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    Public Work

    Outreach & Engagement

    Plan a community partnership, promote public work, find current events and stories, or choose the right university partner for service-learning, industry, government, or international engagement.

    Content owner: Ariana Wyatt, Associate Dean for Outreach and Engagement

    Review expectation: Ariana’s team must confirm AAD-specific partnership intake, internal funding, publication, and approval guidance; every linked university service remains owned by the office named on its card.

    Change path: Send corrections, missing links, or owner updates through Request a website change.

    Plan an Outreach or Engagement Project

    Start with the intended community benefit and the kind of help you need. A public event, community-engaged course, industry collaboration, international agreement, and news story each follow a different path.

    Define the community or partner, what they should gain, what AAD faculty, staff, or students would contribute, and what a successful result would look like.

    Contact Ariana Wyatt before committing college resources, deliverables, recurring programs, or a long-term partnership in AAD’s name.

    Use AAD Advancement for event promotion and public stories, VT Engage for course-based service learning and community partners, Innovation and Partnerships for industry or commercialization, and Global Strategic Services for an international agreement.

    Before announcing a date or signing anything, identify the budget, space, accessibility, risk, contract, communications, and approval owners involved.

    Start here Sponsored Studios

    Learn the gift-versus-sponsored-studio route and the verified starting steps for planning, course preparation, and the Experiential Learning Program agreement.

     Alternate path See AAD outreach in action

    Explore current examples of AAD public work, including performances, DesignUp, the String Project, and community design partnerships. Use these as examples, not as a substitute for project approval.

     Alternate path Understand community engagement at Virginia Tech

    Review the university’s engagement principles before designing a project, including reciprocity, mutually beneficial exchange, community-engaged teaching, research, and service.

    News & Events

    The main AAD website owns public news, events, exhibitions, videos, and school marketing. Use these concise canonical routes rather than maintaining a duplicate directory inside the procedural site.

    Start here AAD news and stories

    Read current public stories and watch videos from across AAD on the college’s canonical Virginia Tech News destination.

     Alternate path AAD events and exhibitions

    Browse the main AAD site for public performances, exhibitions, gallery destinations, and other current event routes.

    Choose the Right Contact

    College outreach, communications, event promotion, and school-level questions have different owners. Choose the path that matches the work instead of sending every request to one office.

    Start here Plan an AAD outreach or engagement project

    Email Ariana Wyatt, Associate Dean for Outreach and Engagement, when a project needs college-level direction, spans schools, creates a continuing partnership, or may commit AAD resources.

     Alternate path Submit a marketing or communications project

    Use the AAD Brand Center to submit a news-story, photography, video, website, or design request and to review the college’s media-release and brand guidance.

     Alternate path Reach a school or college office

    Use the official AAD contact page for the college administrative office and current School of Architecture, Design, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts contact routes.

    Funding & Publishing Opportunities

    AAD supplemental outreach funding, grant programs, award nominations, journal lists, and internal submission windows are not currently published in an owner-verified form. Ask Ariana’s team before promising college support. The destinations below cover only the specific opportunity described.

    Start here Submit engagement news or events

    Virginia Tech Engaged publishes community-engagement stories and events from across the university. Its page includes a submission form, newsletter subscription, and archive of recent editions.

     Alternate path Submit an AAD story or communications project

    Use the AAD Brand Center request service for a college story, photography, video, website, or design project. Route event promotion, donor questions, and sponsorship commitments through the appropriate owner rather than assuming this form covers them.

     Alternate path Check student engagement funding

    VT Engage’s student funding page links to civic-engagement grants and service or social-justice scholarships. These opportunities are student-only; verify each current cycle before relying on a deadline.

     Alternate path Find research or creative scholarship support

    Use the AAD Research and Creative Scholarship section when the work is research, sponsored activity, or creative scholarship rather than a general public program or event.

    Agreements, Approvals & Public Officials

    A partnership conversation can begin informally, but an agreement, invitation, or public commitment may require college and university review before anyone proceeds.

    Do not sign an MOU, collaboration agreement, affiliation agreement, contract, or similar document unless an authorized university official has completed the required review and signs it.

    For a domestic research agreement, MOU, confidentiality agreement, data-use agreement, or other research-related collaboration, begin with the Office of Sponsored Programs contract and agreement guidance.

    For an international MOU, first obtain support from the college dean or approved designee, then begin the Global Strategic Services consultation and agreement workflow.

    When an elected or appointed government official is invited to, requests to join, or becomes involved in a university event or program, coordinate with the Office of Government and Community Relations.

    If the relationship involves an industry partner, corporate or foundation collaboration, intellectual property, licensing, or a startup, involve Innovation and Partnerships early.

    Start here University contract signature policy

    Policy 3015 explains who may sign for Virginia Tech and requires Legal Counsel review for contracts, including MOUs, collaboration agreements, and affiliation agreements.

     Alternate path Start a domestic research agreement

    The Office of Sponsored Programs explains domestic research-related collaboration agreements, MOUs, confidentiality agreements, data-use agreements, and the contracting process.

     Alternate path Start an international MOU

    Global Strategic Services explains what an international MOU covers, the college approval needed before initiation, the consultation step, and the university’s agreement workflow.

     Alternate path Coordinate work involving government officials

    The Office of Government and Community Relations explains how university employees should coordinate official engagement, campus visits, invitations, and policy communication involving public officials.

    University Partners

    Use these offices for the services they actually provide. They complement AAD’s outreach leadership; they do not replace Ariana’s team as the college owner for AAD-specific commitments.

    Start here Office of Engagement

    Explore university community-engagement programs, professional development, regional centers, cross-sector collaborations, and Virginia Tech Engaged stories through Outreach and International Affairs.

     Alternate path VT Engage faculty support

    Get help designing a community-engaged course, connecting faculty and students with community partners, and planning orientation, reflection, and assessment for service learning.

     Alternate path Innovation and Partnerships

    Connect companies and foundations with Virginia Tech for research collaboration, industry partnership, corporate engagement, technology licensing, commercialization, or startup support.

     Alternate path Virginia Cooperative Extension

    Find practical university expertise, publications, local offices, statewide programs, training, and community resources across agriculture, leadership, health, natural resources, and youth development.