Types of Positions at Virginia Tech
The university employs approximately 13,000 people on campus, throughout the state, and around the world. These employees are in a variety of position types to include teaching and research faculty (T&R), special research faculty, adjunct teaching faculty, administrative and professional (A/P), staff (classified and university), wage, student wage, emergency hires, sporadic, and others. The majority of positions are either faculty (T&R, special research, A/P) or Staff (Classified or University). Position types are further defined below to allow you to search and apply for the most appropriate jobs. Vacant faculty and staff positions are advertised online at www.jobs.vt.edu. To be considered an applicant, you must apply online through the web site. An online tutorial and frequently asked questions (FAQs) section is available on the applicant site to help you with the application process.
Faculty Positions: Faculty employment is under the purview of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, which is responsible for establishing faculty employment policies. The search and screen process for faculty positions is decentralized and is the responsibility of the hiring department. Although departments may advertise vacant positions in a variety of locations, all advertised positions are also posted at www.jobs.vt.edu. In addition to a very brief faculty application, you will be asked to attach a cover letter (appropriate to that position) and resume/vita to apply for a specific faculty position. Other documents may also be required; consult the posting for specific items. If you need any further information about a particular job, contact the search committee chair or department head as listed in the posting itself.
The “faculty” category includes several distinct subsets of positions:
Teaching and research faculty (T&R) positions: These would be the typical teaching faculty members with substantial responsibilities for undergraduate and graduate instruction, research, and outreach. Research and extension specialist positions are also T&R faculty, although they may have a relatively small instructional component. These positions may be tenure-track (about 1,300 university wide) with the ranks of assistant, associate, or full professor; typically such positions would be regular and require a terminal degree in the field. They may also be non-tenure-track, such as the instructor or clinical faculty ranks. These positions may be either restricted or regular, (see below for an explanation of employment terms) and typically require at least a master’s degree in the field.
Administrative and professional (A/P) positions: Administrative faculty (Senior Administrators) perform work directly related to management of the institution, college, or an administrative department. Examples would be dean, vice president, or director of a major unit.
Professional and Managerial positions may include jobs in Financial, Public Relations, Human Resources, Information Technology, and other fields. Other positions may include librarians, counselors, extension agents, coaches, physicians, academic and student affairs professionals, development officers, professionals in outreach and continuing education, and others. There are approximately 750 A/P positions, about 1/3 or more are extension agents employed in locations throughout the state. A/P positions typically require a minimum of a master’s degree; some will require a doctorate.
Special research faculty positions: This is a large and growing category of positions at Virginia Tech. Special research faculty members are typically employed on sponsored grants and contracts and carry out research (or outreach projects) as part of the university’s research and outreach missions. Special research faculty ranks are research associate, senior research associate, research scientist/scholar, senior research scientist/scholar, postdoctoral associate, project associate, senior project associate, project director, research assistant professor, research associate professor, and research professor. These positions are usually on soft (grant) funds and are restricted (see below for an explanation of employment terms). Special research faculty positions typically require a minimum of a master’s degree; some will require a doctorate. Although some postdoctoral associate positions will be advertised on www.jobs.vt.edu, a search is not required to fill such positions. Please contact the relevant department or faculty members directly if you are interested in pursuing postdoc positions. Other research faculty positions being filled for at least six months require a minimum of 10 days of posting. Since research employment can be opportunistic, potential applicants are strongly encouraged to seek referrals and to make connections with relevant departments and research centers to explore what possibilities might exist. For an up-to-date listing of research (and other) centers, please see http://www.provost.vt.edu/centers.php.
Virginia Tech also supports the professional development of dual career hires through unpaid appointments as “affiliated research faculty.” These appointments allow spouses or partners with appropriate academic credentials to affiliate with a relevant academic department or research center for the purpose of pursuing sponsored grants or contracts to support their own salaries and research programs. Please see section 6.2 of the Faculty Handbook for more information.
Adjunct teaching faculty: Part-time, temporary teaching positions also exist. Such positions may, or may not be advertised. To pursue such opportunities, applicants should approach the relevant department head directly.
Staff Positions: The Department of Human Resources at Virginia Tech is responsible for all aspects of staff employment, including oversight for the advertising and screening of applicants for various positions. Virginia Tech has about 3,500 staff employees in a wide array of positions such as custodial, dining hall workers, administrative assistants, lab technicians, trade workers, entry-level professionals and many others. Most staff jobs are in pay bands 1 - 4. General information about staff career groups is available online. Staff positions are salaried and eligible for certain benefits. See additional information below in the Employment Terms section.
On Friday, May 19, 2006, Governor Tim Kaine signed the Restructured Higher Education Finance and Administrative Operations Act which means that effective July 1, 2006, the university has two groups of salaried non-faculty employees.
Classified Staff: employees covered by the Virginia Personnel Act and State of Virginia Human Resource policies.
University Staff: employees covered under University Human Resource policies. All new salaried non-faculty staff, including transfers from other state agencies, hired on or after July 1, 2006, are hired as University Staff and will be covered under University Human Resource policies. To learn more about University Staff and Higher Education Restructuring, please go to Human Resources Restructuring.
Wage Positions: These positions are considered part-time and are currently not eligible for benefits. An hourly rate is paid for hours worked and total hours worked during a fiscal year (July 1 - June 30) is limited to 1500 hours. Employees may be required to work 40 hours per week for 37 weeks, 28 hours per week for 52 weeks, or some other combination not to exceed 1500 hours during the fiscal year. The University has several types of wage employment to include 1500 hour wage, student wage, emergency hire, and sporadic.
1500 Hour Wage: Positions are advertised through the Department of Human Resources on www.jobs.vt.edu like staff and faculty positions. These jobs are usually short-term or project in focus but may continue for several years. Total hours worked during the fiscal year is limited to 1500 hours.
Student Wage: Positions are considered part-time and usually offer no benefits. Vacant positions are advertised and filled at the department level. Positions may be advertised online through the department's web page or other means of advertising. Some student wage positions are advertised in the Student section of www.jobs.vt.edu. To qualify for student wage positions, the applicant must be currently enrolled as a Virginia Tech student, be available to work the required work schedule, be qualified to do the work, and possess the necessary permits to work in the United States. Working over 20 hours per week may require approval from the student's program of study.
Emergency Hire: Positions are hourly wage and no benefits with a temporary or seasonal time limit not to exceed 130 days. Advertising and hiring is done at the department level and no search process is required. For more information on emergency hire positions, please contact the department you want to work in to see if an emergency hire position is available.
Sporadic Hire: Positions are hourly wage and no benefits with a limit of 10 hours or less per week. Sporadic hire positions may be on-going but work is limited to 10 hours or less per week. Advertising and hiring is done at the department level and no search process is required. For more information on sporadic hire positions, please contact the department you want to work in to see if a sporadic hire position is available.
Employment Terms:
Full-Time: Salaried positions that are eligible for certain benefits. Usually work 40 hours per week.
Part-time: Some part-time positions are salaried and work less than 40 hours per week but more than or equal to 20 hours per week. Certain benefits are available for salaried part-time positions. Other part-time positions are considered wage positions with an hourly rate of pay and no benefits. Wage positions are considered part-time even if the person works 40 hours per week for the 37 weeks employed because of the 1500 hour per fiscal year limit.
Regular Funding: Positions with regular funding are usually state funded positions and have greater stability.
Restricted Funding: Positions are normally contract or grant funded with an end date or the continuation of the position is based on the availability of funds.
Academic Year: These positions usually work 9 months, 10 months, or 11 months during the academic school year of August 10 through May 10, June 10, or July 10.
Calendar Year: Positions work 12 months during the year.