• Benchmark Institutions
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Statement of Mission and Purpose

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is a public land-grant university serving the Commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and the world community. The discovery and dissemination of new knowledge are central to its mission. Through its focus on teaching and learning, research and discovery, and outreach and engagement, the university creates, conveys, and applies knowledge to expand personal growth and opportunity, advance social and community development, foster economic competitiveness, and improve the quality of life.

*Mission Statement approved by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, 6/4/01; revised in 2006.

University Overview, 2008-2009

Background

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, Virginia Tech is now a comprehensive, innovative research university with the largest number of degree offerings in Virginia, more than 125 campus buildings, a 2,600-acre main campus, off-campus educational facilities in six regions, a study-abroad site in Switzerland, and a 1,700-acre agriculture research farm near the main campus. The campus proper is located in the Town of Blacksburg in Montgomery County and is 38 miles southwest of Roanoke, in the New River Valley. Through a combination of its three missions of teaching and learning, research and discovery, and outreach and engagement, Virginia Tech continually strives to accomplish the charge of its motto: Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).

Enrollment

28,259 on-campus; 83.2 percent undergraduate students; 16.8 percent graduate students; 58.4 percent male; 41.6 percent female. Total enrollment on and off campus is 30,739.

Admissions

Virginia Tech received 20,756 applications for the fall 2008 freshman class. The student who was offered admission had a high school grade point average of 3.86, with the middle 50 percent being between 3.62 and 4.08. The average cumulative SAT reasoning test score was 1238, with a middle range of 1150 to 1320.

Full-time Instructional Faculty

1,371; 63.4 percent are tenured (fall 2008).

Alumni

More than 202,000 living alumni from every state and more than 100 countries.

Board of Visitors

A board of visitors, appointed by the governor of Virginia, is composed of 13 members, headed by a rector. Current board of visitors members are John R. Lawson II, rector; George Nolen, vice rector; Michael Anzilotti; Frederick J. Cobb; Beverley Dalton; Ben J. Davenport Jr.; Michele L. Duke; Douglas R. Fahl; Calvin Donnell Jamison Sr.; Sandra Stiner Lowe; James W. Severt Sr.; James R. Smith; and Lori L. Wagner. The president of the state Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services (Paul Rogers) serves as an ex-officio member. The presidents of the Faculty Senate (Hardu Odendaal) and the Staff Senate (Thomas Tucker) are also ex-officio, non-voting representatives. Each year, an undergraduate student (Arlane Gordon-Bray) and a graduate student (Linsey Barker) are selected through a competitive review process to serve as non-voting representatives to the board. Kim O'Rourke is the board secretary.

Instruction

The university offers bachelor's degree programs through its seven undergraduate academic colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Architecture and Urban Studies, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Natural Resources, Pamplin College of Business, and Science. On the postgraduate level, the university offers master's and doctoral degree programs through the Graduate School and a professional degree from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, a private independent school jointly managed by the university and Carilion Health System, is scheduled to open in fall 2010.

Research

The university generated $366.9 million for research programs in fiscal year 2007, ranking it 42nd in the nation. Each year, Virginia Tech receives significant external support for research, instruction, Extension, and public service projects. In the most recent fiscal year (2007-08), the university received more than 1,950 awards to conduct research. Support for these projects originates from an ever-expanding base of sponsors. Today, nearly 775 sponsors fund more than 3,500 active projects. Researchers pursue new discoveries in agriculture, biotechnology, information and communication technology, transportation, energy management (including leadership in fuel-cell technology and power electronics), and a wide range of other engineering, scientific, social science, and creative fields. This research led to 33 patents and 17 licenses in calendar year 2007.

The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center offers opportunities for businesses to establish close working relationships with the university and nurtures entrepreneurs with new inventions and developments. Located on 120 acres adjacent to the main campus, the center consists of 25 buildings (with one more under construction) housing more than 130 companies with approximately 2,000 employees.

Special Academic Programs

In our Cooperative Education Program, sophomores and juniors can alternate semesters of study with semesters of professional work. The University Honors Program helps qualified students expand their intellectual powers through special sections of regular classes, seminars, and independent study. The Study Abroad Program consists of academic programs, tours, and independent travel, often conducted in conjunction with overseas universities and institutions. Students enrolled in the corps of cadets are eligible for the Army, Air Force, and Navy ROTC programs.

Outreach and International Affairs

Outreach and International Affairs, which spearheads the university's outreach mission, encompasses a number of university-wide programs. These programs include the Center for European Studies and Architecture in Switzerland; Commonwealth Campus Centers in Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke; the Office of Economic Development; the Office of International Research, Education, and Development, including Education Abroad and applied research programs in developing countries; Outreach Fellows; Southside Outreach Programs, including the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville and Reynolds Homestead in Patrick County; and Outreach Program Development, including the Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement, Continuing and Professional Education, Language and Culture Institute, The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, Outreach Program Services, Service-Learning Center, The Inn at Virginia Tech & Skelton Conference Center, and Upward Bound/Talent Search.

Off-campus Facilities

Virginia Tech has a number of facilities located across the commonwealth and one facility in Europe. These include the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg; several locations in the Virginia Tech National Capital Region; Hampton Roads Center in Virginia Beach; Virginia Tech Roanoke Center; Virginia Tech Richmond Center; and Virginia Tech Southwest Center in Abingdon. Virginia Tech also owns and maintains the Center for European Studies and Architecture in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, which is part of the university's study abroad program. Tech owns The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, which it uses for academic programs, continuing education, seminars, and conferences.

University Budget

Virginia Tech's operating budget in 2008-09 is approximately $1 billion and is distributed to two divisions: the university division and the Cooperative Extension/Agricultural Experiment Station division. The state appropriates a portion of the funds, and the remainder originates from student tuition and fees, grants and contracts, sales and services, federal sources, user fees, and others.

Athletics

Virginia Tech is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. NCAA Division I-A men's varsity sports at Tech are football, basketball, baseball, soccer, indoor and outdoor track, swimming and diving, wrestling, tennis, golf, and cross country. Women's varsity sports are basketball, tennis, volleyball, swimming and diving, indoor and outdoor track, soccer, softball, lacrosse, and cross country. An extensive intramural program offers opportunities for participation in more than 20 recreational activities. The university also participates in intramural sports and club sports programs that allow students to compete against programs from other colleges and universities across the country.

Virginia Tech Foundation

As of June 30, 2008, the Virginia Tech Foundation's assets and managed funds — including gifts and bequests — totaled $926 million. The total endowment owned and managed by the university was $527.6 million. Endowment value per student was $18,216.

Extension

Virginia Cooperative Extension is a dynamic organization that stimulates positive personal and societal change, leading to more productive lives, families, farms, and forests, as well as a better environment. Extension responds to the needs of individuals, families, groups, and organizations with educational programs in three broad areas: agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, and 4-H youth development.

Extension, operated jointly in the commonwealth by Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, has been helping people improve their economic, cultural, and social well-being for more than 90 years. And while Extension has a long history of helping make America's agricultural powerhouse more productive and economical, it also does important work in the state's urban and rural areas — from helping expectant mothers learn healthy nutritional practices to counseling families in financial distress. With 107 city/county offices and tens of thousands of volunteers, Extension's non-formal education benefits more than 1 million participants annually. Extension has touched virtually every life in the state in some way.

Extension is a product of cooperation among local, state, and federal governments in partnership with thousands of citizens who, through local Extension Leadership Councils, help design, implement, and evaluate Cooperative Extension's needs-driven programs.

   

The University Shield

The shield embodies Virginia Tech's motto — Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) — by incorporating an image of the university's War Memorial Pylons, where this motto is etched in stone.

The shield's shape also reflects the collegiate heritage of all universities, and the numerals "1872" recognize the year the university was founded and reinforce the traditions of more than a century of service to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The shield was adopted in May 1991.

   

The University Seal

The four quadrants of the shield on the seal depict the obverse side of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the surveyor's level and leveling rod superimposed over a scroll, a partially husked standing ear of corn, and a chemical retort and graduate. Above the shield is the left side of the flaming lamp of learning with a right hand suspended above it.

The seal, created in 1896 and officially adopted by the board of visitors in 1963, has remained unchanged (with the exception of the name of the institution and the alteration of the commonwealth portion) for more than 10 decades and reflects the agricultural/mechanical emphasis in the Virginia Tech curriculum during its first century.

   

The Corps of Cadets Coat of Arms

Designed in 1965 by Col. Harry D. Temple (Class of 1934) when he was commanding officer of the Army's Institute of Heraldry, the coat of arms was granted to the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets by the U.S. Army. The symbols are as follows:

• Flaming grenade = preparation for war
• Four gold stars = four major wars in which Tech cadets had fought before 1965 (Spanish-American, World War I, World War II, and Korean)
• Laurel wreath = the presidential citation given to the cadet band for Spanish-American War service
• Color red = strength and courage
• Sword = command

   

University Mascot

The HokieBird, the university mascot, evolved from a live turkey paraded on the playing field to a hand-sewn costume with a papier-mâché head to today's professionally manufactured outfit (a costumed mascot — which eventually evolved into HokieBird — first took the field in the fall of 1962).

In 1913, Floyd Meade, a local resident nicknamed "Hard Times," who was chosen by the student body to serve as the team's mascot, trained a large turkey that he could make gobble on command at games. Although the nickname "Gobblers" had been used sporadically for about 10 years, fans and sports writers enthusiastically began to use it regularly.

The term "Hokie" was coined by O.M. Stull (Class of 1896) when he wrote the "Old Hokie" spirit yell, first used in the fall of 1896 ("Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy / Techs! Techs! VPI"). Fans started calling Tech teams "Hokies" as well as "Fightin' Gobblers," but the latter nickname prevailed. In the 1980s, a football coach who didn't like the gobbler image encouraged the use of the nickname Hokies, and the two names evolved into the HokieBird.

Virginia Tech's Benchmark Institutions

(For the purpose of salary comparisons, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia identifies institutions whose academic profiles are similar to Virginia Tech's.)

• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis
• University of Colorado, Boulder
• Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
• University of Florida, Gainesville
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Iowa State University, Ames
• University of Maryland, College Park
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Michigan State University, East Lansing
• University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• University of Missouri, Columbia
• North Carolina State University, Raleigh
• The Ohio State University, Columbus
• Pennsylvania State University, University Park
• University of Pittsburgh
• Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
• State University of New York, Buffalo
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles
• Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y.
• Texas A&M University, College Station
• University of Texas, Austin
• The University of Washington-Seattle
• University of Wisconsin, Madison

Senior Administrative Personnel