IN THIS BULLETIN:
Meetings/Workshops/Events:
1. RSVP — 2018 DIVERSITY SPOTLIGHT
2. SPRING COMMENCEMENT – FACULTY PARTICIPATION ENCOURAGED!
3. FACULTY INVITED TO 3RD ANNUAL INTL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT CEREMONY
4. SUMMER ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT EXTRAVAGANZA
5. ETD WORKSHOP FOR SUMMER AND FALL GRADUATES
Policy Updates:
6. GTA/GRA WORK HOURS
Administrative Announcements:
7. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ONLINE APPLICATION SUPPLEMENTAL FORMS
8. INTERNATIONAL ADMISSION APPLICATION DECISION DEADLINE
9. FALL 2018 GTA WORKSHOP REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
10. GRADUATE EDUCATION WEEK SURVEY
11. ASSISTANCE WITH TLOS SURVEY REQUESTED
12. ATTENTION! GRADUATE CATALOG EDITORS
Deadlines/Dates to Remember:
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 23: Spring 2018 ETD submission deadline
MAY 31: Deadline to submit edits to Graduate Catalog (see #12)
Meetings/Workshops/Events:
1. 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.
2. SPRING COMMENCEMENT – FACULTY PARTICIPATION ENCOURAGED!
Thursday, May 10, 2:15pm, Cassell Coliseum
Faculty participation is highly encouraged. Please report to the Beamer Way side of Cassell Coliseum by 2:15pm and follow the signage to the lower level staging area designated for processing faculty. Academic regalia must be worn by all participants. No advanced registration is required. For additional commencement information, please visit https://vt.edu/commencement.html or contact the Graduate School at 540-231-8636.
3. FACULTY INVITED TO 3RD ANNUAL INTL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT CEREMONY
Thursday, May 10, 10:00am-12:00pm, Commonwealth Ballroom, Squires Student Center
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.
4. SUMMER ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT EXTRAVAGANZA
Tuesday, May 15, 8:30am – 4:00pm, Inn at Virginia Tech, Latham Ballroom A
The Assessment and Evaluation unit in the Office of Academic Decision Support is hosting a full-day event at the Inn at Virginia Tech on Tuesday, May 15th to provide departments with additional support for academic program assessment. Participants will receive 8 hours of NLI credit. In addition to sessions on topics such as Assessing Graduate and Small Programs and Faculty Conversations: Experiences with the Assessment Process, a working room will be available during the afternoon to provide time for faculty to work on their assessment reports and receive personalized assistance from Assessment and Evaluation professionals. More detailed information about the event is on the Assessment and Evaluation website (http://www.ads.vt.edu/saae.html). Registration is available through NLI at: https://app.nli.tlos.vt.edu/#/offerings/Summer%202018?offering=6809
5. ETD WORKSHOP FOR SUMMER AND FALL GRADUATES
Wednesday, May 23, 2:00pm, GLC Room F
Graduate Admissions and Academic Progress staff will offer an ETD workshop to graduate students which will also be available through Zoom (https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/877479649). Students will learn how to format their Electronic Thesis/Dissertation (ETD), what Graduate School staff members look for in the ETD review, and what happens to an ETD after it is submitted to the Graduate School. Students may bring their laptop and PDF copy of the ETD for individual review. If you have questions regarding this session, please contact Graduate Admissions and Academic Progress staff at grads@vt.edu, 540-231-8636.
Policy Updates:
6. 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.
Administrative Announcements:
7. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ONLINE APPLICATION SUPPLEMENTAL FORMS
An annual review of our online application supplemental forms for changes, updates, and improvements is important to help ensure that your program’s information is being accurately reflected in the online version of the Virginia Tech Graduate School application. To review your department supplemental page (questions specific to your program) please login to GSAPP with your VT PID/Password. Once logged in, select “Admin” then “Supplemental” in the top right of the screen. If you work with only one program, your program supplemental will be displayed. If you work with more than one program, you will first need to select which program you would like to review in the program drop-down menu before the supplemental will display. Please review your portion of the supplemental page that is between the two green “program specific section” bars. Any changes to your department supplemental should be sent to Janice Austin (jema@vt.edu) in pdf format. You may choose to pdf print the individual pages and make notes via “sticky note” (Ctrl+6) and “Highlight” or “Cross-out text” (Tools, Comment & Markup, Highlight Text or Cross-out Text) features using Adobe or you may print off the pages and with clear/neat handwriting print your changes; then scan to pdf and send to Janice electronically. The review and confirmation of the application supplemental needs to be completed no later than Friday, June 1, 2018.
8. INTERNATIONAL ADMISSION APPLICATION DECISION DEADLINE
All international student admission applications for fall 2018 admission must have a decision on the application submitted to the Graduate School no later than May 15, 2018. Any decisions made after this date needs to be approved in advance and on a case-by-case basis, by the Graduate School’s International Graduate Student Services staff. The contact email is igss@vt.edu. For those in the National Capital Region, please contact intlncr@vt.edu.
9. FALL 2018 GTA WORKSHOP REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
The registration site link, https://secure.graduateschool.vt.edu/gtaworkshop, for the Fall 2018 GTA workshop (GRAD 5004) is now open. As a reminder, all new GTAs are required to take this course and should be registered. Additionally, please register students who have earned an F grade in the past and whom you plan to appoint as GTA in the future. Students who earned an “I” grade in a previous semester should not be registered. They should be asked to contact me early in the fall semester. Please register your students using the above site by August 5, 2018. For more information about the GTA workshop, please visit: https://graduateschool.vt.edu/academics/courses-and-scheduling/graduate-school-courses/gta-workshop.html
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.