Scholarship Domain: Learning

Jump to section of interest:

• Undergraduate Education
• Graduate and Professional Education
• eLearning and Information Systems
• Educating the Whole Student

Undergraduate Education

2012 Profile of the Undergraduate Student body.

Over the 2006-2012 planning period, the profile of the undergraduate student body will remain relatively constant in total size while steadily improving in quality. Most of the 5,000 freshmen entering Virginia Tech each year will be full-time residential, traditionally aged students; about 30 percent will be from outside Virginia.

Total undergraduate enrollment is expected to reach 22,500, about 1,000 more undergraduates than were enrolled in fall 2005. The increase is expected to come from additional transfer students, primarily from the Virginia community colleges, part of Virginia Tech’s commitment to the state to help address the growing number of students seeking college enrollment in the commonwealth.

Commitment to a diverse and inclusive student community.

This plan emphatically reaffirms the university’s longstanding commitment to increase access and inclusion of students from underrepresented groups, particularly underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities and firstgeneration, low-income students. There were 1,600 African American, Hispanic, and Native American undergraduates on campus in fall 2005. (Nearly 2,000 additional students chose not to report their racial or ethnic identity, a number that has dramatically increased since 2001.)

The goal is to work toward doubling the number of students from these underrepresented groups by the end of the planning period. Vigilant attention to the recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups and from international backgrounds will change the profile of the student body over time and help create a community in which the educational benefits of diversity can be realized for all undergraduates.

Undergraduate learning goals.

Education of the whole person, disciplinary competence, and responsible citizenship form the core values of the undergraduate learning experience. A broad set of opportunities for domestic and international learning, involvement in research and discovery, and active engagement both in and outside the classroom are critical aspects of educational excellence.

Education of the whole person is achieved through the rigor of the university’s undergraduate curriculum and the delivery of curricular choices provided by VT Pathways for Learning and the educational benefits of a culturally diverse student body. VT Pathways for Learning reflects Virginia Tech’s renewed commitment to liberal education through strong advising, multiple majors, integrated course sequences, and purposeful selection of liberal education courses across different disciplines. Virginia Tech graduates will be prepared for interdisciplinary and creative problem solving and lifelong learning in a variety of contexts, including emerging global communities.

Disciplinary competence is achieved within major programs of study that are linked and integrated with the foundation of liberal education. Integrated coursework, research experiences, and capstone projects or seminars provide opportunities for developing disciplinary competence.

Responsible citizenship emphasizes ethical and civil behavior with an understanding of the importance of cultural and economic awareness and an appreciation of the workings of local and global communities, as well as one’s role in them.

Goal I. Increase student involvement in discovery and engagement by creating more opportunities for undergraduates to be involved in research, capstone experiences, education abroad, and experiential learning.

Strategies:

• Increase opportunities and participation in undergraduate research and independent and field study to enhance critical thinking skills and the ability to learn independently and to encourage close involvement with faculty members.
• Align theme-based learning pathways with university research initiatives to create synergies between the university’s learning and discovery missions.
• Expand opportunities for students to integrate and apply classroom learning through education abroad, capstone courses, service learning, internships and co-ops, and other experiential and engagement learning activities.
• Develop rich reflection/assessment strategies, such as e-portfolios, to enhance and document learning and personal growth from these special experiences.

Goal II. Strengthen and integrate all aspects of the undergraduate academic experience, including the academic experience for transfer students.

Strategies:

• Implement VT Pathways for Learning to integrate learning across the entire curriculum.
• Develop holistic advising strategies at all levels (including course-of-study planner and quality academic and career advising).
• Develop a first-year transition and support program for new transfer students.
• Increase support for programs serving new undergraduates, such as programs for teachers of first-year students, first-year experiences, learning communities, convocation, and the common book.
• Redefine the formative role of academic assessment and curriculum review as effective tools for continuous quality improvement and as essential elements of public accountability for institutional effectiveness.

Goal III. Significantly increase the diversity of the student body and provide educational experiences that will enhance students’ multicultural competence.

Strategies:

• Increase the proportion of women and students from under-represented racial and ethnic groups and assure the continued participation of students from low-income and first-generation families so that Virginia Tech more appropriately reflects and serves diverse populations in the commonwealth.
• Increase the number of students enrolled in expanded coursework offerings and academic experiences, including foreign language instruction, that enhance their understanding of multicultural and international issues and increase their ability to contribute in a global society.
• Encourage the incorporation of diverse perspectives in coursework and adoption of effective classroom learning strategies through faculty development programs.

Goal IV. Invest in departmental and university-level support for undergraduate education.

Strategies:

• Increase instructional support for academic departments based on student credit hours, program quality, number of majors, and demonstrated need.
• Fully implement the new University Center for Undergraduate Education to facilitate, coordinate, and support integrative learning strategies, fund innovative curricular changes, and advance VT Pathways efforts.
• Strengthen programs, such as the Honors Program, and support for the highest academic achievers.
• Expand articulation agreements with community colleges to attract and retain transfer students.
• Strengthen existing and initiate new programs that support the unique needs of new transfer students.
• Dramatically increase the opportunities for summer-session enrollment using online courses and flexible summer scheduling.
• Strengthen commitment to faculty development, assessment, curricular improvement, and innovation.

Performance Measures:

• Evidence of increased student engagement in learning initiatives as measured by responses to the National Survey of Student Engagement, including involvement in undergraduate research, foreign language study, study abroad, practicum, internships, and other related experiences.
• Increased satisfaction of graduates with advising as reported on the alumni survey.
• Increased satisfaction of graduates with opportunities to improve multicultural competencies as reported on the alumni survey.
• Increase by 50 percent the number of undergraduates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to 2,400 by 2012.
• Complete articulation agreements with Virginia community colleges for all academic colleges at Virginia Tech.
• Increase online and residential summer session enrollments by 10 percent annually.
• Double the number of undergraduates in study abroad and other international experiences.
• Increase by 65 percent the number of undergraduates in service learning and related outreach activities (using 2005 as a base year).

Graduate and Professional Education

Graduate and professional education is important to Virginia Tech’s quest to be identified among the top research universities. Advanced education contributes to the three missions of a land-grant institution: learning, discovery, and engagement. Goals were developed with the understanding that Virginia Tech is one university geographically located throughout the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.

Nearly 6,000 graduate students (1,990 doctoral and 3,942 master’s students) were enrolled in fall 2004, representing 17 percent of the total student population. The goals and strategic foci for graduate and professional education are shaped by Virginia Tech’s core values and embrace a commitment to achieving the qualities, characteristics, and established standards of nationally recognized research universities.

In its pursuit of excellence in graduate education, Virginia Tech has embraced Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) as a university-wide initiative led by the Graduate School. TGE draws upon Virginia Tech's strengths in graduate education and its expertise in new and original technology. TGE is designed to foster a significant change in how the university prepares its graduate students as the next generation of scientists, educators, scholars, engineers, artists, and professionals. TGE provides opportunities for doctoral and master’s students to explore connections between their roles and responsibilities as faculty members and professional practitioners, their pedagogical approaches and construction of teaching and learning paradigms, and their development of research-in-practice as citizen-scholars.

In addition, TGE, unlike other programs, collaborates with multiple university units to integrate a critically engaged understanding and use of technology throughout the process. While many universities offer some professional development training or workshops, none provide all of the components of TGE, and none offer such opportunities as part of an integrated whole, making Tech’s program unique in the nation.

Graduate and professional education at Virginia Tech is defined by two overarching and overlapping goals that are intentionally comprehensive and broad. The first goal is to enhance quality graduate and professional education, and the second goal is to establish a graduate education portfolio reflective of a 21st century research university.

Three areas of strategic focus assist in achieving these goals:

• Align with National Research Council (NRC) quality benchmarks.
• Successfully implement Transformative Graduate Education initiative.
• Enhance graduate and professional degree value through national/international partnerships and joint degrees.

Goal I. Enhance quality graduate and professional education.

Strategies:

• Implement and expand Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) initiatives:
• Preparing the Future Professoriate (courses, certificates, teaching assistant (TA) training, teaching opportunities);
• Preparing the Future Career Professional (course, certificate, internship);
• Graduate Education Development Institute (GEDI) (critical pedagogy, technology, graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training); and
• Citizen-scholar engagement (courses, certificate, Virginia Tech Citizen Scholars).

• Provide quality graduate and professional education offerings: doctoral and master’s degrees and certificates.
• Develop national and international partnerships for global graduate degrees.
• Enter into national partnerships that enhance professional graduate degree value and/or offer joint degrees, e.g., Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.)/Master of Public Health (M.P.H.).
• Continue to implement Graduate Program Review.
• Enhance graduate and professional education through technology.
• Build and sustain graduate community (Graduate Life Center).
• Foster an environment that helps recruit, retain, and graduate outstanding graduate students of diverse backgrounds, including international students.
• Provide meaningful and relevant disciplinary and interdisciplinary graduate offerings.
• Embrace the successful elements of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program in most graduate programs.
• Enhance the quality of life for graduate students (family housing, accessible and affordable child care, work-life balance, competitive multiyear stipends, and health insurance premium coverage).
• Implement effective and efficient operations, meaningful policies, and procedures.
• Provide teaching opportunities for graduate students, especially doctoral students.

Goal II. Establish a graduate education portfolio reflective of a 21st century university.

Strategies:

• Increase the number of graduate students to 20 percent of the total enrollment.
• Maintain the viability of master’s degree programs, artistic master’s degree (Master of Fine Arts), and students with need and interest – consider bachelor’s/master’s degrees and professional science master’s (P.S.M.) degrees.
• Prioritize new and extended degrees through the Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees (IPGD) (contextualized in concert with Strategic Plan Update and research foci areas).
• Expand existing graduate degree offerings to the portfolio of a 21st century university:
• “Right” size, program/priority, critical mass of students and faculty;
• Ph.D. degrees in social sciences/humanities;
• Interdisciplinary graduate programs;
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focus;
• Unique graduate opportunities (degrees, certificates, courses) throughout the commonwealth (extended campuses and National Capital Region);
• Establishment of partnerships and collaborations with U.S. institutions and universities around the world.
• Strengthen research/scholarship efforts and initiatives.
• Compete for federal funds for D.V.M./M.P.H. education and research.

• Increase competitiveness and sustained support for graduate students, including stipends, health insurance, multiyear funding, tuition remissions, and bridge funding.
• Increase enrollments of graduate students of diverse backgrounds (domestic and international).
• Increase the international experience for graduate students, including study abroad and foreign language training.

Performance Measures:

A number of metrics could be used to measure success in meeting our two goals. Many of these would track with the National Research Council (NRC) assessment of doctoral programs. Other measures include satisfaction of graduates and future employers.

At a minimum, the following benchmarks should be considered:

• Increase Ph.D. enrollment by 900 to a total of 2,600 by the year 2010.
• Increase the production of Ph.D.s to 320 annually.
• Increase the number of courses (seven plus) and programs offered through the Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) initiative and increase the number of students who participate annually (from 250 to 400).
• Continue to successfully implement the Institutional Plan for Graduate Degrees (IPGD).
• Complete program review for one-third of the graduate degrees offered, with the remainder scheduled for completion by 2012, according to the schedule for Graduate Program Review.
• Increase the number of nationally ranked graduate programs.
• Provide professional education programs that meet or exceed accreditation requirements.
• Develop and implement a plan for ongoing data collection and analysis of the metrics identified in the NRC assessment of research-doctorate programs.
• Increase the number of distinguished fellowships to 15 NSF fellowships; increase the number of distinguished fellowships to 10 percent of all Ph.D. students with partial or full fellowships.

eLearning and Information Systems

Advanced technologies, used in distance and distributed eLearning; integrated learning technologies used to enhance learning; and information systems, such as the libraries, provide the infrastructure necessary for meeting the university’s goals in learning, discovery, and engagement. Technologies will support advancements in educational access, course management, and collaborative learning systems, computer-integrated classrooms, electronic tutorials and portfolios, and research software systems that, in concert with the print and electronic collections maintained by the university library, will support excellence in activities in learning, discovery, and engagement across the entire university community.

eLearning, advanced learning technologies, and the University Libraries will broaden and deepen Virginia Tech’s learning, discovery, and engagement activities through

• an awareness of students’ approaches to meeting their learning needs and of what technologies are available to assist in meeting identified learning outcomes, including access to new knowledge for the global community.
• professional development so that everyone has the skills needed to implement change.
• the integration of pedagogy, learning-space design, technology, support, and policies to enable successful learning.

Goal I. Strengthen the role of distance and distributed eLearning in achieving the university’s goals in learning, discovery, and engagement.

Strategies:

• Continue to lead, manage, coordinate, and support the provision of quality distance and distributed learning opportunities for domestic and international learners through a holistic approach to eLearning.
• Continue to meet the goals outlined for distance learning in the Code of Virginia to expand access to education in the commonwealth, improve quality, and minimize the cost of education to Virginia’s citizens.

Performance Measure:

• Increase from 85 percent to 95 percent the number of academic departments engaged in developing and delivering eLearning courses.
• Expand the number of distance and distributed eLearning course offerings to at least 800 per year and the percentage of students indicating satisfaction with their eLearning experience to 90 percent or better; increase the value-of-investment (VOI) by an average of 10 percent per year.

Goal II. Develop and integrate advanced technology and information systems applications that assist collaboration, reflection, assessment, and sharing among faculty members, students, and staff members.

Strategies:

• Continue to lead, develop, implement, and assess technology-integration efforts aimed at increasing the information technology fluency of faculty, staff, and students in learning, discovery, and engagement activities.
• Develop, implement, and manage integrated learning and collaboration tools to enable course, non-course related, e-portfolio, and Web publishing activities to be engaged through a common framework.
• Update established classroom functionality and equipment standards, regularly review and upgrade processes, and support a comprehensive structure for routine maintenance.
• Re-establish funding options to support integrating technology in learning activities in strategically targeted curricular areas.

Performance Measures:

• Provide faculty development opportunities in learning technologies for 95 percent of faculty on a three-year cycle through the Faculty Development Institute.
• Provide educational development opportunities for credit for all students entering graduate programs in partnership with the Graduate School through the Graduate Education Development Institute.
• Establish infrastructure and expertise to make available testing services, digital repositories, e-portfolios, accessibility technologies, and Web-hosting services for personal and institutional purposes, integrated with course management systems where appropriate.

Goal III. Strengthen the ability of the library systems to acquire, preserve, and manage research-level collections and user services that advance Virginia Tech’s research capabilities.

Strategies:

• Develop and preserve print and electronic collections within the university library system that support faculty and student research needs.
• Provide programs that develop information literacy skills.
• Re-purpose physical spaces to meet user needs through renovations.

Performance Measures:

• Adjust library funding to at least the 30th percentile level of the average funding associated with peers.
• Use annual surveys of customers to determine the quality of services delivered by the library.

Educating the Whole Student

The Division of Student Affairs and the Graduate School support the mission of Virginia Tech through the development of campus environments, programs, and services that complement the university’s learning, discovery, and engagement foci and its mission to expand personal growth and opportunity, advance social and community development, foster economic competitiveness, and improve the quality of life.

Many co-curricular programs specifically support the academic mission of the university and address four university core values: the enhancement of mutual respect; a commitment to diverse and inclusive communities; the development of personal and institutional integrity; and the realization of the university’s motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). To these ends, campus environments are created 1) that help to recruit, retain, and graduate students of diverse backgrounds; 2) that are welcoming to all; 3) that promote supportive and inclusive communities; and 4) that contribute to a just and caring campus.

The programs designed to address the whole student affirm the university’s commitment to assist all students to develop personal and professional standards of ethical and civil behavior and good citizenship. In developing students who embody the service orientation expressed in the university motto, opportunities are provided for both undergraduate and graduate students to engage in leadership and experiential learning opportunities. In educating the whole person, comprehensive programs are developed that enhance the quality of life for all students and encourage productive, healthy lifestyles.

Goal I. Contribute to the holistic and transformative educational experiences of Virginia Tech undergraduate and graduate students.

Strategies:

• Create a comprehensive First-Year Experience Program for undergraduate students.
• Provide Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) experiences that foster the professional development of graduate students for the type of careers they will pursue.
• Provide, through the Graduate Life Center, a unique, integrated center that includes graduate housing, graduate life activities, and the Graduate School offices.
• Partner with academic units and external communities to offer leadership, service, and experiential learning opportunities for students that focus on multicultural and international competencies, ethics, and excellence.
•  Strengthen the academic, professional, and personal development of students through partnerships between academic departments, university support services, and external stakeholders such as community constituents, parents, alumni, employers, and international partners.
• Partner with academic advising and other departments to provide transitional support to entering transfer students.

Goal II. Promote the development of international and multicultural competencies in Virginia Tech students.

Strategies:

• Create environments that are welcoming, accessible, comfortable, and representative of a diverse and inclusive campus community and that address the needs of students from a wide variety of backgrounds to reflect and stimulate diversity of thought and encourage meaningful participation and dialog.
• Improve campus climate, creating an environment of civility, sensitivity, and mutual respect that offers opportunities that encourage students to have productive and positive interactions with different cultures.

Goal III. Support the university’s commitment to continuous improvement by assessing student learning outcomes in co-curricular programs.

Strategies:

• Articulate student learning outcomes that connect co-curricular experiences to the education of students in a developmentally appropriate manner.
• Track student wellness behaviors to evaluate and develop programs that support the education of students by enhancing their health, safety, and wellness.

Goal IV. Improve the capital assets that underpin student learning and support programs.

Strategies:

• Renovate and/or build contemporary residential living and fitness facilities, dining and student union facilities, and medical and mental health services facilities that are accessible to people with disabilities and will attract top-tier domestic and international students.
• Continue renovations and development of the Graduate Life Center and facilities for graduate housing.

 Performance Measures:

• Increase the number of undergraduate students participating in residential and co-curricular first-year experiences.
• Increase the percentage of undergraduate and graduate students who engage in leadership programs and experiential learning opportunities.
• Assess and enhance the multicultural and international competencies of the Virginia Tech student community.
• Assess and enhance reporting mechanisms, programming, and interventions to positively impact the campus climate and civility.
• By 2012, complete construction of a new residence hall and an addition to McComas Hall as well as renovate selected undergraduate and graduate facilities such as residence halls, dining facilities, and student unions.