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New Students Guide

Congratulations on your acceptance to Virginia Tech! We look forward to welcoming you to our community. This webpage is designed to provide you with a brief introduction to graduate life at Virginia Tech in the DC Metro Area.

Spring 2023 New Graduate Student Orientation Events in the DC Region

The primary system for Orientation is a self-paced course in Canvas, the university's Learning Management System. The Graduate School will also host two Q&A sessions before classes begin, one online and the other in-person.  Although these are not mandatory, we encourage you to attend one of them and become more familiar with VT and the DC Area.  You will hear from Dr. Aimee Surprenant, Dean of the Graduate School, current graduate students, and meet the graduate student advisors plus several other student services personnel who are available to assist you throughout your time at Virginia Tech.

Online Spring 2023 Q&A for New Graduate Students

The online orientation Q&A is on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.  To register for this session, click here.

In-Person Spring 2023 Open House

Date/Time:  Saturday, January 14, 2023, 9am to 11am
Address:
Northern Virginia Center (NVC)
7054 Haycock Road, Room 214
Falls Church, 22043
Registration:  https://forms.gle/485syRxBXqScPC1a9

Parking:   There is free parking in the lower lot at the Northern Virginia Center on Saturdays.  However, in order to enter and exit the automated parking lot, you may have to take a parking ticket when you enter the lot, and use it to exit. You will not be charged for parking. 

Hokie Passports:  Hokie ID cards (Virginia Tech student IDs) can be picked up at Saturday's Orientation in the Library (first floor of the NVC) from 10am to 2pm.  Otherwise, you can schedule a time to come to the Library via their reservation portal:  https://calendar.lib.vt.edu/appointments/nvc-library.  Please bring a valid ID such as a driver's license or passport. 

Program Orientations:  In addition to the general orientations listed here, some programs will have more specific sessions for students in their areas of study.  Check with your program for more information.

Getting Started As A New Student

  • Create your Personal Identifier (PID). A PID will give you access to Virginia Tech online services such as:
  • Contact your academic department for information about advising, funding, class registration, and orientation requirements. Program advisors for each department are listed at the bottom of this page.
  • Register for classes and pay tuition on Hokie SPA.
  • Keep track of important academic deadlines (exams, commencement, thesis or dissertation).
  • Login to OneCampus to setup your email, network, and 2-factor accounts.
  • Order your textbooks from the Online Bookstore.

International Students please also see the Pre-Arrival and Arrival Checklist.

More information for new students can be found on the Graduate School website.

The NVC Library handles the processing of Hokie Passports.  Students have to be currently enrolled and in our database for us to make the ID.  

NVC Library
7054 Haycock Road, Falls Church VA 22043 
Website: https://lib.vt.edu/about-us/libraries/nvc-resource-center.html
Email: nvclibrary@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-8340

Parking is free on Saturday at the NVC in the lower parking lot.   

If you plan to use the NVC parking lot during the year and have purchased a VT parking permit, you can pick up a proximity card anytime from 8:30am to 7pm from one of the Facilities Coordinators in Room 403 or 404 during the work week.  Only semester and yearly VT parking permits will be issued a proximity card.  Please bring proof of parking permit/hang tag in order to register and receive proximity card. All other users must pay the daily rate with a credit card.  More information about parking can be found here: Parking at NVC

The Graduate Student Services Office (GSSO) in the Greater Washington DC Area, serves as a coordinating and governing body to all the Virginia Tech graduate programs and their students. Some of the services they provide include:

For more information on the GSSO, please Click Here

On-campus employment in the DC area is extremely limited.

Student employment on campus generally takes two forms:

  • Graduate Assistantships (GA, GTA, GRA) provide students with a stipend for living expenses, tuition, and an insurance subsidy if eligibility requirements are met.  Students may be expected to teach, grade homework assignments/exams, assist faculty with research, or provide administrative support to academic programs. Assistantships can be full-time (20 hours per week) or part-time (typically 10 or 5 hours per week), and the amount of financial assistance varies widely. For more information about GAs, visit the Graduate School’s page on this topic.
  • Wage employees receive hourly pay on a semi-monthly schedule from the university (based on the hours worked each week) but do not receive any additional benefits.

For international students, visa status affects the employment opportunities available. Please check with our immigration advisors for specific details at intlncr@vt.edu

If you have more questions regarding graduate education at Virginia Tech in the D.C. area, please email gssoncr@vt.edu.

The Greater Washington DC Area Graduate Student Assembly seeks to nurture graduate student community across departments by providing social events that foster inter-department, interdisciplinary conversation. The representatives liaise with the VT GSA in Blacksburg to improve scholarly development, and graduate community by creating and implementing goals based on the issues and concerns of graduate students on campus.

Website: https://gsa.vt.edu/

The Greater Washington DC Area GSA Leadership for Fall 2022 is:

  • Mehraneh Davari, Interim President
  • Tavisan Ramesh, Interim Vice President 

Graduate Program Advisors

Each department at the Northern Virginia Center has a program advisor that can provide information, advising, and answer questions about the programs they represent. Below is a list of the current program advisors located at the NVC.

Sarah H. Martin 
Graduate Student Coordinator
Email: shmartin@vt.edu
Phone: 540-231-6069
Location: Blacksburg

Suzanne Boone
CS Program Coordinator
Email: suzannejb@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-8370
Location: VT NVC - Room 312A

Samantha Pipkin
CS MEng Program Coordinator
Email: samanthap@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3766
Location: VT NVC - Room 479

Kathleen Enos
Operations Manager
ECE PhD/MS Program Coordinator
Email: kenos@vt.edu
Phone: 571-858-3114
Location: VT Research Center Arlington, VA

Celina Gallegos
ECE MEng Program Coordinator
Email: celinag1@vt.edu
Phone: 571-858-3120
Location: VT Research Center Arlington, VA

Ginny Wagg
Assistant Director MBA Programs
Email: gwagg@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3746
Location: VT NVC - Room 359

Dana Hansson
Director of MBA Programs
Email: dhansson@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3761
Location: VT NVC - Room 344

David Robertson
XMNR Associate Director
Email:  davidrobertson@vt.edu
Phone: 434-258-2236

Diane Dondershine
XMNR Program Coordinator
Email:  dmdondershine@vt.edu
Phone: 571-858-3339


Email: executivephd@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3746
Location: VT NVC

Mary Richards
MSBA-HTM Program Coordinator 
Email: maryrichards@vt.edu
Phone:  703-538-8349
Location: VT NVC - Room 361

Hannah Parks
Graduate Program Coordinator
Email: hsswiger@vt.edu
Phone: 540-231-5586
Location: Blacksburg

Reve Anderko
Graduate Program Coordinator
Email: randerko@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-8411
Location: VT NVC - Room 301

Beverly Griffin
Program Coordinator
Email: bgriff75@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3776
Location: VT NVC - Room 301

Christine Sok
Academic Operations Manager
Email: cssok4@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-8384
Location: VT NVC - Room 365

Rabeya Rahman 
Graduate Program Coordinator
Email: rahmanra@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-8397
Location: VT NVC - Room 365

Kieran Lindsey
MNR Associate Director
Email:  klindsey@vt.edu
Phone: 540-744-2534
Location: VT Research Center Arlington, VA

Allison Jones
Program Manager
Email: arjones@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3790
Location: VT NVC - Room 446

Allison Jones
Program Manager
Email: arjones@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3790
Location: VT NVC - Room 446


Dr. Jodie Brinkmann
Program Leaders
Email: jlbrinkmann@vt.edu
Phone: 804-662-7288
Location: Richmond Campus


Sonja Schmid
Associate Professor
Email: stsinncr@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-8482
Location: VT NVC - Room 462

Elia Amegashie 
Graduate Program Coordinator
Email:  elia@vt.edu
Phone:  571-858-3109
Location: VT Research Center Arlington, VA

Susan Piedmont-Palladino
Program Director
Email:  spalla@vt.edu

Stephanie Woodson
Program Coordinator
Email:  rwsteph@vt.edu