IN THIS BULLETIN:
Meetings/Workshops/Events:
1. HOW TO USE iTHENTICATE – TRAINING SESSIONS
2. RSVP — 2018 DIVERSITY SPOTLIGHT
3. FACULTY INVITED TO 3RD ANNUAL INTL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT CEREMONY
Policy Updates:
4. GTA/GRA WORK HOURS
5. iTHENTICATE ACCESS AND TRAINING VIDEOS AVAILABLE
Administrative Announcements:
6. GRADUATE EDUCATION WEEK SURVEY
7. DISRUPTING ACADEMIC BULLYING FOLLOW-UP
8. ASSISTANCE WITH TLOS SURVEY REQUESTED
9. OPEN POSITION: ASSOCIATE DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
10. ATTENTION! GRADUATE CATALOG EDITORS
Deadlines/Dates to Remember:
MAY 1: Last day to notify the Graduate School of intent to participate in commencement
MAY 2: Classes end: PhD/EdD all graduation requirements must be met to participate in commencement
MAY 9: Masters/Doctoral last day to defend to be a Spring 2018 graduate
MAY 10: Graduate commencement ceremony
MAY 13: National Capital region graduate commencement ceremony
MAY 31: Deadline to submit edits to Graduate Catalog (see #10)
Meetings/Workshops/Events:
1. HOW TO USE iTHENTICATE – TRAINING SESSIONS
Multiple dates and times, GLC Room F; registration required
The Graduate School is offering training sessions to graduate students and faculty on how to use iThenticate, a newly available software system to review the originality of documents, ensure accurate attribution to other authors, and eliminate occurrences of potential plagiarism. Multiple sessions are offered, all in GLC Room F; please register for only one if you are interested at https://app.nli.tlos.vt.edu/; search by date or for “iThenticate” in the title box.
– Thursday, Apr 19, 2:30-4:00pm
– Tuesday, Apr 24, 7:00-8:30pm
– Thursday, Apr 26, 10:30am-12:00pm
– Friday, Apr 27, 1:00-2:30pm
2. RSVP — 2018 DIVERSITY SPOTLIGHT
Thursday, May 3rd, 2018, 12am-1:30pm, Graduate Life Center, Multipurpose Room
Are any graduate students in your department serving as 2017-2018 Graduate Diversity Scholars? Check the list here: https://graduateschool.vt.edu/about/diversity/diversity-scholars/current-diversity-scholars.html
Please join us at the 7th Annual Diversity Spotlight Event hosted by the Graduate School. Graduate Diversity Scholars will present their projects in a lightning-round format and invite stakeholders to collaborate. Each Scholar will host a round-table discussion, offering stakeholders the opportunity to visit and discuss project details. Lunch Provided for Free. Registration is required. Please register here:https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8kVZtBDHAkSCwVD Questions? Please contact sbooker1@vt.edu.
3. FACULTY INVITED TO 3RD ANNUAL INTL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT CEREMONY
Thursday, May 10, 10:00am-12:00pm, Commonwealth Ballroom, Squires Student Ctr
Join the Graduate School and Cranwell International Center in celebrating the achievements of graduating international undergraduate and graduate students. Keynote address by Atia Abawi, a Virginia Tech alum (Communication ’04), foreign correspondent and author based in the Middle East. The ceremony will feature remarks from one graduating international graduate student, Sreyoshi Bharduri and a graduating undergrad. Reception to follow. Registration requested if you are planning to attend: http://international.vt.edu/advocacyandsupport/isac.html.
Policy Updates:
4. GTA/GRA WORK HOURS
According to Graduate School policy, graduate students on GTA/GRA/GA positions are expected to work 20 hours per week for a 100% assistantship appointment. Although the actual hours per week might vary depending upon assignments, the average should be 20 hrs./week and not to exceed 25 hours a week. Additional hours devoted to research might occur if the student is earning research & dissertation credits for them. In the summer, graduate students can work up to 40 hours (assistantship plus wage appointment) and must be paid accordingly. It is not appropriate to expect 40 hours/week on an assistantship.
5. iTHENTICATE ACCESS AND TRAINING VIDEOS AVAILABLE
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the launch of the use of iThenticate to verify originality of documents prepared by VT graduate students and faculty. Access to iThenticate is granted to graduate students and faculty effective immediately. Although the tool isn’t difficult to use, it is very important that you view the videos about accessing and using the tool, and especially interpreting the similarity report. Videos and a link to the iThenticate website are located here:
https://graduateschool.vt.edu/faculty-and-staff-resources/ithenticate.html
Additional training is listed above to assist with the roll-out of the ETD requirement beginning Summer I.
Administrative Announcements:
6. GRADUATE EDUCATION WEEK SURVEY
Now that Graduate Education Week has come to a close, we would like to get your input regarding the various activities and events that took place during the week. Please go to https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0HQZRiPLYwoPgkB to complete this short survey. We appreciate any feedback you can provide.
7. DISRUPTING ACADEMIC BULLYING FOLLOW-UP
Thank you to all who participated in the Disrupting Academic Bullying conversation with program leaders on April 5th. It was an engaging conversation with those here in Blacksburg and those who joined via Zoom. For those that were unable to join in on the conversation, the session was recorded and is available for viewing here: https://vimeo.com/264676871. One of the goals discussed in this conversation was to bring these conversations to the students, faculty, and administrators of individual departments. Please do reach out to Bryan Hanson (bryanh76@vt.edu) if you would like to discuss making this happen. We also discussed the next steps programs can take to illustrate commitments to disrupting academic bullying and some of the challenges that we may face. As a first step to developing an action plan, we ask that programs develop a paragraph expressing the commitment to disrupting academic bullying that would relate specifically to your community. When programs develop these commitment statements, the Graduate School will publicize via the webpage the commitments individual programs are taking to create a bully-free environment. Please reach out to Bryan Hanson (bryanh76@vt.edu) for further information about this effort.
8. ASSISTANCE WITH TLOS SURVEY REQUESTED
Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) at Virginia Tech is reaching out to Graduate Programs to identify the persons who support distance learning in some capacity other than faculty who are teaching the courses. Our purpose in learning more about management of distance learning is to improve support, coordinate and share information, and bring together persons in similar roles in professional communities so that we can learn from each other. We are asking Graduate Program Directors or Coordinators to forward the survey invitation and link below to individuals in their units who provide support or service to distance learning (either online using Canvas, WebEx, or through connected classrooms). Please complete the survey within the next week at https://tinyurl.com/VTGradDLSupportSurvey. If you have any questions, please contact Nannette Gordon at njimenez@vt.edu or Lujean Baab at lbaab@vt.edu. Thank you.
9. OPEN POSITION: ASSOCIATE DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
The Graduate School invites nominations and applications from Virginia Tech faculty for the position of Associate Dean of the Graduate School. This is a senior-level position reporting directly to the Vice President and Dean for Graduate Education. This position is a 50% calendar-year renewable appointment to be held concurrently with a Virginia Tech tenured associate professor or professor appointment. The expected starting date is no later than August 1, 2018. The associate dean is expected to work closely with the Vice President and Dean for Graduate Education and other associate deans and staff of the Graduate School as well as with Virginia Tech faculty and administrators to ensure excellence in graduate education, support graduate programs, support graduate school initiatives, provide support for policy and governance, and promote diversity and inclusion. For more information or to apply, please visit: https://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/84805
10. ATTENTION! GRADUATE CATALOG EDITORS
The Graduate Catalog system has begun notifying those defined with edit responsibilities. Please be sure to review and edit your program and certificate content. Regardless of whether you have changes or not, content must be reviewed and submitted. The deadline to submit is May 31, 2018.