Board of Visitors sets university budget, compensation plans for upcoming fiscal year
Members of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors got a glimpse into the future when a design preview of the New Business Building, the second planned academic building for the Global Business and Analytics Complex, was presented today at the Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting.
To be connected to the Data and Decision Sciences Building, the new building will further define the Pamplin College of Business’ next generation business education experience. The future facility will feature specialty experiential learning and showcase spaces; student and industry partner collaboration zones; student organizational spaces and team rooms; administrative, faculty, and graduate student spaces; and departmental and conference spaces.
The board also approved a $2.27 billion university budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year that runs July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, at its quarterly meeting in Blacksburg. The Education and General portion of the budget, which includes the University Division and Virginia Cooperative Extension, totals $1.19 billion, up from $1.13 billion this fiscal year.
Next year’s university budget will include a 3 percent merit program for teaching and research faculty, administrative and professional faculty, and university staff and a 3 percent compensation program for classified staff.
Because graduate assistants provide a valuable service to the university and contribute significantly to the advancement of the university’s strategic vision, the 2024-25 graduate assistant compensation plan approved by the board increased its scale by 3 percent and will raise the minimum stipend to $2,682 per month, or to what is the 14th step on the current pay scale.
In addition, graduate assistants will continue to receive tuition remission, the university will maintain the current academic year Stipend Supplement of $458 to help mitigate university assigned costs, and the university will pay 88 percent of the annual premium cost of the basic health insurance plan.
In other action, the faculty promotion, tenure, and continued appointments for 2024 were approved by the board.
To align with upcoming federal changes to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, The board approved a resolution to rescind Virginia Tech Policy 1026: Title IX Sexual Harassment and Responsible Employee Reporting, which was made effective in August 2020 as required by previous federal changes, and amend Policy 1025: Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Assault to centralize all forms of discrimination and harassment under one university policy. These changes will be effective Aug. 1, 2024. However, litigation to vacate the Final Rule of Title IX has been filed in five jurisdictions and a request for a nationwide preliminary injunction has been made; if any of these measures is successful, this resolution will be null and void.
The board’s action reaffirms the university's commitment to establishing and maintaining a university environment free from discrimination for all members of our community. Additional information on federal Title IX changes will be published in Virginia Tech News in the coming weeks.
At Monday’s information session, the board received briefings from Julie Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Dean of Engineering and special advisor to President Tim Sands, on the Northern Virginia Plan. Lance Collins, vice president and executive director for the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, provided updates on faculty, research, programs and facilities at that site.
At Tuesday’s Academic, Research, and Student Affairs Committee meeting, Provost and Executive Vice President Cyril Clarke noted that although this year’s admissions process was impacted by the elimination of the early action cycle, the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, and the delay in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA, implementation, Virginia Tech to expects to be very close to its target of 7,085 full-time first year undergraduate students this fall.
A full story on these presentations will be published in Virginia Tech News.
The board approved the appointment of 14 faculty members to endowed chairs or fellowships, and four faculty members were honored with emerita or emeritus status. Stories on each of these individuals will be published on the Virginia Tech News website.
Rector Ed Baine, Sands, and other board members thanked current board members Carrie H. Chenery, Greta Harris, Chris Petersen, and Jeff E. Veatch for their many contributions to the university as they conclude their current four-year terms on June 30. Harris, Petersen, and Veatch each served two consecutive four-year terms.
Donald Horsley, who completed a one-year term on the board by virtue of his role as president of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, was reelected and thus will serve another one-year term on the board.
Undergraduate student representative Will Storey and graduate and professional student representative Emily Tirrell, who will conclude their one-year terms on June 30, were also recognized for their service to the board. Leslie Orellana, a rising senior majoring in real estate in the Pamplin College of Business and building construction in the College of Engineering, will succeed Storey as the undergraduate student representative. William Poland, a master’s degree student in electrical engineering in the College of Engineering, will succeed Tirrell as the graduate and professional student representative.
Board members also acknowledged the contributions of faculty representative Joe Merola, professor of chemistry in the College of Science; administrative and professional faculty representative Janice Austin, assistant dean and director of admissions and academic progress in the Graduate School; and staff representative LaTawnya Burleson, executive assistant to the vice president for information technology, all of whom will also conclude their one-year terms on June 30.
Effective July 1, Rachel Miles, research impact librarian in University Libraries, will become the faculty representative. Austin and Burleson will return to serve a second term on the board as the administrative and professional faculty representative and staff representative, respectively.
The board announced its rector and vice rector for the 2024-25 academic year. Effective July 1, Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia, and David Calhoun, president and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company, will return for another one-year term as rector and vice rector, respectively.
The next scheduled meeting of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors will be held Aug. 26-28. More information on the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors may be found online.
