Week of May 5-9

2025

Research and Innovation: May 9 webinar to address federal funding questions, concerns

The Office of Research and Innovation, in partnership with the Office of Faculty Affairs, will host a webinar on Friday, May 9 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. to address federal funding questions and concerns that have been shared, and to provide information regarding resources for faculty, staff, and students.

During the webinar, Virginia Tech leaders will review the current landscape of federal funding and its impact on our research enterprise, discuss potential policy and priority changes, and highlight university plans for maintaining a vibrant, impactful research and innovation ecosystem.

The university community and its researchers are encouraged to attend this important session and to submit questions prior to the webinar.

For more information and to register, read this campus notice. For ongoing updates and additional information about research, visit Research and Innovation’s Federal Research Updates webpage.

CPD: Campus internEXP program to continue position wage matching for fall 2025

The Office of Career and Professional Development (CPD) has been awarded additional funding through the Institutional Internship Support Grant from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) to continue wage matching for Virginia Tech’s Campus internEXP program.

Campus internEXP is an on-campus internship program designed to capitalize on the variety of job functions and experienced professionals that work on the Virginia Tech campus to create accessible, paid internships for our students.

Those interested in hosting an intern through Campus internEXP will need to register for one of the required information sessions. During these sessions, prospective hosts will learn how the program works, opportunities for wage matching, how to apply, and how to write a detailed job description.

The application deadline to host an intern for the fall 2025 semester is Friday, May 23.

For more information and requirements to be considered for wage matching, read this campus notice or visit the Career internEXP website.

Offices of the Provost, Chief Operating Officer: Impacts from May 7 Metallica concert

Virginia Tech will host a concert by Metallica this Wednesday, May 7 at 6:00 p.m. With increased traffic and travel impacts expected, the university will take steps to ensure the orderly flow of traffic and increase safety across the Blacksburg campus:

All in-person classes in Blacksburg ending later than 12:00 p.m. this Wednesday, May 7 will be shifted online.
All online classes will continue as scheduled.
University employees who have remote or hybrid work agreements and schedules are expected to work remotely on Wednesday, May 7.
University employees who wholly perform their duties on the Blacksburg campus will use authorized closing leave for the hours they would normally work during the authorized closing.
Administrative and non-instructional offices on the Blacksburg campus will close at 12:00 p.m.

Faculty and instructors who have in-person classes affected by this early closing may want to notify students early or include information on course materials.

For more information or questions about leave during an authorized closing, read this campus notice or refer to Policy No. 4305. If employees have additional questions, they should contact their supervisor or HR representative.

Commencement 2025: Updated ceremony information, schedules for faculty and guests

The Spring 2025 University Commencement ceremony will be held on Friday, May 16 at 8:30 a.m. in Lane Stadium and the Graduate School ceremony will be Wednesday, May 14 at 3:00 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.

The Commencement 2025 website has updates and detailed information on schedules, parking, live stream, regalia, and FAQs. Gates to Lane Stadium will open on Friday, May 16 at 7:00 a.m. for the University Commencement ceremony and will open one hour before the start of each college ceremony.

The Washington D.C. Area Commencement ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 18 at 1:00 p.m. at the GMU Center for the Arts (Fairfax), for graduates of programs located in northern Virginia. See complete event information and schedules on the Washington D.C. Area Commencement webpage.

For more information, schedule updates, and speaker announcements, visit the Commencement 2025 website.

ICYMI: Virginia Tech employees encouraged to plan for Microsoft storage changes

Virginia Tech has modified its plan for Microsoft storage changes to allow for more straightforward and efficient storage management for users and departments.

Baseline storage allocation increased for employees (Monday, June 30): For most employees, the baseline is 50 GB of OneDrive storage, and 50 GB of email storage in Exchange Online, with additional 1.5 TB of email archive storage.
Storage caps for students, retirees remain largely unchanged (Monday, June 2)
Revised timeline for shared resource claiming: Microsoft 365 shared resources (Teams, SharePoint sites, M365 Groups, Viva Engage communities) must be claimed by a department to remain active. Please note the following dates:
- Monday, June 2 – Unclaimed shared resources become read-only
- Monday, June 30 – Access is removed for unclaimed shared resources
- Monday, July 14 – Unclaimed shared resources will be deleted

For more information, read this campus notice or visit the Microsoft Storage Changes website. For local support, contact your unit/department IT team.

Additional Resources and Updates

Newsletter Spotlight: Governance Corner (Office of Policy and Governance)

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.