Posted on by gibsonm

May 1, 2020

Meetings/Workshops/Events:

  1. COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY

Administrative Announcements:

  1. COVID-19 FAQ UPDATED; 4/16 GPD MEETING NOTES
  2. SPRING 2020 COLLABORATIVE ART PROJECT
  3. DEFERRAL OF FALL 2020 ADMISSION PROCESS
  4. SPRING GRADUATE SCHOOL EXAM DEADLINE EXTENDED
  5. EMERGENCY FUND RESOURCE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
  6. GUIDANCE FOR USING ZOOM TO CONDUCT PRELIMS AND FINAL EXAMS
  7. GRADING OPTIONS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS – 3rd posting
  8. ATTENTION! GRADUATE CATALOG EDITORS – 3rd posting
  9. VT CALL FOR FACULTY PROFILES: HBCU/MSI SUMMIT – 3rd posting

Deadlines/Dates to Remember:

  • May 15: deadline to submit admission decisions for fall 2020 international applicants
  • May 22: last day to hold spring 2020 prelim or final exams
  • Jun 1:  international students outside the U.S. must submit financial and immigration documents to receive I-20/DS-2019 for fall arrival (deadline does not apply to transfer students)

Meetings/Workshops/Events:

1. COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY
Friday, May 15, 6:30pm, https://vt.edu/commencement.html
The University Commencement ceremony will be accessible from the university homepage. The DC area event will be on Sunday, May 17 at 1:00 pm and can be accessed from the NVC homepage. This event will include some regional traditions, such as messages from student speakers and a slideshow of events from the previous year. Both events will be pre-recorded and will be available for viewing at any time afterwards. See https://vt.edu/commencement.html for details.

Administrative Announcements:

2. COVID-19 FAQ UPDATED; 4/16 GPD MEETING NOTES
Several updates have been made to the COVID-19 FAQs. Please review and also share with your graduate students. https://graduateschool.vt.edu/covid-faqs.html.  Notes from the Apr 16 GPD meeting are attached.

3. SPRING 2020 COLLABORATIVE ART PROJECT
To commemorate the spring 2020 commencement, the Graduate School is soliciting quotes and art-work submissions from graduating master’s and doctoral students that capture their graduate experience. Graduate advisors are also invited to contribute. The submissions will be shared on the Graduate School’s website in June after we are able to gather and compile the materials.  In addition to the digital site, we will compile and publish a keepsake booklet with select quotes and artwork that will be mailed to all graduating students in late summer. If you wish to contribute, please do so at  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfoAzTRyBZ7JP39B7w2LF4opIM-HKI1Tq2qD2q3dVNo6gtvjg/viewform?usp=sf_link. Submissions from graduating students are accepted https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfEE-V3OmNZUiPrOJTTX-55y6GXZeV1x0_fsaeJmVSs3xkkzQ/viewform?usp=sf_link.

4. DEFERRAL OF FALL 2020 ADMISSION PROCESS
Fall 2020 admits can contact the Graduate School at mailto:grads@vt.edu by August 15th to request a deferral of their application to a future term. A deferral fee will not be charged. The department will be notified of the deferral request and will have the opportunity to admit or reject the applicant for the future term through the standard Graduate Admissions Analysis form in HokieSpa. The deferral of the application does not automatically include a deferral of an assistantship offer.

5. SPRING GRADUATE SCHOOL EXAM DEADLINE EXTENDED
The Graduate School has extended the last day to hold a preliminary or final examination for the spring semester to May 22nd. Graduating doctoral and thesis students must submit their ETD to the Graduate School no later than June 5th to be a spring graduate. Examinations held May 25th through August 14th will require summer registration.

6. EMERGENCY FUND RESOURCE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
The Dean of Students office manages emergency funds and shares fund requests with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid so that all possible funding sources can be explored. Students can complete emergency fund requests online at https://dos.vt.edu/emergencyfund.html. The fund request process is undergoing a review at this time and some revisions to the application process may be implemented soon.

7. 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.

8. GRADING OPTIONS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS – 3rd 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.

9. ATTENTION! GRADUATE CATALOG EDITORS – 3rd 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.

10. VT CALL FOR FACULTY PROFILES: HBCU/MSI SUMMIT – 3rd 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.