Virginia Tech will host an information session on its Professional MBA program at noon and 5 p.m. Nov. 9.

The session will include details on admission, academics, expectations, tuition and financial aid. It will be held in the Corporate Research Center’s RBVIII Conference Room, 2000 Kraft Suite 2100, Blacksburg.

Those interested in attending can register by filling out an RSVP survey. More information can be found by visiting the program’s website, emailing mba@vt.edu or calling 231-6152.

Jason Silvers, a managing director in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs & Co., will be the featured speaker at Radford University’s Global Capitalism Distinguished Speaker Series on Nov. 3.

The series is sponsored by BB&T and has previously hosted BB&T Chairman and CEO John Allison, Ingersoll Rand strategy and innovation vice president Jason Bingham and Marketing Associates senior statistician and analytic development lead Keith Shields.

Here’s a news release from Radford University’s website:

A managing director in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs & Co. will be the featured speaker at Radford University’s Global Capitalism Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by BB&T, at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 3 in the Hurlburt Student Center Auditorium.

Read more »

Agilent Technologies has donated equipment to the Virginia Tech College of Science’s department of chemistry and will help to implement an instrument and software loan program for new faculty members.

The equipment, including a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, will be available to undergraduate students.

A ceremony to announce the new partnership is scheduled for Tuesday.

Here’s the full news release from Virginia Tech:

The Department of Chemistry in the College of Science will undergo a significant upgrade of its laboratories thanks in part to a generous gift from Agilent Technologies.

One of the equipment donations, a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), will make Virginia Tech one of the first universities in the nation to offer high-powered analytical instruments in its undergraduate teaching labs starting in the freshman year.

“Agilent’s philanthropy and commitment to the education and training of the next generation of scientists, and this partnership will enormously enhance the undergraduate laboratory experience for all students enrolled in chemistry classes,” said Jim Tanko, chair of the chemistry department.

In addition to the donation of sophisticated lab equipment, Agilent will conduct regular training and maintenance on the equipment. The partnership will include helping with the start-up of an instrument and software loan program for new faculty members.

“The partnership with Agilent will result in unprecedented, state-of-the-art facilities in support of undergraduate education at Virginia Tech,” Tanko said.

A ceremony to announce the new partnership will take place Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2011 at 2 p.m. in 402 Hahn Hall North. Parking is available in the Perry Street lot. Visitors are required to have a parking permit, which may be obtained on the ground floor of the parking garage in the Perry Street lot.

Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business professor France Belanger and three doctoral students have completed a new study on required policies and guidelines for information systems, published in the Fall 2011 issue of Pamplin magazine.

The team used Virginia Tech as a case study, examining student, faculty, staff and administrator attitudes toward a security change which required them to change their passwords by a certain date.

Here’s the full news release from Virginia Tech:

Though most organizations have policies and guidelines to protect their information systems from unauthorized access, research has shown that employee compliance is often a problem.

Read more »

VT KnowledgeWorks and WilderWeber Leadership Group have partnered to form StrategicStudio, with the goal of helping organizations plan retreats, workshops and training programs.

Here’s a press release from VT KnowledgeWorks:

VT KnowledgeWorks and WilderWeber Leadership Group have partnered to form StrategicStudio to help local and regional organizations plan and implement leadership retreats, custom workshops, and developmental training programs.

Read more »

Advance Auto Parts and Habitat for Humanity held a dedication ceremony today for a home building project for a family on Salem Avenue Southwest.

The house is a three-bedroom, 1.5 bath, two-story house at 1305 Salem Ave. S.W., built by more than 700 Advance Auto volunteers for Gabriel Moja and Lucia Abdelrahman and their three children, Tombe, Lado and Reja.

Gabriel and Lucia are both Sudanese refugees now employed in the health care field.

Here’s a slideshow of the dedication ceremony:

The Roanoke Bar Association and Roanoke City Public Schools have launched the 12th annual Barrister Book Buddies Program.

This year, 35 lawyers and judges will read at least one hour every month during the school year in 33 classrooms at Garden City, Lincoln Terrace, Morningside and Preston Park.

Here’s the news release from the Roanoke Bar Association:

The Roanoke Bar Association (RBA), in conjunction with Roanoke City Public Schools, has launched the 12th annual Barrister Book Buddies (BBB) program. Implemented in 1998, BBB is the longest-running RBA community service program and was designed to help the school system encourage reading among elementary school students. Buddies commit to read at least one (1) hour per month during the entire school year. For the 2010-2011 school year, the RBA has filled every teacher request for a Buddy, with 35 lawyers and judges volunteering to read in 33 classrooms at Garden City, Lincoln Terrace, Morningside, and Preston Park.

The Conference of Local Bars, a division of the Virginia State Bar, has presented the RBA with two Awards of Merit for the Barrister Book Buddies program; the most recent award was presented in June, 2011.

The I-81 Corridor Coalition will hold its annual meeting for 2011 Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in Blacksburg.

John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, will present the keynote address. Other speakers will include Sean Connaughton, Virginia’s Secretary of Transportation; Tony Furst, director of the Office of Freight Management and Operations; Scott Greene, senior economist with the Federal Railroad Administration; and Richard Marrs, assistant manager of government relations for Norfolk Southern.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute facilities and Virginia’s Smart Road.

Here’s the full news release from Virginia Tech:

National and state transportation leaders are slated to speak at the I-81 Corridor Coalition 2011 annual meeting Monday, Oct. 31 and Tuesday, Nov. 1, at the Holiday Inn University, 900 Prices Fork Rd., Blacksburg.

Read more »

The city of Roanoke will hold an auction Nov. 7 for 28 properties that have delinquent real estate taxes, assessments for weed and trash abatement and demolition or board-up costs.

The auction is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Jefferson Center’s Fitzpatrick Hall. Successful bidders must meet Bidders Qualification Program terms and all sales are subject to Circuit Court approval.

Owners must pay, in full, all accumulated taxes, penalties, assessments, interest, costs and legal fees by 5 p.m. the day before the scheduled sale in order to redeem any tax sale property.

Here’s the full news release from the city of Roanoke:

The City of Roanoke will hold an auction at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7, at the Jefferson Center’s Fitzpatrick Hall for approximately 28 properties that have delinquent real estate taxes, assessments for weed and trash abatement, and demolition or board-up costs. A listing of the properties is online.

Read more »

This past August, a group of students in Virginia Tech’s Master of Public Health program were the first to complete all requirements for the degree since it was launched in 2010.

Some of the students transferred from other master’s programs, and thus were able to complete the degree in one year. They are scheduled to walk in a commencement ceremony in December.

The students plan to pursue a range of careers and goals, including public health education, veterinary public health, long-term care administration and medical school.

Here’s the full news release from Virginia Tech:

A first cohort of students in Virginia Tech’s Master of Public Health program completed all requirements for the degree this past August. The program was launched in 2010 with the goal of increasing the number of public health professionals in Southwest and Southside Virginia, the Appalachian region, and beyond.

Read more »