline for submissions: July 3, 2025. Send nominations for the distinguished dissertation awards to Monika Gibson, gibsonm@vt.edu. One nomination can be submitted for each category.