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The January 2004 Monthly Memo from the Graduate School continues my commitment to enhanced communications about graduate education at Virginia Tech. I hope that you find this process informative and helpful. The Monthly Memos also appear on the Graduate School’s website. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcomed.

Announcements

• "Transformative Graduate Education" presentation and discussion by K. P. DePauw on Friday, January 30th in McBryde 113 10:15-11:45. Please invite faculty and graduate students to attend.
• Nominations for student awards are requested by January 30, 2004.

Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees
The ‘03′-04 Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees (IPGD) was distributed January 12th. We are issuing a call for proposals, via a memo to the deans, for inclusion on the Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees for ’04-’05. Please contact the college dean for more information about the call and details of the college review process. We anticipate finalizing the “04-’05 IPGD by the end of the semester.

Graduate Education Week March 22-26, 2004

The preliminary schedule is:

Monday afternoon	Proclamation & State of the Graduate School address
Tuesday	GSA Research Symposium and Exposition (all day)
Wednesday	sessions on Preparing the Future Professoriate & Future Professional 5:30 Invited Lecture by B. Whelan, Secretary of Education
Thursday	Awards Banquet (evening, by invitation only)
Friday	Luncheon for Research Exposition winners Graduate School Cookout

We are currently preparing the master calendar of all events to be held during the week and hope that you will sponsor events for graduate students within the department. Please send your events to Monika Gibson so that we can put them on the poster. More information will be forthcoming.
Policies & Procedure Changes 

• Independent Study for graduate students is a shared responsibility for the faculty and the graduate student and therefore, the independent study courses are being set up at the department level and require no approval beyond the department. Departments are responsible for registering students for independent study (if you cannot register an independent study after the "add" deadline, contact the Graduate School, 1-8306). Independent Study courses will remain as a P/F graduate course and will carry the generic title of Independent Study. Independent study should be used as a supplement to the graded graduate courses required on a plan of study.
• GRE scores will no longer be a requirement of the Graduate School. The decision to require GRE scores should reside with the faculty at the department or college level and the Graduate School will support your decision to use GREs (or GMATs, etc.). Until this recent action, GRE scores were still required of international students but not domestic students and thus, our change in policy.
• The University Council approved a revision to the Annual Progress Review process (Presidential Policy #229). Please utilize this policy in developing and implementing departmental guidelines for conducting annual progress reviews for your graduate students. The Graduate School would like to have a copy of your guidelines – please send a copy to Roger Avery by July 1, 2004 (VT Graduate School, 100 Sandy Hall, Mail Code 0325, Blacksburg, VA 24061).
• Graduate certificate guidelines have also been approved and are available for departments wishing to offer graduate certificates. [refer to “Resolutions”]

Graduate School Processing and Procedures Changes
We are continuing to review and revise Graduate School processes and procedures to increase efficiency and effectiveness. These include the following:

• Departments can check the web for action regarding course approval requests. We plan to send regular reminders to department heads so that you will be informed of the status of your course approval requests.
• AA forms – As a matter of routine, AA forms will be issued to the department after the file is considered complete by the Graduate School. The AA form includes the basic information about the applicant. Please note that a complete file for the Graduate School (application, fee, official transcript, TOEFL scores as appropriate, GRE scores if department requires) is different than a complete file for the Department (application, transcripts, TOEFL scores, other test scores [GREs], letters of recommendation, supplemental form, and more). To assist you, we will write the test scores (e.g., GREs, TOEFL) and indicate if the scores are official or self-reported by students directly on the AA form. There are times when you might wish to recommend action on an application prior to having the complete file and to facilitate this, we will issue the AA form upon your request.
• Priority processing – in order to expedite admission decisions, we are implementing a system by which you can specify the timeframe within you wish to make recommendations. The system includes the following components:
  • 24 Hour Requests. If you have a need to receive the AA forms from the Graduate School, or should you need a priority decision to be placed on a student, please contact Angie Webb. Such requests will be processed within 24 hours. Examples are not limited to but would include the following: Student needs acceptance in order to register by deadline. Student needs acceptance in order to put assistantship into Banner by deadlines. Department is interviewing top applicant and needs information. Acceptance needed in order to process international paperwork in certain circumstances.
  • Rush Requests. If you need to have the AA forms within 5 days, please contact Angie Webb. We will process the files and prepare the AA forms within 5 days.
  • Specific deadline requests. Please continue to inform Angie Webb of the dates by which you intend to make decisions and we will work with you to get the files completed in a timely fashion for your review.

  PLEASE NOTE: It is important that you do preliminary screening for those priority applications. You should request priority processing for selected applicants (pre-screened by the department) and not all applications. You can screen for priority applicants by running a pending report for your department (SYRA951) and then sharing the names (ID#s) with us. This will assist us in responding to your requests in a timely fashion. Thanks.

This Monthly Memo from the Graduate School is the outcome of our discussions concerning enhanced communications about graduate education at Tech. Based upon your feedback, I will send the Monthly Memos via email to Department Heads, Graduate Program Directors and Graduate Secretaries and post the memo and all pertinent documents on the Graduate School webpage. Your additional feedback and suggestions are always welcomed.

I’m looking forward to the upcoming December Commencement and encourage each of you to attend and bring other faculty members with you. Commencement is a very special time for our graduates and their family and I hope you will join your colleagues in recognizing our graduates and celebrating their accomplishments. See you there!

Graduate Admissions Guidelines (addendum 1)

As you are aware, a review of race-conscious programs has been underway for the past several months. Several “programs” housed within the Graduate School came under scrutiny: graduate admissions, fee waiver for minority and McNair Scholars, Graduate Preview Weekend, and the ABD Fellows Program. During the summer, I was asked by the Provost to articulate graduate admissions guidelines for the university – those guidelines are attached.

Please note that the graduate admissions guidelines include the factors typically utilized by faculty in making their recommendations for admissions, reinforcing the portfolio approach in identifying those applicants to be admitted to the graduate programs at Virginia Tech. I have been asked to inform you that it is the policy of the university that graduate admissions cannot be based solely upon race/ethnicity. Please use the graduate admissions guidelines in evaluating and recommending admissions.

Cunningham Awards (addendum 2)

The Graduate School has reviewed the existing Cunningham fellows program and solicited your feedback. I am pleased to announce the establishment of the Cunningham Doctoral Scholar Awards. This program is designed to recruit academically well-qualified doctoral students to Virginia Tech. The details are contained in the Cunningham Doctoral Scholar Awards document. I hope you will utilize the scholar awards as part of your recruitment strategy.

eProgress to degree

An important function of the Graduate School is to provide graduate students with information about the milestones in their progress to degree. To this end, we are developing electronic communication strategies between the Graduate School and graduate students and departments. Effective immediately, when the application for degree completion (AFD) is submitted electronically, graduate students will be notified electronically of their individual To-Do List as a progress check. Departments will also be able to check on the progress of their graduate students. In the near future, students will receive regular email messages from the Graduate School. Please encourage your graduate students to apply for degree by the published deadlines. We will provide detailed information on the webpage. You may also contact

Angie Webb via email.

Featured Graduate Student on the Web

Each month the Graduate School will feature a graduate student on our website. The purpose is to allow graduate students to share their insights and stories from a personal perspective. We will maintain an archive of these. Please send us nominations of students you would like to see featured. To read the first interview, visit Featured Graduates.

Deferral and Reconsideration requests

In the past, the Graduate School has allowed applicants to request deferral or reconsideration routinely. This has resulted in numerous requests that involve a great deal of department and Graduate School staff time to process. Effective November 7, 2003, requests for deferral or reconsideration of admissions must come from and be supported by departments. It is my intent to make sure that departmental faculty who wish to defer or reconsider the individuals before reprocessing the applications.

Gentle reminder:

It has been brought to my attention that some departments are sending multiple copies of documents or contacting the Graduate School multiple times for a single request. Please help us out by sending only one copy or making one phone call. We will be able to better serve you if we don’t have to deal with unnecessary duplicates. Thanks.

Banner related items

• Don’t forget to run pending reports as we approach decision-making time for graduate admissions (Banner Report SYRA951)
• You can now print degrees pending and degrees awarded reports (Banner Report SYRB672)
• Nominations for student awards are requested by January 30, 2004. More information about awards and nomination process.

Addendum 1

Graduate Admissions Guidelines

Admission to graduate study is based upon a review by the faculty in the degree-granting unit and is focused on the best fit of the applicant’s ability and interests with the department’s academic programs and faculty. Factors used in the decision-making process can include the following: baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, undergraduate gpa, undergraduate major, letters of recommendations, academic interest area and match with departmental offerings, availability of faculty advisor, availability of graduate assistantships or fellowships, TOEFL scores for non-native English speakers, GRE or other standardized test scores, relevant previous experiences and social cultural diversity.

Addendum 2

Cunningham Doctoral Scholar Awards

The Cunningham Doctoral Scholar Awards program is designed to recruit academically well-qualified doctoral students to Virginia Tech.

Eligibility:

• Be accepted into a doctoral program at Virginia Tech (preferably from a non-VT master’s or bachelor’s program)
• Have an outstanding academic record and strong academic potential for successful completion of a doctoral degree
• Be nominated by an academic department
• Be a U.S. citizen
• Matching commitment from academic department

Stipend:

• Competitive assistantship stipend for GRA or GTA position (flexible, related to qualifications and academic discipline; work responsibilities defined by department; 9 or 12-month appointments available)
• Tuition scholarship

Duration:

• Up to two years from Graduate School, with minimum departmental matching support equivalent to Graduate School’s commitment

Nomination/Application procedures:

• Academic department submits nomination to the Vice Provost for Graduate
  Studies & Dean of the Graduate School as soon as candidate is identified
• Nominations should include the following information about the student:
  o Name of applicant, VT degree sought, previous university
  o Recommendation letter from department addressing eligibility requirements
• The Graduate School makes decisions about nominees within 2-3 weeks of receiving the nomination. Number of available fellowships is dependent on resources.
• Fifty percent of the awards are expected to be made by February 1; remaining funds are expected to be awarded by March 1.

The purpose of this memo is to share with you the recently revised 2003-2004 Graduate Stipend scale and to clarify the implementation plan.

As you know, students who work as graduate assistants while pursuing graduate degrees provide a valuable service to the University. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, the legislative process provides funding and guidance for the compensation of graduate students on assistantships, and changes in compensation for this group requires action by the University’s Board of Visitors.

During spring 2003, the Graduate School recommended a revision to the stipend scale that was reviewed and approved by the Board of Visitors in March 2003. Anticipating an uncertain fate for state-funded raises for graduate assistants, the new salary scale was used to offer and appoint graduate assistants (GAs, GTAs, GRAs) for Fall 2003. I know that many of you made adjustments in stipend levels using departmental resources to accommodate the new step system that served to increase the compensation for graduate assistants.

On May 1, 2003, Governor Warner signed the 2003 Acts of Assembly, which authorized a 2.25 percent compensation increase for university employees and graduate students on assistantship. Because the current stipend scale was established in March 2003, the Board approved an increase in the graduate stipend scale by 2.25 percent across-the-board effective November 25, 2003. A policy decision was made to automatically implement the new stipend scale across the board (for GA, GTA, GRA) rather than address each graduate student individually. The revised and recently approved stipend scale is attached and is available on the Graduate School’s website.

No action is required by departments to enact the stipend increase effective November 25, 2003. The stipends for all graduate assistants, graduate teaching assistants, and graduate research assistants will be automatically increased across-the-board. All graduate assistants will receive their new pay rate for Payroll 23. The new pay rate will be paid from the same funds utilized for the initial appointment(s) (e.g., E&G source or non-E&G source). Consistent with the Commonwealth’s appropriation process, the University increased the stipend budgets in E&G to provide funding and this E&G funding was included in the 2003-04 Authorized Budget for each college. For more information, contact the appropriate budget officer in the college.

Some questions have been raised about GRAs. These students are included in the stipend increase effective November 25, 2003 and the increase will have to be funded through non-E&G sources (e.g. grant/contract or auxiliary enterprise fund sources) utilized for the initial appointment. I realize that many of you might have already provided stipend increases for the GRAs and I also realize that you could feel that the stipend increase effective November 25, 2003 is an unanticipated encumbrance upon your budget. I hope that you will realize the merit of providing stipend increases in accordance with our policy, especially as we move to increase the overall competitiveness of our stipends. Because future salary scale increases are likely to occur off-cycle for typical graduate student appointments (i.e., in November), we need to anticipate as best as possible the academic-year impact when selecting step levels.

Thank you for your understanding.