Notes from Department Head Cal Ribbens

This semester we embarked on a new initiative to reconnect with our alumni.  It has been great fun to meet Virginia Tech CS alumni at events in San Diego, Austin, and Arlington over the last few months.  For those of you in the Bay Area or the Seattle area, we expect to announce opportunities to reconnect in those regions soon, as well.  We see many potential benefits to spending time on these efforts. For our alumni, we want to provide a way to stay connected to an important chapter in your life.  When you crossed that stage with a diploma, you didn’t cease being a CS Hokie!  Seeing how the university and the department continue to grow and impact the world is one way to add to the significance of that chapter in your own life. These events are also a fun way to meet fellow CS alums, to share stories of how a VT education has opened doors to an incredibly wide array of fulfilling careers.  For us in the department, these interactions help us continue to improve and grow our program.  Alumni are an important stakeholder group.  Frequent interactions with you all closes a critical feedback loop that enables continuous improvement.  So thanks to all of you who we’ve seen at recent alumni events, and be on the look out for future opportunities to reconnect!

 

Dr. Ribbens