Virtual Global Collaboration

Virtual Global Collaboration is a flexible teaching strategy that can be customized for specific courses and learning outcomes. Virtual Global Collaboration courses at Virginia Tech, however, must have the following characteristics.

• Be approved by the appropriate curriculum and governance committees within the academic unit.
• For collaborations with academic institutions, include partnership with an international, accredited, bachelor's degree-granting institution of higher education.
• Potential partner organizations or entities must be vetted by the Office of Export and Secure Research in advance. Virginia Tech employees may not engage in Virtual Global Collaborations with individuals residing in any of the four comprehensively sanctioned countries—Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Cuba. In addition, the U.S. government maintains a list of individuals or organizations on restricted party lists that may require export authorizations prior to information sharing or collaboration.
• Provide meaningful and reciprocal virtual exchange interactions. For Virtual Global Collaborations generally, there is not a minimum length of time; however, to align with COIL pedagogy, a minimum of 4 weeks is required.
• Create co-equal learning environments where instructors from Virginia Tech work together with instructors from a university abroad to generate shared modules, learning activities, or course goals based on solid academic coursework emphasizing experiential and collaborative student learning. Student learning outcomes, course delivery, contact hours, and assessment must align with the University Registrar’s and program accreditation standards.
• Include learning goals for intercultural and global awareness with appropriate assessment mechanisms.
• Virginia Tech students must enroll at Virginia Tech. Partner institutions’ students maintain enrollment at their home institution.
• The course’s Virginia Tech instructor of record is responsible for evaluating Virginia Tech students’ work throughout the entirety of the course.
• Classes may be fully online or may be offered in blended formats with traditional face-to-face sessions taking place at both universities, while collaborative student work takes place online (asynchronously and synchronously).
• The Virginia Tech instructor of record must adhere to FERPA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and all other relevant Virginia Tech policies and procedures, including those of Institutional Technology, Scholarly Integrity and Research Compliance (including IRB), Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, and the Office of Export and Secure Research Compliance.