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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 D.C. metro area.

Hokie One Stop

The Hokie One Stop serves as a multi-model servicing arm of Virginia Tech to promote academic success, provide convenient and centralized access to student business related services, enhance the student experience, and support learning and professional development for students in the greater Washington, D.C. metro area.  Information about student housing in the D.C. Area can be found on the Hokie One Stop website.

Fall 2023 New Graduate Student Orientation Events in the D.C. Area

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 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 Virginia Tech and the D.C. 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.

International Student Orientation

Please refer to this website from Cranwell International Center.

Fall 2023 Online Q&A for New Graduate Students

The online orientation Q&A is on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. This will be a Zoom session with several breakout rooms where you can learn about student services. Register for this Zoom session.

https://virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqf-mpqjIqHtXqEyY0tmzUrS6NIFTx00WY

Fall 2023 D.C. Metro Area: Student Services Open House

Date/Time: Saturday, August 19, 2023, 9am to 11am
Address:
Northern Virginia Center (NVC)
7054 Haycock Road, Room 214
Falls Church, 22043
Registration: https://gs.vt.edu/dcoh

Parking:  Parking is free at the Northern Virginia Center on weekends.

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. 

Welcome Week Receptions

During the first week of classes (Mon-Thu), the Graduate School provides a light dinner for students from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the main lobby of the NVC. Student services staff will also be on hand to answer questions and provide advice. Special topics during the week are as follows:

Monday: Cool as Ice, sponsored by the Affinity Groups

Wednesday: Game Night, sponsored by the Graduate School & NVC Library

Thursday: Grad School Declassified, sponsored by Cook Counseling and the Office for Equity & Accessibility

Some programs will have specific sessions for students in their areas of study. Sessions that we know of will be listed here. Check with your program for more information.

Fall 2023 In-Person Evening MBA Program – New Student Orientation 

Date/Time:  Saturday, August 19, 2023, 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Address:
Northern Virginia Center (NVC)
7054 Haycock Road, Room T3
Falls Church, 22043
Contact: eveningmbastudent@vt.edu

Fall 2023 In-Person MEng CSA – New Student Orientation 

Date/Time:  Friday, August 18, 2023, 10:00 AM
Address:
Northern Virginia Center (NVC)
7054 Haycock Road
Falls Church, 22043

Fall 2023 SPIA New Student Orientation 

Date/Time:  Saturday, August 19, 2023, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Address:
VT Research Center-Arlington
900 N. Glebe Road
Arlington, VA
Contact: elia@vt.edu

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 Orientation & Arrival page.

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 weekends at the NVC in the lower parking lot.   

During the week, parking at the NVC is managed through the ParkMobile app and is $3.30 per day. To save time, consider downloading the app and creating an account before your first visit. More information about parking can be found here: Parking at NVC

The Graduate School - D.C. metro 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 Graduate School, please Click Here

On-campus employment in the D.C. area is extremely limited. When we become aware of employment opportunities, we post them on our website.

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 your immigration advisor for specific details. 

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

The greater Washington, D.C., 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-GPSS (Graduate and Professional Student Senate) in Blacksburg to improve scholarly development and graduate community by creating and implementing goals based on the issues and concerns of graduate students across the university.

Website: https://www.nvc.vt.edu/dc-gsa.html

 

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

*currently vacant*
CS Program Coordinator
Email: n/a
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

Laura Villada
ECE Graduate Admissions Coordinator and Program Advisor (Blacksburg & D.C. area)
Email: vlaura@vt.edu
Phone: (540) 231-7494
Location: 302-B Whittemore Hall, Blacksburg

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

Amy Hubbard
XMNR Program Coordinator
Email: ahubb09@vt.edu
Phone: 571-858-3339

Catherine Gould
Email: executivephd@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3746
Location: VT NVC - Room 357

Jackson Lassiter
MSBA-HTM Program Coordinator 
Email: jrlassiter@vt.edu
Phone:  703-538-8349
Location: VT NVC - Room 361

Kristin Lamoureux
MSBA-HTM Program Director
Email: kristinl@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3752
Location: VT NVC - Room 366

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: vtmit@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-8384
Location: VT NVC - Room 365

Rabeya Rahman 
Assistant Director
Email: rahmanra@vt.edu
Second Email: vtmit@vt.edu
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 Research Center Arlington, VA

Allison Jones
Program Manager
Email: arjones@vt.edu
Phone: 703-538-3790
Location: VT Research Center Arlington, VA


Dr. Jodie Brinkmann
Program Leader
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 Research Center Arlington, VA

Carol Sue Slusser
Program Coordinator
Email: slusserc@vt.edu
Phone: 540-231-0719
Location: Blacksburg

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