Virginia Tech

Student Resources: Overview

Getting Started Checklist

May be completed prior to arrival or upon arrival:

1. Locate and secure permanent housing if needed.
2. Contact your academic department and ask for the name of your graduate advisor. Discuss the classes you will be taking in your first semester with your advisor.
3. Activate your PID (Personal IDentification account or VT username).
4. Purchase health insurance (mandatory for international students in F or J visa status, optional for domestic students).
5. Register for classes on Hokie SPA. This will allow you to receive emails from CPAP about activities and events as well as provide you with access to VT’s online class registration system.  Check your preferences when you set up the account and if you would like your VT emails forwarded to another email account.
6. After you register for classes, you will be billed for tuition and fees. Check Hokie Spa for your balance and make sure to pay by the date indicated.

Must be completed upon arrival:

1. Get your student ID card in the Hokie Passport Office, 100 Student Services Building (540/231-5121).
2. Submit your Health History Form to the Schiffert Health Services by the required deadline (listed on the form). The form should be downloaded from the Schiffert Heath Center website. International students should make an appointment through the Cranwell International Center before submitting the form.
3. Participate in Graduate Student Orientation (optional, but encouraged).

International students also must:

1. Check in with the International Graduate Student Services (IGSS) office in the Graduate School at the Graduate Life Center. (Rooms 111 and 112). Bring your passport, I-94 card and I-20 or DS-2019 form. If you are in Alexandria or Richmond, contact the office to learn how you should provide this information.
2. Check in with the Cranwell International Center.
3. Participate in the mandatory Orientation program. Details will be posted on the Cranwell International Center website.

For All CPAP Students

1. Attend CPAP’s Annual High Table conference, held each spring in Blacksburg. This academic conference, known as CPAP’s Celebration of the Mind, brings together students, faculty, staff and alumni to explore public administration issues and challenges.
2. Attend the monthly Doctoral Mentoring Program sessions (held during each semester). These sessions provide an opportunity to hear from established and emerging scholars about their work. It is also a means for sharing information about one’s own scholarship in small-group mentoring sessions with fellow students. Check with your respective campus location for details.
3. Meet and network online with fellow students and alumni by joining CPAP on Facebook and Linked In. Visit the CPAP Alexandria blog to link to these applications.
4. Attend CPAP’s Annual Capital Praxis weekend in Alexandria. This annual event, as described by alumni Gene Bacher, Ph.D., brings “together students, alumni, and faculty from both Blacksburg and Alexandria to meet and greet, and to highlight the synergies between theory and practice in public administration and policy.”

For Blacksburg Students

1. Attend the Friday night Madeira, a social hour for students, faculty and staff.
2. Join the Public Administrators of Virginia Tech, a student organization that promotes scholarly awareness of public administration on the campus of Virginia Tech.

For Alexandria Students

1. Obtain your 1021 Prince Street key card from Irene Jung, so that you can access the building.
2. Check the CPAP blog periodically for updates on activities and events - www.cpapalexandria.blogspot.com.  Subscribe to receive alerts about new posts via email.
3. Attend the CPAP Roundtable on Leadership and Administration. The Roundtable series brings leading scholars and practitioners to the table for insightful and thoughtful conversation with students, members of academia, public managers, and participants from the nonprofit and private sector to exchange ideas, share research and experience, and advance our knowledge and understanding of leadership in public administration. Participants have the opportunity to explore the links between theory and practice in an intimate setting of conversation. Listen to podcasts on the CPAP Roundtable blog.
4. Attend CPAP Alexandria’s annual Picnic. This is a wonderful, casual gathering of faculty, staff, students and alumni, usually held each July in the Alexandria area.