collaborat<strong>in</strong>g with WMATA, <strong>the</strong> agency that runs <strong>the</strong> DC Metro. Programs <strong>in</strong> Marriageand Family Therapy work extensively with military families; ALHRD offers professionaldevelopment opportunities to federal employees, peer <strong>in</strong>stitutions, and communityorganizations; <strong>Education</strong> works with <strong>the</strong> local county school systems – some of <strong>the</strong> best <strong>in</strong><strong>the</strong> country; and programs <strong>in</strong> Science and Technology Studies, Natural Resources, <strong>the</strong>Center for Public Adm<strong>in</strong>istration and Policy, Bus<strong>in</strong>ess, and o<strong>the</strong>rs rely extensively on <strong>the</strong>region’s bus<strong>in</strong>ess and government professionals to serve as adjunct faculty, expert panels,and collaborators, <strong>in</strong> some cases (e.g., ALHRD) engag<strong>in</strong>g professionals on dissertationcommittees.The region is both a real-world laboratory <strong>in</strong> which students can directly apply and test<strong>the</strong>ir knowledge as part of <strong>the</strong>ir studies, and a source for unique perspectives, adjunctfaculty, professors <strong>in</strong> practice, and student engagement opportunities.Community Identity <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>NCR</strong>One of <strong>the</strong> most vex<strong>in</strong>g problems for our graduate programs <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>NCR</strong> is develop<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>critical mass upon which to base a sense of community. Most of our graduate students areadult, part-time learners, and our facilities are geographically dispersed. There is no timeat which all our students congregate, nor is <strong>the</strong>re a facility at which this could happen.Our students, <strong>the</strong>refore, may have a strong sense of belong<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong>ir program and sharecamaraderie with a small set of classmates and faculty, but <strong>the</strong>y tend not to share acommon sense of be<strong>in</strong>g Virg<strong>in</strong>ia Tech community members.Many of our graduate programs have worked hard to build last<strong>in</strong>g ties with <strong>the</strong>ir studentsand to foster a group identity with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir programs. The Marriage and Family Therapyprogram, for example, has made this a priority over <strong>the</strong> years and <strong>the</strong> alumni are extremelypositive about and loyal to <strong>the</strong> program, act<strong>in</strong>g as an effective resource for MFT. TheALHRD program actively encourages student <strong>in</strong>teraction outside of class, provid<strong>in</strong>gopportunities for mentor<strong>in</strong>g by alumni and encourag<strong>in</strong>g students to form mutual supportgroups through monthly ‘drop-<strong>in</strong>’ sessions and virtual meet<strong>in</strong>g places <strong>in</strong> Blackboard forthose writ<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>ir dissertations.The cohort model used <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> EMBA program is ano<strong>the</strong>r excellent example. The classbonds through hav<strong>in</strong>g all <strong>the</strong>ir classes shared, eat<strong>in</strong>g toge<strong>the</strong>r dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>ir sessions, andtravel<strong>in</strong>g toge<strong>the</strong>r for up to a week at a time. However, <strong>the</strong> EMBA students do not tend to<strong>in</strong>teract with students <strong>in</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r programs.Similarly, <strong>the</strong> Architecture program <strong>in</strong> Alexandria has developed a strong communalidentity with<strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>sular program, <strong>in</strong> this case composed mostly of full-time students.Their program is housed <strong>in</strong> a s<strong>in</strong>gle build<strong>in</strong>g (a real-world lab of its own for <strong>the</strong> program),and <strong>the</strong>y are unique <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> region <strong>in</strong> hav<strong>in</strong>g established a site for student and facultyhous<strong>in</strong>g to accommodate <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>in</strong>ternational students and visit<strong>in</strong>g faculty. Interactionbetween students <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Architecture program and o<strong>the</strong>r students, however, is m<strong>in</strong>imal.Develop<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> sense of community exhibited by <strong>the</strong>se programs is <strong>the</strong> ideal. The questionis whe<strong>the</strong>r it requires a physical facility where faculty and student from all programs5
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