Virginia Tech® home

BECOME AN AFFILIATE FACULTY MEMBER

Insert your title here

Your Text Here

     

 

JOIN US

Global Change Center logo

Global Change Center logo
FACULTY
RESEARCH
Graduate
UNDERGRAD
Outreach
NEWS

The Global Change Center provides support and resources that encourages, facilitates, and rewards interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach across the intellectual landscape of Virginia Tech.  For faculty members that are interested in becoming a GCC affiliate, application procedures are provided below.

 

All GCC faculty affiliations are for two-year renewable terms.  Affiliate contributions to the GCC are evaluated on an annual basis and determine renewal.

 

Why should faculty consider becoming a GCC affiliate?

  • Be part of an interactive community of faculty and students from 8 colleges representing > 20 departments on campus that share common interests in global change issues
  • Form new innovative collaborations with faculty from across campus
  • Have access to unique interdisciplinary training opportunities for your undergraduate and graduate students
  • Have access to training opportunities that improve your own communication and technical skills, particularly at the science-society and science-policy interfaces
  • Gain access to internal funding opportunities for research and training
  • Have a voice in future faculty hiring recommendations and initiatives that influence our campus strengths in global change research and education
  • Participate in unique workshops, seminars, reading groups, and other interdisciplinary activities

Who is Eligible?

  • All full-time tenure track faculty engaged in global change-related scholarship are eligible to apply for affiliation with the Global Change Center.
  • Non-tenure track faculty may be considered eligible when  it is clear how the individual will contribute to our core activities over time (e.g., advising graduate students, collaboration on research teams, and/or engagement in curriculum) AND Virginia Tech has made a commitment to the individual’s employment beyond the year they apply for affiliation.  These requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and require additional documentation from the administration describing the individual’s employment conditions (e.g., letter from the department head/chair).
  • Postdoctoral fellows and research scientists are eligible to apply to become part of our GCC postdoctoral network.

What is expected of GCC Faculty Affiliates?

  • Willingness to develop new research projects and/or expand existing research projects involving new interdisciplinary collaborations with other faculty
  • Evidence of efforts to recruit new graduate students to the IGC IGEP, and/or to provide courses relevant to the IGC IGEP curriculum
  • Service on committees (advisory committee, admissions committee, curriculum committee, etc.)
  • Participation in the global change seminar courses (e.g.,  periodic attendance as a faculty guest, contribute content expertise to a topical session, etc.)
  • Timely annual reporting in required formats
  • Attendance of special seminars and social events

How do I become affiliated with the GCC?

 

We recommend connecting with existing faculty affiliates to gain insight into the Center’s culture and expectations, and whether these align with your professional interests and aspirations.

 

(1) In a single PDF, provide a 1 to 2-page statement of interest and your CV to the Director of the GCC. The statement of interest should be creative and thoughtful. We recommend that it contain three sections, with most emphasis placed on the latter two components:

  • Explain how your expertise addresses global change problems, aligns or complements existing expertise of faculty in the GCC, and/or fills an important gap in expertise within the GCC. Please keep this section brief (1-2 paragraphs), and do not simply recap your CV.  Instead, focus on your problem spaces of interest, novel techniques/approaches used in your program, collaborative history, etc.
  • Highlight your motivations for becoming affiliated with the Global Change Center.  We recommend studying our website and meeting with current affiliates to develop a thoughtful statement highlighting what you hope to gain from affiliation.
  • Highlight your expected contributions toward the Center’s objectives. To maintain affiliation, all faculty affiliates must demonstrate engagement each year in our activities and initiatives. Again, the website and current affiliates are rich sources of information regarding the diverse ways that faculty affiliates can engage.  We welcome creative ideas for developing new collaborations, spearheading new working groups or GCC initiatives, contributing to our interdisciplinary graduate education program, mentoring graduate student teams for their collaborative capstone projects, etc. 

*The last two sections (your motivations and your expected contributions) are the most important components of your affiliation request.*

 

(2) The Director may then request an initial meeting to discuss whether your interests and expertise are aligned with the vision and mission of the GCC.

 

(3) The Director will present your inquiry to the GCC Advisory Board.

 

(4) The GCC Advisory Board and Director will vote on your request to become affiliated. A majority (>75%) vote is required for affiliation.