Virginia Tech is a public university founded in 1872 with its main campus located in Blacksburg, Virginia. It has a total enrollment of over 30,000 students across its 8 colleges and 200 degree programs. The university focuses on learning, discovery, and engagement through research, education, and development initiatives around the world through its Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED). OIRED operates various collaborative research support programs in over 17 countries, administers education abroad programs in over 45 countries, and facilitates international students and scholars on campus through services like visas and international agreements.

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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• University Overview
• International Initiatives

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Welcome to Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University

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About Virginia Tech
 Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college
 Comprehensive public university with the
largest full-time student population in
Virginia
• Student enrollment of 27,000 (on
Blacksburg campus)
• More than 100 campus buildings
• 2,600-acre main campus
• 1,700-acre agriculture research farm
 Main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, 430
kilometers south of Washington, DC

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Blacksburg Campus
 State-of-the-art hotel and conference center
 Corporate Research Center
 Commuter airport
 1700-acre research farm in Montgomery County

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Other Virginia Tech Locations
 Campus settings across Virginia
• Northern Virginia
• Hampton Roads
• Southwestern Virginia
• Richmond
• Danville
 Agricultural Research and
Extension Centers
 107 local extension offices
 4-H Centers throughout
Virginia
Main Campus
Reynolds Homestead
Hampton Roads Center

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Other Locations
 Graduate and Research Center in
Washington, D.C., suburbs
 Hotel Roanoke and Conference
Center
 Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical
Center in Leesburg, VA
 Washington-Alexandria Center of
the College of Architecture & Urban
Studies
 National Capital Region Operations
and Virginia Tech Research Institute
in Arlington, VA

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Global Locations

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Mission
 Serves the Commonwealth of Virginia,
the nation, and the international
community through:
• Learning
• Discovery
• Engagement
 “Ut Prosim” (That I May Serve)

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Programs
 Eight Colleges
• Agriculture & Life Sciences
• Architecture & Urban Studies
• Science
• Pamplin College of Business
• Engineering
• Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
• Natural Resources and Environment
• Virginia-Maryland Regional College of
Veterinary Medicine
 200 degree programs, including:
• More than 70 at the bachelor’s level
• 140 at the master’s and doctoral level

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Students
Enrollment
 Total enrollment on and off campus is
over 30,000
• 83% undergraduate students
• 16% graduate students
Undergraduate Students
 17,492 are residents of Virginia
 6,198 are nonresidents of Virginia
(includes international)
Graduate Students
 Over 6,000 graduate students
 4,500 masters; 1,140 doctoral; 240 Veterinary
Medicine
 26% are international and represent 98 countries

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Virginia Tech Faculty
 1,364 full-time instructional faculty
 62.8% tenured
 16 to 1 student-faculty ratio

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OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH,
EDUCATION, AND DEVELOPMENT (OIRED)
Improving lives around the world

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OIRED: WHO WE ARE
Collaborative Research Support Programs Education Abroad International Support Services
Women in International Development Special Projects Research and Service Regional Centers

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INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH SUPPORT PROGRAM (IPM CRSP)
• Goal: to raise the standard of living in developing
countries around the world
• Works to develop approaches to agriculture that
minimize crop losses due to pests (insects, viruses,
weeds, etc.), and increases farmer income while
reducing pesticide use to environmentally safe
levels
• Operates in 17 countries, 13 of them
Feed the Future countries
• Funded by USAID

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SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH SUPPORT PROGRAM (SANREM CRSP)
“using science to improve the livelihoods and food
security of small farmers in the developing world”
Conservation agriculture
Sustainable intensification

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PEANUT CRSP
• Works to improve the health and livelihood of
people in African and Latin American countries by
addressing aflatoxin and gender-related constraints
in peanut production, processing and marketing
• Aflatoxin poisoning is a major health problem in
East Africa
• The Women in International Development director,
Maria Elisa Christie, serves as a principal
investigator on this project
• Managed by the University of Georgia

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EDUCATION ABROAD
• Since OIRED began administering the Education
Abroad program in 2002, the number of students
has increased from 650/year to 1,280/year
• Each year, Virginia Tech students study in 45
countries, and programs are available in 80
countries
• Manages 78 exchange agreements
• Expositions, open houses, and fairs reach more
than 5,000 students and their families each year

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INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES (ISS)
• Facilitates the following visa petitions:
- H-1 B, for specialized employment
- J-1, for visiting scholar
- permanent residency, for green card
• Is among the vanguard of U.S. colleges and universities
offering in-house permanent residency processing
services
• Processes Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)
that detail exchange agreements between Virginia Tech
and international institutions

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WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• Provides leadership to ensure that programs are gender- sensitive
and have a positive impact on the most disadvantaged
beneficiaries, many of whom are women
• Involves Virginia Tech
faculty and students in
activities with
counterparts in other
countries
• Seeks funding for
research and
development projects
focusing on women

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SPECIAL PROJECTS - SENEGAL
Virginia Tech is leading a venture to improve
the system of agricultural education at the
college level in Senegal.
• 5-year, $28 million program
• Funded by USAID, part of the Feed the
Future initiative
• Goal: restructure the agriculture curricula at
Senegalese universities, making it more
relevant to today’s needs
• Partners 4 American universities with
Senegalese agriculture institutions

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SPECIAL PROJECTS - HAITI
Students at the Ecole Superieure
d’Infotronique d’Haiti
Students from Ecole Superieure d'Infotronique
d'Haiti studying on the Virginia Tech campus

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SPECIAL PROJECTS - NEPAL
• Memorial Center for Excellence at the Institute of
Forestry in Pokhara
• Training the next generation of conservationists
• Partnership with Yale University and Principia College
• Stresses the importance of social inclusivity
“The Nepali people have a daily relationship
with the forest, something we have lost.”
-- Tom Hammett

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SPECIAL PROJECTS – SOUTH SUDAN
Virginia Tech is leading a venture to revamp
agricultural education in South Sudan,
working with the University of Juba, the
Catholic University of Sudan, and Virginia
State University.
Higher Education for Development is funding
the $9.47 million program, which began in
2011 and is scheduled to run for 5 years.

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RESEARCH AND SERVICE
• Graduate Certificate in International Research
• Phi Beta Delta International Honor Society
• Peace Corps
• Fulbright Program

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REGIONAL CENTERS
In addition to serving as sites where Virginia Tech students
can study abroad, center facilities are used for
conferences and international faculty development
initiatives.
• Center for European Studies and Architecture (CESA),
Riva San Vitale, Switzerland
• Caribbean Center for Education and Research (CCER),
Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic
• VT-Middle East & North Africa in Egypt (VT-MENA)
• Latin America
• VT-India

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INTERNATIONALIZATION OF
SCHOLARSHIP
Through its research, education, and
development projects, OIRED’s international
scholarship has brought Virginia Tech:
• Opportunities for Tech professors to
conduct research overseas
• Opportunities for Tech students to
conduct research overseas
• Increased richness to the campus
community through the international
students and scholars who have come
here as part of our projects

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OIRED
benefiting
Virginia Tech
and the
world

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QUESTIONS?
Guru Ghosh
Vice President, Outreach and International Affairs
902 Prices Fork Road; Suite 120; Mail Code (0265)
Blacksburg, VA 24060
(540) 231-3205
gghosh@vt.edu