Engagement

In fall 2005, AdvanceVT initiated a series of "Leadership Lunches" to provide women faculty and administrators with the opportunity to learn from and interact with current academic leaders, as well as to meet and network with other women from across campus. Lunches are open to everyone, but are advertised primarily to women faculty. The atmosphere is casual and time is reserved for questions and discussion following each speaker's remarks. Speakers are primarily from Virginia Tech with occasional visitors from other campuses. Past speakers include current and former provosts, a president emeritus, vice presidents, deans and associate deans, department heads, research center directors, and professional society leaders. Learn more about the past featured speakers and stay tuned for the upcoming schedule of events. 

The Women’s Center recognizes the unprecedented challenges that are facing caregivers. Faculty, staff and student caregivers are under incredible amounts of stress as we try to juggle our caregiving responsibilities with our work and school responsibilities.  The Women’s Center is keenly aware of the disproportionate impact caregiving has on women and wants to provide support to all caregivers.

Learn more about the caregiving support available. Please reach out to us if we may be of support by contacting Christine Dennis Smith.

For the past 16 years, the Women’s Center, AdvanceVT, the Graduate School, the Women’s and Gender Studies program, and the VT Women’s Alliance and Caucus have hosted a Welcome Reception for New Women Colleagues.  This annual tradition is an informal opportunity for new women faculty, staff and graduate students at VT to gather as a community, begin forging connections and networks, and to share resource information, and more. This year we are sad to miss the opportunity to welcome our new colleagues in person. However we have created a virtual welcome and collected invaluable resources for you all in one place. Explore the resources available to you.

Virginia Tech supports the mission of The Virginia Network through VT Women Connect (VTWC). VTWC is an informal network that promotes, develops and supports Virginia Tech’s professional women by providing a forum to forge relationships, develop supportive networks, and share ideas and information. We engage with women who are in leadership and management roles, as well as those who aspire to these roles. Donna Cassell Ratcliffe, Director of Career and Professional Development, and Anna LoMascolo, Co-Director of the Women’s Center, serve as VT’s Institutional Representatives to the Virginia Network and catalysts for activities here on the Virginia Tech campus.

The goal of The Virginia Network is to promote women's leadership in higher education and throughout society as a whole; to create an educational, social, and political climate in which women, in all their diversity, can participate equally with men in setting public agendas; to facilitate connections among women in various sectors of higher education and with other organizations and networks with shared goals on the institutional, state, regional, professional, national, and international levels; and to foster strategic alliances and facilitate effective partnerships between women and men in the workplace.

Learn more about VT Women Connect.

In the spirit of Ut Prosim, the Virginia Tech Women's Alliance champions an equitable and inclusive culture.

The Women's Alliance, in solidarity with caucuses and other university and community allies, provides the Virginia Tech community a forum to achieve shared goals and promote opportunities for underrepresented groups, which includes women of all identities by advancing:

• Dialogue among the Women's Alliance and the university community
• Campus services and programs that address the needs of women
• Efforts to remove systemic barriers to advancement
• Equity in hiring, promotion, and compensation
• Mentoring and networking opportunities
• Access to quality childcare for university employees and students
• Positive and inclusive campus climate
• Identification and resolution of campus equity and safety issues
  

See all of the contributing departments and organizations.

The goal of the Women's Center Newsletter is to provide you with timely updates on information, support resources, and programs that are available to help support you in both your professional and personal life. Get the newsletters directly in your inbox by subscribing. See previous editions

In collaboration with senior administrators and faculty at Virginia Tech, the Women’s Center is delighted to sponsor the VT Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Program (WLMP). This program provides a cohort-based experience for post-masters professionals in a series of sessions on topics related to professional development.  The WLMP is specifically designed for women who are [aspiring] higher education administrators and wish to gain leadership knowledge and experience. Learn more

Women's Center drop-in hours resume on February 6th, 2024. Every Tuesday @ 2-4PM, our lower-level is available to all to come in and enjoy our space. Need to study? Get some writing done? Want to relax and decompress? Read a book? Engage in a fun activity? Come on by and spend some time with us!