Graduate School Strategic Plan
Overview
Graduate education is central to Virginia Tech’s identity as a global land-grant university, shaping knowledge creation, driving innovation and societal impact. This strategic planning document defines the Graduate School’s distinctive role in advancing that mission.
The Graduate School elevates graduate education across the university. By partnering with academic and administrative leaders, we provide a powerful, unified system of support. While colleges shape the disciplinary expertise of each program, the Graduate School builds the foundation that makes true excellence possible by strengthening connections, sparking interdisciplinary collaboration, and championing every graduate student from the moment they apply to the day they achieve their degree and beyond.
We add value by championing the graduate student experience—supporting holistic well-being, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and ensuring equitable access to resources that enable emerging scholars to do their best work. We elevate the university by nurturing a culture of rigorous inquiry, empowering faculty to mentor effectively, and amplifying the research and creative achievements that define our institution’s global reputation.
By fostering an inclusive, innovative, and student-centered environment, we prepare graduate students for leadership in research, professional practice, and public service dedicated to improving the quality of life and the human condition within the Commonwealth of Virginia and throughout the world.
- August 2024: Process launched
- September 2024: Steering Committee convened
- October 2024-May 2025: Stakeholder Meetings
- June 2025-August 2025: Review of stakeholder feedback completed by Steering Committee subcommittees
- September 2025-January 2026: Strategic Plan drafting process
- February 2026: Draft shared with Graduate School leadership for feedback
- March-April 2026: Input incorporated and final draft developed
- Summer 2026: Strategic Plan launched to guide the Graduate School to 2030 and beyond.
We are grateful to the following students and colleagues for their work over the past year and a half. Their partnership and dedication to this process have been invaluable to the development of our Strategic Plan.
| Name | VT Student Status | Title | College/Unit | Campus |
| Jon Catherwood-Ginn | Part-time PhD student, Planning, Governance, and Globalization | Assistant Professor of Applied Theatre; Co-Director of Research, Center for Communicating Science | Art Architecture & Design | B |
| Taylor Peele | Ph.D. Student, Food Science | GPSS Senator, Food Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | B |
| Tiffany Shoop | Director of Special Programs at the Center for Excellence in Teaching; CIRTL Administrative Co-Lead | Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning | B | |
| Todd Schenk | Associate Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning; Graduate Program Director | College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences | B | |
| Mohammad Heydari | PhD Student, Construction | College of Engineering | B | |
| Walt Lee | Ph.D. Engineering Education, 2015; M.S. Industrial & Systems Engineering, 2013 | Executive Director, Center for Engineering Excellence and Discovery and I’m a full professor in engineering education | College of Engineering | B |
| Janice Austin | Ph.D., Educational Research and Evaluation, 2017; MAEd/ELPS Higher Education, 2004) | Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions and Academic Progress | Graduate School | B |
| Catherine Cotrupi | Ph.D., Higher Education, 2023; MS, Sociology, 2011 | Assistant Dean for Student Services and Strategic Partnerships | Graduate School | B |
| Monika Gibson | MAEd, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, 2001 | Chief of Staff | Graduate School | B |
| Julia Hazelwood | Part-time MS student, Communication | Administrative Operations Coordinator | Graduate School | B |
| Barbara Hoopes | Associate Dean of the Graduate School; Associate Professor of Business Information Technology | Graduate School; Pamplin College of Business | GWDCA | |
| Kacy Lawrence | Ph.D., Educational Research and Evaluation, 2024 | Director of Assessment and Strategic Data Initiatives | Graduate School | B |
| Lauren Surface | Director, Student Services | Graduate School | B | |
| Lauren Oliver | Part-time Ph.D. student, Curriculum & Instruction | Director for Cranwell International Center | Student Affairs | B |
Focus group meetings were held, and input was solicited from the following groups:
- Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS)
- Roanoke Graduate Student Association (RGSA)
- Graduate Student Assembly - D.C. Metro Area
- Graduate Program Directors
- Graduate Program Coordinators
- College Associate Deans of Graduate Studies
- Cranwell International Center
- Student Affairs Leadership Team
- Academic Diversity Officers
- Identity-based graduate student orgs
- Beyond Boundaries Collaborative District
- Virginia Tech Enrollment Management
- Open Sessions were also held for each of the following campus locations:
- Greater Washington, DC Area
- Blacksburg
- Virtual
Guiding Priorities
Graduate School Vision:
Our vision is to be a graduate school that empowers every scholar to thrive, every discipline to advance, and the university to achieve its highest aspirations. The Graduate School serves as the champion of graduate student success, and acts as the unifying voice for graduate students’ role in university teaching, research, and community engagement initiatives.
Together, we cultivate the next generation of leaders, innovators, and changemakers—and in doing so, we strengthen the university’s mission, its impact, and its future.
Graduate School Mission:
As the hub for graduate education at Virginia Tech, the Graduate School collaborates with students, faculty, and personnel within academic and administrative units across all campuses and partner institutions to champion excellence, integrity, and innovation. We cultivate a supportive community where all graduate and professional students are given the opportunity to belong, thrive, and succeed throughout their entire academic journey and beyond as alumni.
We strengthen graduate education by providing critical services, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and advocating for graduate students and programs. Through our work, we contribute to Virginia Tech’s land grant mission of teaching, research, and engagement to enhance regional, national, and global impact.
This priority area focuses on how the Graduate School collaborates with others throughout the institution and externally to enhance the graduate student experience at Virginia Tech as well as our impact on graduate education as a whole.
Develop and maintain a network map of current and potential internal and external partners with whom we share the goal of championing excellence in graduate education.
Formalize and strengthen strategic partnerships with academic units to align policies, processes, in support of student success efforts across graduate programs.
Enhance collaboration with Student Affairs to deliver coordinated, holistic support across the graduate student experience.
Strengthen engagement with graduate student organizations and their leadership to leverage student voice in shared governance and responsive programming.
Facilitate partnerships to support successful pipelines of high-caliber students into graduate education.
This priority area focuses on how the Graduate School creates and supports initiatives and opportunities that advance student development, encourage students’ connection to each other and their communities, and advance different facets of their education.
Provide comprehensive preparatory and orientation experiences that connect admitted graduate students with resources, networks, and institutional knowledge necessary for a successful transition.
Design and deliver intentional programming that advances graduate students’ academic progress, research and professional skills, and sense of belonging and thriving across all stages of their graduate school experience.
Deliver accessible, high-quality admissions and academic progress advising, and general student support services through scheduled and drop-in appointments.
Equip faculty and administrative professionals with tools, resources, and training to effectively support the holistic graduate student experience.
Utilize student voice and feedback alongside institutional strategic data initiatives to identify emerging needs, address gaps, and design and refine student-centered initiatives that are responsive and impactful.
Connect graduate students with alumni networks for mentorship, career exploration, and professional advancement.
This priority area focuses on how the Graduate School enables an environment of high-quality education. This is done through systems and infrastructure that are necessary to support graduate students, develop and encourage interdisciplinary opportunities, and by advocating for graduate students and programs in spaces where they may not be represented. The Graduate School provides and maintains critical infrastructure that allows inquiries and problems to be addressed quickly and efficiently, builds strong stakeholder/partner relationships, and drives graduate education success.
Maintain and enhance administrative systems, policies, and processes that ensure consistent, efficient, and compliant graduate education operations across the institution.
Strengthen and maintain infrastructure that supports coordinated, transparent, and sustainable graduate student funding procedures.
Expand and strengthen the value of a graduate education from Virginia Tech by advancing institution-wide initiatives that further students’ competitiveness for research funding and provide opportunities for advanced professional preparation beyond traditional degree requirements.
Strengthen engagement with graduate program leaders and college-level administrators by clarifying roles and responsibilities, developing centralized resource repositories, and building infrastructure that supports effective and consistent program implementation.
Reduce structural barriers and create institutional pathways that support interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary collaboration in graduate education.
Ensure graduate education-related programming and services across all campus locations are engaging and accessible.
This priority area focuses on how the Graduate School contributes to Virginia Tech’s tripartite land-grant mission of teaching, research, and engagement through high-quality graduate education that is locally relevant and globally recognizable. It also addresses how we support the goals and priorities of our academic enterprise (https://www.provost.vt.edu/goals.html). Our actions establish the Graduate School’s place and reputation within our institution and advance Virginia Tech’s regional, national, and global impact. Our efforts begin by considering how individuals afford to attend graduate school at Virginia Tech and gain access to opportunities designed to support their growth as scholars and development as future leaders. We continue with a focus on engaging world-class talent to pursue solutions to the most complex challenges facing our communities at home and abroad by supporting interdisciplinary breadth and disciplinary depth.
Clarify the Graduate School’s identity and role in advancing Virginia Tech's mission and increase the visibility of our impact on Global Distinction priorities.
Strengthen the understanding of the Graduate School’s role at Virginia Tech and the value of graduate education through active participation in shared governance.
Strengthen the competitiveness of Virginia Tech’s graduate student funding offers through strategic financial models that attract and support top-tier graduate students.
Identify and secure innovative and sustainable sources of funding to enhance graduate student support and program excellence.
Enhance structures that reduce financial barriers and promote graduate student persistence and degree completion.
Advance institutional strategies that prepare graduate students for high-impact careers across all employment sectors.
Advance Global Distinction priorities through impactful graduate teaching, research, and scholarship to meaningfully and ethically engage local, regional, and global communities.
Advance the field of graduate education through scholarly engagement, professional leadership, and active participation in regional, national, and international networks.