Week of June 16-20

2025

Provost’s Office and Human Resources: Info on 2025 faculty, staff merit increases and bonus

With the approval of the Commonwealth of Virginia budget and following Virginia Tech leadership approval of the 2025 merit program for faculty and staff:

A one-time, pre-tax 1.5 percent bonus will be included in eligible full-time and quasi-full-time state employee paychecks on June 16, 2025. The bonus is based on employees’ base pay as of May 25, 2025, and is subject to applicable federal and state taxes.
Earned merit increases for calendar year faculty and university and classified staff will be effective June 10, 2025. Employees will see increases in their July 1, 2025, paycheck.  
Academic year faculty earned merit increases will be effective August 10, 2025, and employees will see increases in their August 29, 2025, paycheck.

For more information including eligibility criteria and a table for how Virginia Tech’s compensation plan will be implemented, read this campus notice. If you have questions, contact your supervisor or college or department HR representative.

Faculty Affairs: Membership in NCFDD available to Virginia Tech faculty, graduate students

Virginia Tech is an institutional member of NCFDD (formerly the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity) – a nationally recognized organization dedicated to supporting nearly 300,000 faculty, graduate students, and postdocs on their path to successful academic careers.

As part of this membership, Virginia Tech faculty and graduate students can enroll in a complimentary sub-account that offers access to NCFDD’s expansive online resources, including an array of webinars, resources, and programs including:

Weekly Monday Motivator
Monthly Core Curriculum Webinars
Hidden Handbook series
Monthly Guest Expert Webinars
Access to Dissertation Success Curriculum for graduate students
Private Discussion Forums

To activate an individual account, access the “Become a member” link located in the upper right corner of the NCDFF website. Select Virginia Tech from the drop down and click on the "Activate My Account" button. Follow the instructions to complete the process.

For more information, see the NCFDD webpage on the Faculty Affairs website.

ICTAS: Honorific awards program supports, facilitates recognition of faculty achievement

The Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) is home to Virginia Tech’s honorific awards program that supports and facilitates external and university award recognition for university faculty.

As part of its mission to advance research and scholarship at Virginia Tech, ICTAS facilitates faculty awards through:

Maintaining updated lists of available awards and application requirements.
Using data to strategically identify and evaluate promising opportunities.
Curating resources that may be useful to faculty.
Working as a liaison to faculty to support nominations and submissions on a case-by-case basis.

Deans, department heads, and program faculty are encouraged to review the awards information and nominate faculty and colleagues. Resources are available regarding award deadlines, processes, and submitting a strong application.

For more information, visit ICTAS’ honorific awards program website. Additional information about external awards support and resources are available on the Faculty Affairs and Research and Innovation websites.

Reminder: Faculty, staff participation in elections and political activity

Virginia Tech is supportive of all faculty and staff exercising their right to vote and participate in local, state, and federal primary or general elections. Employees are encouraged to work with their supervisor should their work hours need to be adjusted on election days so they can participate.

While the university encourages civic engagement, all political activity should be kept separate from the workplace. A political opinion should not be shared as a Zoom background, email tag line, poster, or in other forms in the workplace.

Per the university’s Statement of Business Conduct Standards (Professional and Personal Integrity), “Employees must take care to ensure that their university-related activities are kept separate from political activities; it must be clear that they act as citizens in such activities, not as representatives of the university. Further, employees must not use university resources, including computer and network systems and university work time to promote political positions or political campaigns.”

For more information, refer to the university’s Business Conduct Standards webpage and the Faculty Handbook (Section 2.32: Political Activities). For further questions or concerns, email the HR Service Center or call 540-231-9331.

ICYMI: Workshops on how to take advantage of Virginia Tech's open access policy

University Libraries and Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) are offering several online workshops throughout the summer to help researchers take advantage of Virginia Tech’s open access policy.

The policy enables authors to legally provide open access to the accepted version (not the journal's published version) of their scholarly article, regardless of copyright transfer agreements, through the university’s open scholarly repository VTechWorks. Open access facilitates the advancement of knowledge and makes a greater impact on society, including economic benefits.

Online workshop sessions are available to all Virginia Tech faculty and staff and are scheduled for the following dates/times:

For more information and to register for an online workshops, visit the TLOS Professional Development Network website or email University Libraries.

Additional Resources and Updates

Newsletter Spotlight: The ISCE News Flash

Please submit a Google form or email Provost Communications for comments or recommendations to improve the Weekly Communications Update or to share faculty, staff, and academic program personnel information.

Visit the provost’s website frequently for new and updated university information. All members of the campus community should also read their VT News daily email for further important updates, notices, and resources.