Corps enrollment increasing
New programs, new scholarships, and a more positive style of training are paying off for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. Enrollment in the fall 1995 cadet freshman class was 240 freshman and transfer students - up 81 percent over last year. The goal for total corps enrollment is 1,000 by the year 2000.
In fall 1995, the university began offering an academic minor or concentration in leadership studies that combines corps experiences with applicable courses from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Pamplin College of Business. The minor is the only one of its kind in the nation.
A new training style that emphasizes individual responsibility, builds on personal strengths, and reinforces academic excellence is helping to retain cadets. In addition, the university has established a Center for Leader Development with the corps as a focal point.
In the early part of the 1990s, a concerned group of alumni from the corps of cadets formed the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Alumni Inc. (VTCCA). The group's main goal is to raise $5 million for endowed scholarships, but they also help in recruiting, administration, publicity, and goal setting. The university, the ROTC units, and the VTCCA have teamed up to create about 200 Emerging Leader Scholarships.
Resolution honors women at Tech
Virginia delegate Robert Hull (AGRN '78), a Virginia Tech alumnus from Falls Church, presented a resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the admission of women to Virginia Tech during dedication ceremonies for the university's Women's Center on March 1.
The resolution, drafted by Hull and supported by all 13 Virginia Tech graduates in the General Assembly, notes the admission of women to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in 1921, and other historic events for women of the university.
Dissertation wins national honors
Elizabeth Rylan (HIDM '95 Ph.D.) was awarded a highly competitive American Society of Interior Designers' award for the best interior design thesis or dissertation done in 1995.
Rylan's dissertation focused on the impact of dining room design on elderly residents of nursing home and assisted living facilities. She surveyed North Carolina administrators to identify problems with the interior design of the dining rooms. She then did an in-depth study of noise, glare, maintenance, and furniture problems at six sites. She made specific recommendations for safer, more functional dining areas that can result in better eating habits and improved health for residents in institutional settings.
Rylan is an assistant professor of interior design at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.
Hokie pride funds scholarships
Every time you see a Virginia license plate bearing the university's shield or logo, you're seeing more than just Hokie pride. You're also seeing a new way of funding scholarships.
The university recently awarded "Hokie Spirit Scholarships" to 10 Virginia students. They are the first awards completely funded by revenue generated from Virginia Tech's participation in the Department of Motor Vehicles' CollegePlate program.
Eight students were awarded full tuition and fees for the 1996-97 academic year, and two others received $1,500 each. Winners were chosen based on need, merit, and performance in an essay entitled "What Does It Mean To Me To Be A Hokie?"
Virginia Tech, a participant in the CollegePlate program since 1989, receives $15, or 60 percent of the plate cost, for every plate bearing the university's shield or logo sold or renewed. Tech leads all Virginia schools in plate sales and has generated more than $115,000. Plates are $25 in addition to registrations fees.
Hokie license plates are also available in North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.
Tech team designs tourism web site
Anyone in the world who has a personal computer and access to the World Wide Web can explore Virginia's attractions on line.
The interactive, multi-media system, developed by an interdisciplinary team at Virginia Tech, uses video, sound, graphics, and extensive data on state attractions to help plan a trip to the Old Dominion state. One feature, called the notepad, allows users to create their own travel itineraries. Eventually, they will also be able to make reservations through the system and to plan travel routes using global positioning (GIS) information.
The project was developed through Virginia Tech's Public Service Programs division under funding from the Virginia Division of Tourism. The address is: http://www.virginia.org.
Course examines columnists' writings
Professor Sam Riley is using some of the latest technology to correct an old problem: the neglect of newspaper columnists in journalism courses.
Riley is using a technology called the CU-SeeMe Project to bring local columnists from across the country into his class on American newspaper columnists. With the use of a computer equipped with speakers, a microphone, and a video camera, Riley is connecting his 20 students with columnists for discussions.
"As far as I know, nobody has done this in journalism class before," Riley said.
Riley has published two books about columnists, The Best of the Rest: Non-Syndicated Newspaper Columnists Select Their Best Work and Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists, containing short biographical sketches of more than 600 American columnists from the Civil War to today. Both books serve as reference material for the class.
Riley says columnists have been "the most neglected people in the newspaper business except maybe for the paper boys." He covers columnists of the past, including Ambrose Bierce, who once traveled with Pancho Villa's army; George Frazier, who reported a Yankee-Red Sox game - in Latin; and Robert Haggart, who spent time in jail for releasing 200 pigs from a pigpen.
Students study current syndicated columnists and videoconference with local non-syndicated columnists. Students also try their hands at column writing.
Training marines to provide better child care
When a military parent leaves for an extended tour of duty, child care becomes crucially important. That's why the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Marine Corps has granted $542,000 to Virginia Tech researchers to develop new child-care programs and child-care-provider training programs.
Faculty members in the family and child development department and other experts are evaluating resource materials and developing comprehensive programs to train child-care providers.
Trained Marines Corps personnel will teach and support child-development program staff members, engage latchkey children in meaningful activities, teach individuals how to set up family child care, and build links among children, families, child-care settings, and community agencies.
Child development professor Victoria Fu will direct the project, in cooperation with several other Tech faculty members and Extension specialists.
4,178 degrees conferred at 124th commencement
More than 4,400 students received degrees at May 11 commencement ceremonies. The university awarded 2,988 bachelors degrees, 1,033 masters degrees, 302 doctoral degrees, 24 associate degrees, and 41 certificates of advanced graduate studies.
John Wilson, former Virginia Tech provost and past president of Washington & Lee University, gave the commencement address. Wilson served as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at Virginia Tech from 1975-1982. Chemistry professor James Wightman, Virginia Outstanding Scientist of 1994, spoke at the graduate ceremony.
Student investors get another million
Pamplin's student-investors, who have been managing $1 million of Virginia Tech's endowment over the past three years, have received another $1 million to invest in the stock market on the university's behalf.
Their fund, now valued at $2.35 million, is among the three largest funds of some three dozen student-run investment programs in the nation. Lori Ratliff (FIN '96), who served as chairperson of the student group known as Student-managed Endowment for Educational Development (SEED), says that SEED is distinct among the top programs because the funds are an actual part of the school's endowment. The funds are managed entirely by a select group of 17 students as an extracurricular activity.
Finance professor Don Chance, one of SEED's two faculty advisors, says the past year was "an excellent one" for SEED. "Although it did not beat its own extremely challenging benchmark - a 50-50 combination of the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ index - its performance in comparison to that of professional money managers was outstanding."
SEED achieved an annual return of 32.5 percent last year - outperforming two of the university's four professional fund managers in the third quarter. Chance notes that SEED beat 18 mutual fund groups last year.
The students work in executive, administrative, accounting, and investment committees. Investment committee members, who each specialize in three or four industries, make decisions to buy or sell stocks. Chance says that while he or co-advisor Greg Kadlec may occasionally suggest a particular stock or industry, the students do all the research and come up with recommendations. The university's director of investments and debt management, John Cusimano (FIN '83; MBA '94), monitors the students' performance to ensure that it conforms to foundation guidelines.
SEED publishes an annual newsletter and has a Web page (http://www.vt.edu:10021/org/seed/). Former SEED member Trey Snow (FIN '93, MBA '95), who is now employed in the university's investments and debt management office, is working with current members to establish a national association and a national conference of student-run investment funds.
Hokie Bird named top mascot in nation
Move over, Louisville Cardinal. The Hokie Bird is now the No. 1 collegiate mascot in the nation. The bird beat the defending champion cardinal and three other mascots to win the top award at a National Cheerleader Association competition in Daytona Beach, after being selected from tapes of 67 college mascots around the country. The performance was judged on crowd appeal, prop usage, characterization, and pantomime.
Curtis Dvorak (COMM '96) and Todd Maroldo (BIOL '97), who alternated performing in the mascot suit in the past year, wrote the prize-winning skit in which the Hokie Bird courted a female stuffed doll that turned out to be a male in disguise.
Dvorak performed in the mascot competition; Maroldo competed with the cheer squad, which came in fourth out a field of 125 Division IA squads.
"Since our football and basketball teams were rated so highly this year, we wanted to go down there and be in the top 10," says associate athletic director Danny Monk, who works with the cheer squad and the mascot. "We did even better than we expected."
Around the Commonwealth: Education course goes on air to Abingdon
Forty-five Southwest Virginia educators enrolled in a unique two-year master's degree program in Abingdon are among the first to participate in the education department's new, two-way broadcast distance learning technology. The V-TEL compressed video setup allows faculty to teach the class from Blacksburg while retaining the personal interaction and class participation of face-to-face teaching.
The College of Human Resources and Education collaborated with the College of Veterinary Medicine in setting up the V-TEL link. The system is housed in the Veterinary Medicine Phase II building.
Students praise the convenience of being able to actively participate in Virginia Tech classes without having to make the long drive to campus.
With 50 percent of graduate credit hours in education taught off-campus, the education departments want to use distance learning technology to maximize opportunities for students, reduce overhead, and make effective use of faculty time.
DISTINCTIONS
Fast-track students
Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top 25 U.S. universities in the number of students entering with Advanced Placement credits.
Vo-tech graduate program tops
For the second time in two years, the vocational and technical education program in the College of Human Resources and Education was ranked among the top five in the nation in U.S. News and World Report's book of America's Best Graduate Schools. In 1995, the program ranked third in the nation; in 1996 it was ranked fourth. Rankings are based on student selectivity, faculty resources, research, and reputation.
Wildlife and fisheries top rated
The wildlife and fisheries programs in Virginia Tech's College of Forestry and Wildlife Resources are tops in the nation. Administrators belonging to the National Association of University Fisheries and Wildlife Programs have ranked Tech's wildlife program No. 1 and its fisheries program No. 2 among almost 100 U.S. programs.
Virginia Tech leads in patents
Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students earned 29 patents during 1995 - placing us 12th in the number of patents earned among U.S. colleges and universities. Virginia Tech is first in the state and fifth in the nation among universities without medical schools (behind MIT, CalTech, Iowa State, and NC State). Discoveries include compositions for reducing wear on ceramic surfaces, improved anti-cancer drugs, and a method for dewatering fine coal without thermal energy use.