Departmental Climate Components and Strategies

Component One: Creating a Sense of Intellectual Community

• Virginia Tech Successful Strategies

Component Two: Providing a Fair and Full Evaluation

• Virginia Tech Successful Strategies
• Supplemental Materials:
  • P&T Good Practices
  • Proposed Qualitative Terms for Use in Faculty Evaluation
  • Sample Written Feedback to a Faculty Member
  • Pre-Tenure Faculty Reviews (including reviews for part-time tenure-track faculty). Section 2.8.2 of the Faculty Handbook
  • Faculty Annual Evaluation and Salary Adjustments. Section 2.9.1 of the Faculty Handbook
  • Guide to Faculty Expectations and Evaluation Procedures, Department of Biological Sciences

Component Three: Providing Effective and Supportive Communication

• Virginia Tech Successful Strategies
• Supplemental Materials:
  • Responsibilities of Mentors and Mentees
  • Examples of Successful Mentoring Programs in Other Universities
  • Holding Difficult Conversations:
       a. Issue Discussion Form
       b. Sixty Second Opening Statement
       c. Delivering Negative Feedback
  • Communication Faculty Guide, Department of Communication
  • Department of History Statement on an Inclusive and Scholarly Community
  • Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Values Survey

Component Four: Providing Effective Policies

• Virginia Tech Successful Strategies
• Supplemental Materials:
  • Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion Productivity Indicators, Department of Human Development
  • Tenure and Promotion Policies and Procedures, Department of English

Component Five: Focusing on Work/Life Balance

• Best Practices for Warming Department Climate
• Supplemental Materials:
  • Online Virginia Tech Resources for Department Heads
  • External Online Resources and Forms
  • University Policies that Promote Work/Life Balance