From the Department Head

Elizabeth Grabau
department head

Greetings Alumni, Students, Friends, and Colleagues:

Welcome to our first dual -- print and electronic -- newsletter! This is also the first departmental newsletter in any format in some time and we plan to publish one on an annual basis. Departmental news and other information are also available on the newly designed website (www.ppws.vt.edu). This past year has been quite eventful, with many accomplishments as well as challenges and sorrows. We thank all of you who contacted us and kept us in your thoughts after the events of April 16. The tragedy affected us deeply, but also demonstrated the great sense of community at Virginia Tech that will aid us as we heal and move forward.

We began the 2006-2007 academic year with a departmental retreat to set goals for the next five years. These include increasing collaborative research projects, strengthening ties between programs on campus and the Agricultural Research and Extension Centers, and expanding our graduate programs. I'd like to extend my congratulations to all the graduate students who received their degrees this year. In 2006-2007 there were nine graduations, the most we've celebrated in several years. We've recently begun a graduate curriculum revision and will utilize our website to aid in our recruiting and communication efforts. I invite you to check the website regularly for news and updates and I look forward to hearing from you during the upcoming year.