Virginia Tech - Va Tech

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech, is a public, land-grant, research university with a main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, educational facilities in six regions statewide, and a study-abroad site in Switzerland. Through its Corps of Cadets ROTC program, Virginia Tech is also designated as a one of six senior military colleges in the country. As the commonwealth's third-largest university, Virginia Tech offers 225 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to some 30,600 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million, the largest of any university in Virginia. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technol ogical leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, which serves as the university's governing body, comprises 13 members who are appointed by the governor of Virginia; the president of the state's Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services serves ex-officio as the 14th voting member. Serving as non-voting representatives are the presidents of the university's Faculty Senate and Staff Senate, who serve ex-officio, and an undergraduate student and a graduate student selected through a competitive review process. The university's endowment, which is managed by the Virginia Tech Foundation, topped $817 million as of 2015.

History

In 1872, with federal funds provided by the Morrill Act of 1862, the Virginia General Assembly purchased the facilities of Preston and Olin Institute, a small Methodist school in Southwest Virginia's rural Montgomery County. That same year, 250 acres (100 ha) of the Solitude Farm including the house and several farm buildings on the estate were acquired for $21,250 The commonwealth incorporated a new institution on the site, a state-supported land-grant military institute named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.

College reorganizations

Under the 1891â€"1907 presidency of John M. McBryde, the school organized its academic programs into a traditional four-year college. The evolution of the school's programs led to a name change in 1896 to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute. The "Agricultural and Mechanical College" portion of the name was popularly omitted almost immediately; in 1944, the name was officially changed to Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI).

In 1923, VPI changed a policy of compulsory participation in the Corps of Cadets from four years to two years. In 1931, VPI began teaching classes at the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary (now Old Dominion University). This program eventually developed into a two-year engineering program that allowed students to transfer to VPI for their final two years of degree work.

In 1943, VPI merged with nearby Radford State Teachers College, which became VPI's women's division; the merger was dissolved in 1964. Today, Radford University enrolls more than 9,900 students and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate programs.

Post World War II

VPI President T. Marshall Hahn, whose tenure ran from 1962 to 1974, was responsible for many of the programs and policies that transformed VPI from a small, predominately male, military school into a major co-educational research university. The student body increased by roughly 1,000 students each year, new dormitories and academic buildings were constructed, faculty members were added â€" in 1966, for instance, more than 100 new professors joined the faculty â€" and research budgets were increased. During Hahn's tenure, not only did the university graduate its first Rhodes Scholar, W.W. Lewis, Class of 1963, the requirement for male students to participate in the Corps of Cadets for two years was dropped. Beginning in the fall 1973, women could participate in the corps, making Virginia Tech among the nation's first schools to do so.

In 1970, the state legislature allowed VPI university status and gave it the present legal name, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. In the early 1990s, university administration authorized the official use of "Virginia Tech" as equivalent to the full legal name; it has been used as the first-reference name for the school's athletic teams since the 1970s. However, diplomas and transcripts still spell out the formal name. Similarly, the abbreviation "VT" is far more common today than either VPI or VPI&SU.

Twenty-first century

The early decades of this century have seen expansion across the university's institutions in both physical and population sizes. Former President Charles Steger brought Virginia Tech an allopathic medical school in 2007. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute was created with a strategic partnership with the Carilion Clinic and the Governor of Virginia. These years also brought about the rapid development of the university's professional schools of graduate education, and business programs. Virginia Tech brought in over a half-billion in research expenditures in 2014.

2007 shooting

On April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho fatally shot 32 faculty members and students, wounding 17 others before killing himself on campus. The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting on a college campus, surpassing Charles Whitman's rampage at the University of Texas in 1966. Although it was at the time the deadliest mass shooting committed by a lone gunman in U.S. history, it has since been surpassed by the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.

List of presidents

Academics

Virginia Tech offers 116 bachelor's degree programs through its seven undergraduate academic colleges, 160 master's and doctoral degree programs through the Graduate School, and a professional degree from the Virginiaâ€"Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, is a public/private partnership jointly managed by Virginia Tech and the Carilion Clinic â€" formerly named Carilion Health System which was founded in January 3, 2007.

These colleges/schools include:

Admissions

Virginia Tech received a record number of nearly 22,500 applications for the fall 2015 freshman class, an increase of 7.6% from the previous year's 20,897 applications. The typical student offered admission had a high-school grade point average of 4.00, with the middle 50 percent ranging from 3.84 and 4.27. The average cumulative SAT score was 1250 (out of 1600), with a middle range ranging from 1160 to 1340. Of the 5,518 students who accepted the offers of admission, 18 percent accepted under the Early Decision Plan. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located in the Visitor and Undergraduate Admissions Center.

Virginia Tech offers an undergraduate program known as University Honors, which provides accepted honors students 11 different ways to earn Honors credits towards one of the five Honors degree options. Once admitted, Honors students are required to maintain a 3.5 GPA in order to remain in the program. Roughly one-fourth of the approximately 1,600 University Honors students live in one of the two University Honors residential halls, the Honors Residential College located in East Ambler-Johnston and the Hillcrest Honors Community.

For the 2013â€"14 academic year, the Graduate School at Virginia Tech enrolled 6,723 graduate students (4,465 full-time; 2,258 part-time) in its masters and doctoral programs.

The Pamplin College of Business, received 381 applications for its incoming Evening MBA program, and offered admission to 142. The class's average GMAT was 610, and mean undergraduate GPA was 3.4.

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, Va., received 2,873 applications for its fourth incoming class, the class of 2017, and offered admission to 42. The class's MCAT scores range was 29-40 (median 33, mean 33), and mean undergraduate GPA was 3.5.

Rankings

In the U.S. News & World Report's 2016 Best Colleges, Virginia Tech ranked tied for 70th among national universities and tied for 26th among public. Virginia Tech is among three public universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia to rank among the top 30, with the University of Virginia at No. 3 and the College of William & Mary at No. 6. Other than California, Virginia is the only state with three or more schools in the Top 30 Public Universities.

The College of Engineering undergraduate program is ranked 15th in the nation among all accredited engineering schools that offer doctorates, and sixth among engineering schools at U.S. public universities, tying with Texas A&M University. Several Virginia Tech undergraduate engineering specialties ranked among the top 20 of their respective peer programs: aerospace and ocean engineering, 14th; civil engineering, 10th; electrical and computer engineering, 15th; engineering science and mechanics, eighth; environmental engineering, 11th; industrial and systems engineering, eighth; mechanical engineering, 14th; biological systems engineering, 11th; and chemical engineering, 19th.

U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools 2016" ranked the College of Engineering tied for 21st among the nation's best engineering schools for graduate studies. The ranking is a move up three places from 24th, where the college stood for three consecutive years. Ranked among public universities, the College of Engineering's graduate program â€" which has more than 2,000 students â€" ranks 10th in the nation. It is the highest-ranked engineering school in Virginia.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate and undergraduate program are considered among the best in the U.S. U.S. News & World Report (2014) ranked biological systems engineering 11th in the nation. In 2009, the National Science Foundation ranked Virginia Tech No. 5 in the country for agricultural research expenditures, much of which originated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The Pamplin College of Business undergraduate program was ranked 39th (2014) among the nation's undergraduate business programs and 23rd among public institutions. Pamplin's overall ranking places it in the top 10 percent of the approximately 445 U.S. undergraduate programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. Pamplin's Evening MBA program was ranked 16th overall by U.S. News & World Report's 2014 Best Graduate Business School Ranking. The Master of Information Technology program, jointly sponsored by the Pamplin College of Business and the College of Engineering, is ranked No. 2 in U.S. News & World Report's Best Online Graduate Computer Information Technology Programs. This interdisciplinary program is offered entirely online.

Programs in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS), including architecture + design, landscape architecture, urban planning, and public administration, are consistently ranked among the very best in the country. In its 2016 "America's Best Architecture & Design Schools" report, DesignIntelligence (the only national college ranking survey focused exclusively on design) ranked the undergraduate architecture program 3rd nationally among both public and private universities. The graduate architecture program ranked 9th in the nation. For 2013, DesignIntelligence ranked the university's undergraduate and graduate landscape architecture programs No. 2 in the nation. In addition, DesignIntelligence ranked the university's undergraduate interior design program 6th and undergraduate industrial design program 3rd. The Planetizen 2012 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs ranks Virginia Tech's MURP program as 19th. It is the best ranked program in t he Commonwealth of Virginia and the Appalachian region. This latest edition features new listings of the top master's degree programs in urban planning, as well as updated profiles for 100 planning programs in the U.S. and Canada. Virginia Tech's MURP program performed well overall and was also rated among the best programs in Technology, Land Use Planning, Environmental Planning, and Growth Management. Furthermore, according to U.S. News & World Report, Virginia Tech's Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP) ranks in the top 10 percent for public affairs graduate education and 17th overall for public management and administration. Virginia Tech's master's in public administration (MPA) program has consistently ranked as one of the nation's top programs and is currently ranked higher than any other public affairs program in Virginia. Eduniversal ranked the program in Government and International Affairs' (GIA) MPIA degree 27th in North America for international manage ment.

Programs in the College of Natural Resources and Environment consistently rank among the top of their type in the nation. The college's wildlife program is ranked first by its peers, and the fisheries program is ranked second. In a recently published study of the research impact of North American forestry programs, the Journal of Forestry ranked Virginia Tech's programs second on the perceptions-based composite score and third on the citations- and publications-based index. The wood science and forest products program is listed as an accredited program by the Society of Wood Science and Technology or SWST, and is recognized as one of the top programs in its category in North America. Virginia Tech is classified as "R1" (research university with highest research activity) under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

In the School of Education, graduate Career and Technical Education program was ranked 4th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report 2010 and graduate Instructional Design and Technology program is ranked one of the top nine graduate programs by its peers.

In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked Virginia Tech among those universities with the highest operating efficiency.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance places Virginia Tech 27th in its 2016 ranking of best value public colleges in the United States.

Student affairs rankings

Virginia Tech received the following rankings by The Princeton Review in its 2017 Best 380 Colleges Rankings:

Research

Virginia Tech generated $513 million for academic research programs in fiscal year 2014, which ranked 39th in the nation according to the National Science Foundation. As a result, Virginia Tech marked its 15th consecutive year of research growth, with the university's research portfolio more than doubling from $192.7 million in fiscal year 2000. The only Virginia institution in the top 50 of the NSF's rankings for research expenditures, Virginia Tech is No. 23 among public universities. The university's research expenditures rank it in the top 5 percent of more than 900 research universities and colleges. Each year, the university receives thousands of awards to conduct research from an ever-expanding base of sponsors. Researchers pursue new discoveries in agriculture, biotechnology, information and communication technology, human health, transportation, energy management (including leadership in fuel-cell technology and power electronics), security, sustainability, and a wide ran ge of other engineering, scientific, social science, and creative fields. This research led to 36 patents and 17 license and option agreements in fiscal year 2013.

Research institutes

• Fralin Life Science Institute
• Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology (ICAT)
• Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS)
• Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE)
• Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech
• Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (VTCRI)
• Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI)

Fralin Life Science Institute

The Fralin Life Science Institute is an expansion of the Fralin Biotechnology Center, which was established in 1991. Its mission is to increase the quality, quantity, and competitiveness of life science research, education, and outreach at Virginia Tech by coalescing resources around existing and emerging strengths within the life science community, promoting interdisciplinary research and education in the sciences. Research at the institute is focused on the areas of vector-borne disease; infectious disease and microbial sciences; plant sciences; obesity; cancer biology; and ecology and organismal biology.

Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech

The Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech, formerly known as the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, is a bioinformatics, computational biology, and systems biology research facility that opened in 2000 on Virginia Tech's main campus in Blacksburg. The institute houses more than 200 employees and multiple supercomputing clusters, and has more than $109 million in active research awards.

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI)

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), was founded as the Center for Transportation Research in 1988, and employs more than 350 personnel. VTTI has more than $125 million in active research awards, and has a mission to save lives, save time, save money, and protect the environment. It is the second largest university-level transportation institute in the United States, and the largest group of driving safety researchers in the world. Facilities include the 2.2-mile (3.5 km), two-lane, fully instrumented Virginia Smart Road; connected-vehicle test beds in Southwest and Northern Virginia; more than 83,000 square feet of office and laboratory space; the VTTI/Center for Injury Biomechanics Crash Sled Lab; and the National Tire Research Center in Southern Virginia. These laboratories include an asphalt lab, fully equipped garages, instrumentation bays, and a machine shop for working on VTTI's vehicle fleet.

VTTI develops and tests advanced transportation safety devices, techniques, and innovative applications. VTTI's research impacts public policy in transportation, notably through research into distracted driving and commercial hour-of-service.

VTTI conducts applied research to address transportation challenges from various perspectives: vehicle, driver, infrastructure, materials, and environment. Most notable among VTTI endeavors are its naturalistic driving studies. These studies particularly utilize VTTI's data acquisition systems, which gather continuous video and driving performance data in real-world driving conditions. These systems have been installed in nearly 4,000 passenger vehicles, commercial trucks and motor coaches, and motorcycles.

Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology

Established in 2010, the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology will reach beyond current models, fusing art and technology as a platform for future careers; and will both generate research and produce learning modules and environments that address real needs identified by educators. The institute collaborates with a Roanoke-based art gallery on an experimental technology based art installation.

Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS)

Since 2005, the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) has made efforts to build capacity at the intersection of engineering, science, biology, and the humanities. Thrust areas include nanoscale science and engineering, nano-bio interface, sustainable energy, safe and sustainable water, national security, cognition and communication systems, renewable materials, and emerging technologies.

Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE)

The Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE) was created in 2007 to support interdisciplinary research and scholarship that addresses social and individual transformation. ISCE seeks to strengthen the university's competitive position in the social sciences, humanities, and the arts; applying Virginia Tech's technological know-how to social issues and cultural opportunities; and providing support for grant writing and aligning faculty expertise with funding sources. The global issues initiative is researching trade policies and poverty in Pakistan and the Philippines, and the implications of agricultural subsidies in eight countries, among other issues. A special-interest group is promoting community/public health research, including prioritizing regional health issues and intervention strategies.

Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute

The Carilion Research Institute is in Roanoke, Virginia and is an integral component of the new medical research and education initiative embodied by the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute (VTC). This partnership combines opportunities in biomedical education and basic, translational, and clinical research with a collaborative interdisciplinary perspective. Research is aimed at understanding the fundamental processes that give rise to healthy lives and the disorders that can compromise those processes, and at development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics. Research institute investigators also contribute to discovery by training tomorrow's physician-researchers.

Virginia Tech Research Center â€" Arlington (VTRC-A)

The Virginia Tech Research Center â€" Arlington (VTRC-A) opened at 900 N. Glebe Road in June 2011. The highly visible state-of-the-art facility aims to further the university's mission to expand its research portfolio in the National Capital Region. The region offers great opportunity for partnerships with corporate research entities and proximity to government agencies and other public and private-sector organizations. The building is located in the Ballston area of Arlington, a short distance from many leading science and research agencies of the federal government and many high-technology companies.

The seven-floor, 144,000-square-foot Virginia Tech Research Center â€" Arlington is U.S. Green Council LEED-certified. The exterior of the building, designed by Cooper Carry, features first floor amenities which include retail, exhibits, an outdoor terrace restaurant, and abundant green space. The interior, designed by Gensler, includes computational laboratories, offices, and a conference center to accommodate meetings, forums, symposia, and other events. The second floor conference center is available to the science and technology communities throughout the region for meetings and events not specifically related to the university, and two of the seven floors in the building not occupied by Virginia Tech are available for commercial lease.

The building is among the best connected research facilities in the world, incorporating next-generation Internet with direct fiber access to National LambdaRail, Internet 2, and multiple federal networks. High-performance connectivity links this research center to Virginia Tech's main campus in Blacksburg, as well as to other major universities. The network provides access to international peering points in New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Florida, and the building includes a secure data center for high performance computing (HPC)-based research.

A number of established Virginia Tech research centers and institutes are located in this facility

Other areas of research

Other research conducted throughout the university's colleges and interdisciplinary groups includes high-performance computing; advanced materials; wireless telecommunication; housing; human and animal health; cognition, development, and behavior; the environment; and energy, including power electronics, biofuels, fuel cells, and solar-powered building structures.

• The School of Biomedical Engineering & Sciences partners with the College of Engineering, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and the College of Veterinary Medicine. Virginia Tech's research includes biomechanics, cellular transport, computational modeling, biomaterials, bioheat and mass transfer, biofluid mechanics, instrumentation, ergonomics, and tissue engineering.
• Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. (VTIP) was established in 1985 as a nonprofit corporation to support the mission of the university by protecting and licensing intellectual properties that result from research performed by Virginia Tech faculty, staff members, and students. During fiscal year 2012, 17 U.S. patents and six foreign patents were issued to VTIP, and 32 license and option agreements were signed. In addition, VTIP reported $2,269,991 in license revenue.
• The Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC), is a private nonprofit corporation affiliated with Virginia Tech that was established in fall 2010. With offices in Northern Virginia and Blacksburg, VT-ARC fosters applied research and development, and management of large contract research projects. VT-ARC applies the university's scholarly research achievements, expertise, and collaborations across multiple disciplines to solve complex national challenges in intelligence, cyber security and information technology, national security, energy, and health care.
• The Virginia Cooperative Extension programs are delivered through a network of faculty, 107 county and city offices, 11 agricultural research and Extension centers, and six 4-H educational centers. The system incorporates the expertise of faculty at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and through research and Extension efforts, the college helped elevate the state's agricultural exports to record numbers. In 2013, exports in the Commonwealth of Virginia reached $2.85 billion.
• The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (VTCRC) is home to over 170 research, technology and support companies. The 230-acre (93 ha) park is located in a mountain setting, with easy access to the metropolitan areas of northern Virginia and the nation's capital. An expansion on the northwest side of the park provides enough land to construct 15 buildings in addition to the 33 single- and multi-tenant buildings currently on-site. The VTCRC employs over 2,900 employees.
• The Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance is a nonprofit and public sector research and outreach institute for the university.
• The Center for Modeling Immunity to Enteric Pathogens is a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-funded program to model immune responses to gut pathogens.
• The Virginia Tech Metropolitan Institute (The CMI) conducts basic and applied research on the dynamics of metropolitan complexities, such as demographics, environment, technology, design, transportation, and governance. MI is housed within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS) and partners closely with the faculty of the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) while also reaching beyond the boundaries of department, college, or university, to bring together the richest collaboration of thinkers to each research question.
• The Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute (LCI) provides language-related programs and services for academic and professional development. The institute was started in the 1960s, when members of the Blacksburg chapter of the American Association of University Women decided to volunteer their time teaching English. The women held free classes in church basements or their own homes to help the spouses of international students and faculty members learn English. In 2014 LCI opened a new state-of-the-art learning center in Fairfax, Virginia that provides language-related programs and services for academic and professional development both on the main campus in Blacksburg and within the National Capital Region.

Campus

The Virginia Tech campus is located in Blacksburg, Virginia. The central campus is roughly bordered by Prices Fork Road to the northwest, Plantation Drive to the west, Main Street to the east, and US 460 Bypass to the south, though it has several thousand acres beyond the central campus.

In the center of the Blacksburg campus lies the Drillfield, a large oval field running northeast to southwest, encircled by a one-way street known as Drillfield Drive. The Drillfield's name, coined in 1926 after the completion of Virginia Tech's first real stadium, stems from its use by the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets to conduct military drills. A waterway, Stroubles Creek, runs beneath the Drillfield on the south side. A three-sided conduit for the creek that retains the natural bed of the creek was installed in 1934, and, in 1971, the first two asphalt walks were added. The urban legend that the Drillfield is sinking at the rate of an inch per year, however, has no basis in fact. In the summer of 2014, three dirt paths were paved as part of the university's master plan to improve the landscaping and pathways, add seating areas, and enhance path entrances around the Drillfield.

On the northwestern side of the Drillfield stands the majority of the university's academic and administrative buildings, including Burruss and McBryde halls. On the southeastern side of the Drillfield stands the majority of the residential buildings, including students' residence halls, dining halls, and War Memorial Gym. Newman Library is located on the eastern side of campus and connects to Torgersen Bridge, which spans the main road into campus, Alumni Mall. North of the Drillfield and northwest of Alumni Mall lies the Upper Quad, known to many students as military campus. The Upper Quad is home to the Corps of Cadets' barracks.

On the main campus in Blacksburg, the majority of the buildings incorporate Hokie Stone as a building material. In the 1990s, a Virginia Tech Board of Visitors committee expressed an intent that henceforth Hokie Stone should be used in all buildings constructed on the central campus. In 2010, the board of visitors passed a resolution making that sentiment official university policy.

Hokie Stone is generally gray, shaded by hues of brown and pink. The limestone is mined from various quarries in Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama â€" one of which has been operated by the university since the 1950s. However, while it is true that the majority of buildings on campus incorporate Hokie Stone into their design, there are a few notable exceptions. For example, all buildings on the Upper Quad, including Lane Hall, are constructed of red brick. Also, a number of academic buildings were not constructed using Hokie Stone, as they were built before the institution of the rule mandating its use in all new university buildings.

Extended campuses

The university has established five branch campuses:

• Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Centers, Newport News and Virginia Beach
• Northern Virginia Center, Falls Church (National Capital Region)
• Virginia Tech Richmond Center, Richmond
• Virginia Tech Roanoke Center, Roanoke
• Virginia Tech Southwest Center, Abingdon

Northern Virginia Center (National Capital Region)

Virginia Tech's presence in the Washington Metropolitan Area links regional graduate education and outreach programs that are consistent with the university's strategic research areas of excellence: energy materials and environment, social and individual transformation, health, food, and nutrition, and innovative technologies and complex systems.

Supporting the university's missions is the Virginia Tech National Capital Region. The university has established collaborations and partnerships with local and federal agencies, nonprofit research organizations, businesses, and other institutions of higher education. Current locations include Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Leesburg, Manassas, and Middleburg.

Biomedical Technology Development and Management is an executive program in the National Capital Region. The Master of Science in Biomedical Technology Development and Management (BTDM) is a graduate level degree created by Virginia Tech in response to future directions in medical product discovery and development and the emerging needs of industry and regulatory agencies. Curriculum for the degree program integrates science with technology, management, ethics, and public policy, and draws on the strengths of Virginia Tech in science, industrial and systems engineering, business and management, and medical research programs.

In 2014, the university opened a Language and Culture Institute location in Fairfax. The institute offers intensive English language programs for college-age students, professionals, and diplomats.

International campuses

Caribbean Center for Education and Research (CCER)

Located on the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean Center for Education and Research (CCER) in Punta Cana provides a base for Virginia Tech faculty to conduct research as well as instruct students on biodiversity, environmental and social sustainability, global issues in natural resources, and hotel and tourism management. The center is the product of a partnership between Virginia Tech and the PUNTACANA Ecological Foundation (PCEF) and the PUNTACANA Resort and Club. PCEF maintains a 2,000-acre (810 ha) natural forest reserve, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) of protected coral reef, freshwater lagoons and coastal mangroves.

Center for European Studies and Architecture (CESA)

Renamed the Steger Center for International Scholarship in 2014, the Center for European Studies and Architecture (CESA) is the university's European campus center and base for operations and support of its programs in the region. The center's location in Riva San Vitale, Ticino, the Italian-speaking canton of Switzerland, is also close to major northern Italian cities such as Milan.

Agricultural Research and Extension Centers

Virginia Tech has several agricultural research and extension centers located throughout the Commonwealth dedicated to improving agricultural practices and the quality of life of Virginia citizens. The Virginia Tech Agricultural Research and Extension Centers are: Alson H. Smith, Jr., Eastern Shore, Eastern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Middleburg, Reynolds Homestead, Shenandoah Valley, Southern Piedmont, Southwest Virginia, Tidewater, and Virginia Seafood.

Power plant

Distinguished by a towering 180-foot-high radial brick smokestack, the university's Central Steam Power Plant generates an annual steam output greater than 943 billion BTUs and provides campus buildings with a portion of their heat, hot water, and electricity needs. Nearly 90 percent of campus buildings are connected to the plant through an extensive network of underground tunnelsâ€"the main access point is on the Drillfieldâ€"and more than six miles (9.7 km) of steam lines and piping provide heat to more than 6.8 million square feet of campus buildings. Only personnel with confined-space training are permitted to enter the tunnel system, comprising 2.76 miles (4.44 km) of inaccessible tunnel and 11.07 miles (17.82 km) of piping; 3.78 miles (6.08 km) of direct-bury piping in the ground; and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) of accessible tunnel and 12.27 miles (19.75 km) of piping.

Student life

Residential life

More than 9,000 Virginia Tech students reside on campus. A majority of the residential halls are located on the southwestern side of the Drillfield. Currently, there are twenty-nine residential halls housing undergraduate and graduate students.

The university has on-campus housing for graduate and professional students who are single; the housing may not accommodate families and spouses.

All freshman are required to live on-campus. In order to live on-campus, students must fill out the Virginia Tech Housing and Dining Contract, which is a legally binding contract. The contract requires all students who live on-campus to purchase a major meal plan. This may be an example of tying.

Rasche Hall and its counterpart on the Upper Quad, Brodie Hall, were demolished in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Rasche has since been replaced by a new building, Pearson Hall, for the Corps of Cadets, while the replacement for Brodie is still under construction and is as of yet unnamed. Pearson Hall was completed November 2015. The late completion worsened a housing shortage caused by a large incoming freshman class. Thomas Hall, another residence hall on the Upper Quad, is scheduled for demolition in 2016.

Corps of Cadets

Until 1932, every able-bodied male was required to participate for four years in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. The requirement was changed to two years until 1964, when participation became voluntary. Virginia Tech remains one of three public universities in the country (Texas A&M and North Georgia College and State University are the others) with both an active corps of cadets and "civilian" lifestyle on its campus.

More than 1,000 cadets reside within the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Community, also known as the cadet barracks within the corps. The corps community is located in the historical Upper Quad, which features some of the oldest buildings on campus, with original structures dating back as far as the late 19th century.

Dining

Virginia Tech has five meal plans to choose from, as well as dining dollars or cash. Three of the meal plans are major meal plans. All major meal plans have a $1067 base cost, used to pay for the operation of the dining halls, with the rest of the cost being used as a debit account for food spending. However, to make up for the base cost, major meal plan holders get a 50% discount at all dining halls except D2, which has a 67% discount. These meal plans, ranging from smallest to largest, are the Major Flex Plan, the Mega Flex Plan, and the Premium Flex Plan.

Greek system

Virginia Tech hosts a number of fraternities and sororities across four governing councils. There are 13 social sororities at Tech with the chartering of Kappa Alpha Theta in Spring of 2017 recruitment.

Athletics

Virginia Tech teams are known as the Hokies. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sub-level for football), primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports since the 2004â€"05 season. The Hokies previously competed in the Big East Conference from 2000â€"01 to 2003â€"04 (which its football program began competing as an associate member from 1991â€"92 to 1999â€"2000); the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) from 1995â€"96 to 1999â€"2000; and the Metro Conference from 1978â€"79 to 1994â€"95. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

The HokieBird is a turkey-like creature whose form has evolved from the original school mascot of the Fighting Gobbler. While the modern HokieBird still resembles a Fighting Gobbler, the word "Hokie" has all but replaced Fighting Gobbler in terms of colloquial use. The term originated from the Old Hokie spirit yell, in which there was no particular meaning indicated for the word.

The stylized VT (the abbreviation for Virginia Tech) is used primarily by the athletic department as a symbol for Virginia Tech athletic teams. The "athletic VT" symbol is trademarked by the university and appears frequently on licensed merchandise.

During the early years of VPI, a rivalry developed between it and Virginia Military Institute. This rivalry developed into the original Military Classic of the South an annual football game between VMI and VPI usually held on Thanksgiving Day in Roanoke, Virginia. That series ended after the 1984 season; VMI had elected to play at the Division I-AA level, now Division I FCS, after the NCAA's 1978 divisional split for football, and the schools' wide disparity in size had led to a similar imbalance in results. Another long-standing and important rivalry is between Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia. The Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry strengthened in concurrence with both UVA's and Tech's growth during the 1960s and 1970s and this is now the Hokies' primary program-wide athletic rivalry. The two schools compete in football for the Governor's "Commonwealth Cup" each season.

Virginia Tech's fight song, Tech Triumph, was written in 1919 and remains in use today. Tech Triumph is played at sporting events by both the Virginia Tech band, The Marching Virginians, and the Corps of Cadets' band, the Highty Tighties. The Old Hokie spirit yell, written in 1896 and used to this day, is familiar to many Virginia Tech fans. This chant is also where the word Hoki (since modified to "Hokie") originally appeared.

Baseball

Chuck Hartman, who retired as the Virginia Tech baseball coach in 2006, finished his career as the fourth winningest coach in Division I baseball history with a 1,444â€"816â€"8 record, including a 961â€"591â€"18 mark in his 28 seasons at Tech, the best record of any baseball coach in history at Tech.

Basketball (men's)

In March 2014, Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced the hiring of Buzz Williams as the Hokies' new head men's basketball coach. Williams spent the previous six seasons as the head coach at Marquette University, where he compiled a 139-69 record and led the Golden Eagles to five NCAA appearances, including a trip to the regional finals in the 2012-13 season, the same season that the team won the Big East Conference's regular season title. During Williams's tenure, Marquette tallied a 69-39 record in the Big East Conference, and six Marquette players made it to the NBA.

In July 2014, Williams announced his staff. Isaac Chew, Steve Roccaforte, and Jamie McNeilly were named assistant coaches. Jeff Reynolds was named the director of men's basketball operations. Devin Johnson will serve as the director of player personnel for men's basketball, and Steve Thomas as the director of student-athlete development. Lyle Wolf joined the staff as the assistant to the head coach, and Ernest Eugene was hired as assistant athletics director for sports medicine and will serve as the team athletic trainer.

Virginia Tech's men's basketball team had seen a resurgence of fan support since the arrival of coach Seth Greenberg in 2003â€"04 and the university's entry into the ACC in 2004â€"05. Prior to Coach Greenberg's arrival in Blacksburg, the men's basketball team had not had a winning season since the 1995â€"96 season, when they received a bid to the NCAA tournament. In addition, the team did not make the Big East tournament in its first three seasons in the conference.

in 2003â€"04, Greenberg's squad made the Big East tournament. A year later, in their first season in the ACC, the Hokies scored their first postseason berth in nine years when they made the NIT in 2004â€"05. In the 2006â€"07 season, Greenberg's Hokies finished with a 10â€"6 record in the ACC and a 22â€"12 record overall, earning their first NCAA tournament berth in 11 years, reaching the NCAA second round before losing to Southern Illinois.

Basketball (women's)

Virginia Tech's women's basketball team, led by coach Dennis Wolff, is in a rebuilding phase as it competes in the ACC. Under former coach Beth Dunkenberger it was a fixture in postseason play, having received a berth to the NCAA tournament each season from 2003 to 2006. Virginia Tech's women have been in postseason play every year since the 1997â€"98 season, Bonnie Henrickson's first season as the head coach of the Hokies, earning seven NCAA berths and three NIT appearances during that stretch.

Both basketball teams play their home games in Cassell Coliseum.

Football

Virginia Tech's football team plays home games in Lane Stadium. With a capacity of 66,233, Lane is relatively small in comparison to many other top FBS stadiums, yet it is still considered to be one of the loudest stadiums in the country. In 2005, it was recognized by rivals.com as having the best home-field advantage in college football.

Frank Beamer was the Hokies' head coach from 1987 to 2015, and was the winningest active head coach in FBS football with 280 wins following the 2015 season. Beamer's teams were known for solid special teams play (called "Beamer Ball") and for tough defenses headed by defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

The Hokies currently hold the longest bowl streak in the country, having participated in bowl games in each of the last 23 seasons. Coach Beamer ended his tenure as head coach with a win in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA, where the Bowl streak began in 1993.

Since the 1995 season, the Hokies have finished with a top-10 ranking five times, won seven conference championships (three Big East and four ACC), and played once for the national championship, losing to Florida State 46â€"29 in the 2000 Sugar Bowl. Annually, Virginia Tech plays its traditional rival, the University of Virginia, for the Commonwealth Cup, a game which Virginia Tech has won 14 times in the 15 seasons since 1999.

On Nov. 29, 2015, Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced that Justin Fuente was hired from the University of Memphis to take the Hokies forward.

Soccer (men's)

Virginia Tech's men's soccer team has improved greatly since the arrival of Oliver Weiss, who has coached the team since 2000. Under Weiss, Tech has made four NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the College Cup in 2007. The Hokie's trip to the College Cup is the equivalent of men's basketball Final Four and was the soccer team's most successful season. The Hokies finished the 2007 regular season ranked third nationally.

Soccer (women's)

Women's soccer at Virginia Tech began in 1980 with two club teams under the guidance of Everett Germain and his two daughters, Betsy and Julie. Kelly Cagle was head coach from 2002 to 2010, leaving with a record of 76â€"70â€"15 and three consecutive NCAA trips. She was succeeded by Charles "Chugger" Adair. Under Adair the Hokie Women's Soccer quad has spent numerous weeks ranked in the top 25 during their 2012 campaign. During the 2013 season Virginia Tech ranked in the top 5 making it to the Final Four for the first time in school history. The women's team has now been to 6 straight NCAA tournaments 2008-2013 having 2 Sweet Sixteen finishes and one Final Four finish.

Softball

Virginia Tech Softball upset the USA national team in a 1â€"0 no hitter in 2008 and advanced to the Women's College World Series for the first time ever. The program is coached by Blacksburg local, Scot Thomas. Thomas helped start the program in 1996 and celebrated his 600th win during the 2012 season. Since joining the ACC, the Virginia Tech Softball team has won two Conference Titles in 2007 and 2008.

Fight song

Alumni

Since opening in 1872 as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, Virginia Tech has produced many alumni whose contributions have bolstered the university's reputation as a first-class institution globally.

The Virginia Tech Alumni Association encompasses more than 240,000 living alumni throughout the U.S. and around the world. Virginia Tech alumni can be found in all 50 states and many countries all over the world.