VCU office of the provost

Message from the Provost

Dear Colleagues,

As I mentioned in my message at the top of the year, 2025 is focused on expanding the culture of care for VCU’s faculty members as the university strives for uncommon excellence.

VCU’s enrollment is increasing, sponsored research is growing, and our national reputation and rankings are rising. None of this would be possible without your hard work and dedication.

In this report, I’m updating you on two priority announcements made this month to include the forthcoming VCU COACHE Job Satisfaction Survey and the interim guidance we offered to our deans regarding the terminal degree requirement for tenure and promotion – which align to the policies coming from the faculty task forces that have been working on these issues for more than a year now.

I am grateful for the faculty leadership that is driving these and other efforts forward as we continue to distinguish VCU in an increasingly competitive high education environment, and I look forward to continued conversation with you as we work together to advance the priorities of our Quest 2028 strategic plan.

Best regards,

Fotis
Fotis Sotiropoulos, Ph.D.
Provost and senior vice president for academic affairs

Celebrating VCU Faculty

  • Four programs offered by Virginia Commonwealth University have been ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 list of the best online programs.  These include two online programs from VCU School of Education, tieing for No. 27 in the category of Best Online Master’s in Education Programs.  The VCU College of Engineering ranked No. 22 in the Best Online Master’s in Engineering Programs list, ranking from No. 52 in 2024.  The VCU School of Business ranked No. 65 in the category of Best Online Master’s in MBA Programs.  Including the new online program rankings, VCU now has 24 graduate programs ranked among the Top 50 by U.S. News.
  • Two Virginia Commonwealth University professors have been honored as part of the 2025 Outstanding Faculty Awards: Fadi N. Salloum, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Medicine, and Xuewei Wang, Ph.D., a chemistry professor in the College of Humanities and Sciences.  These awards are presented by the State Council of Higher Education and Dominion Energy.
  • In recognition of its sustainability achievements, Virginia Commonwealth University has again earned a STARS Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.  The recent reaffirmation of the university’s gold rating comes as VCU begins implementation of the first-ever ONE VCU Sustainability Plan, a new initiative to pursue meaningful and impactful environmental sustainability goals and initiatives at both the university and health system.
  • The career platform Handshake has again selected Virginia Commonwealth University as a winner in its Career Spark Awards program, which recognizes the leading career centers on college campuses nationwide.  Handshake is a job-searching platform which focuses on helping students in securing professional opportunities.  Of more than 1,500 higher education institutions that use Handshake, VCU is among only 39 to be honored in the second year of the awards program.

Initiative Updates

COACHE Survey

  • This spring, we are partnering with Harvard University’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) to conduct the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey. This confidential survey, starting in February, will provide valuable insights into your experiences and allow us to compare our campus with peer institutions nationwide. We aim for a 50% participation rate, surpassing the typical 44% response rate since the COVID-19 pandemic. See here for information on COACHE at VCU.
  • Additionally, we will conduct a Faculty Retention and Exit Survey during the 2025-2026 academic year to learn from those who have moved on to other institutions. This will help us understand how to better retain our talented faculty.

Terminal Degree Requirement for P&T

  • In just a few days, we will receive the reports back from both faculty-led Task Forces that have been working on updating the university’s P&T policies. We’re not trying to steal their thunder but both groups are recommending that terminal degrees should be required for VCU faculty members who seek promotion and tenure.
  • Accordingly, we shared with deans last week an interim policy decision that brings that policy decision into the current P&T cycle.
  • I am grateful for the faculty who have reached out to me in support of this change. We share a desire to strengthen the university and leverage its exciting momentum as we continue to pursue a truly uncommon excellence.

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Categories Academic Affairs, Faculty Affairs, Monthly Academic Update, Provost