What we do
VIP supports faculty by embedding multidisciplinary student teams in large-scale long-term faculty projects. Faculty are attracted to the program for a variety of reasons. Most seek access to students from other majors, and VIP recruits students from across campus. Some use VIP to pursue projects they lack the person-power for, and VIP students provide enthusiastic support. VIP also provides a low-stakes setting to try new ideas. Still other faculty already work with large numbers of undergraduates, and VIP provides a framework for more effective management. VIP can also serve as “broader impacts” or educational components required by some sponsoring agencies, such as NSF.
Regardless of the reason, all teams are established at the request of faculty. Teams evolve with faculty members’ research and become integral parts of the instructors’ research portfolios. While faculty provide the materials and supplies needed to run the team, there are no programmatic fees.
Team Composition
VIP teams are structured a lot like interdisciplinary labs: the faculty advisor leads a group of subteams composed of students from different disciplines. Students can participate in VIP for multiple semesters, with returning students taking on additional technical and/or leadership responsibilities within their teams. Over time, experienced undergraduates take over subteam leadership, freeing the faculty advisor to focus on higher-order work. Maintaining a team of 10-20 students ensures enough students return each semester to maintain continuity.
Multiple degree programs provide students incentives for earning 5-6 VIP credits over several semesters, increasing student persistence in the program. This in turn supports student growth and peer leadership within teams.
Team Structure
- Faculty: Each team has at least one faculty advisor from Georgia Tech or GTRI. This person (or these people) oversee and direct the whole project.
- Staff and external partners: May serve as mentors or co-instructors based on their availability and expertise, plus the needs of the project.
- Graduate students: May serve as either mentors (paid and enrolled for 0 credits) or students (enrolled for 1-3 credits). Graduate students typically lead subteams or even several subteams, plus assist with the instructional aspects of VIP.
- Undergraduates: 10-20 students work on subteams each semester based on their interests and expertise. Returning students will often advance to become subteam leaders, especially on teams without graduate students.
- Sophomores: 1 credit option
- Juniors: 1-2 credit option
- Seniors: 1-2 credits (Sometimes 3 credits when being used for Senior Design)
- For Pay: Typically for indispensable students who have maxed out the number of credits they can use towards their degrees. Can use PURA for this purpose.
Eligibility
Tenure and non-tenure track faculty can lead VIP teams. This includes professors, research scientists and engineers, GTRI researchers*, academic professionals, etc. Lead instructors of a VIP team MUST be qualified to teach at Georgia Tech in the main subject area of the VIP team. While VIP is interdisciplinary by design, instructor expertise and guidance is still necessary for a project to be successful. For example, if your expertise is in biology, you cannot lead a computer science focused VIP team on your own. You could, however, co-lead a team focused on both biology and computer science alongside a co-instructor with expertise in computer science, or you could lead a biology focused team with a computer science focused subteam guided by external mentors with computer science expertise.
The program works with academic units and faculty affairs to credential instructors. Considerations include:
- Degree area relevant to team
- Degree type
- Relevant experience or publications in main team subject area (in lieu of terminal degree)
- If not tenure track, supervisor approval is required
*Note: GTRI researchers require approval within GTRI. Contact Lee Lerner (lee.lerner@gtri.gatech.edu) for details.
Project Parameters
We’re happy to discuss projects further before you request a team. Below you will find some of the questions we’ll seek answers for during our meeting:
- Is the project long term (typically 3-5 years)?
- Is the work both multidisciplinary and collaborative?
- Does the project follow the GT code of ethics?
- Does the work follow GT legal requirements for student intellectual property?
Centralized Services
Student Recruiting
One of the advantages of VIP for faculty is the ease of recruiting students with many different kinds of expertise. VIP provides a number of centralized services that help faculty create the diverse, multidisciplinary teams that will help them accomplish their goals. These services include the following
- Online team listings that students can filter by major and UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Campus-wide email campaigns aligned with Phase I and Phase II registration periods
- Targeted recruiting for low-enrollment teams
- Overview presentations and tabling around campus (e.g. for GT1000, orientations)
- Web based application system
- Central approval of student applications in teams’ early semesters. Instructors typically take over approvals in the second year.
VIP Rush
Twice a semester, in conjunction with Phase I and Phase II registration deadlines, VIP plans and hosts a poster fair where teams can recruit students. Students can learn more about teams they might be interested in and current team members can share their work with prospective members. Watch your email to sign up.
Instructional Support
Because VIP differs from other classes instructors may teach, we have developed a number of instructional approaches and tools to make it easier for instructors to focus on the research aspects of VIP while still providing students with the grades they need for their transcripts and the feedback that will help them grow and learn from the experiences they have on their teams. The services we provide include:
- Grading: 1/3 contributions, 1/3 documentation, 1/3 teamwork
- Syllabus templates updated each semester
- Instructors give feedback at mid semester and end of semester
- Rubrics for grading documentation
- Centrally administered peer evaluation system
- Includes color coded results by each student and for each student by classmates
- Web-based grading and feedback system designed specifically for VIP
Professional Development
- Videos on best practices in team start-up
- Workshops for new instructors shortly before their first semester begins
- Round-table lunches and lunch-and-learn sessions led by VIP instructors
- Faculty Professional Learning Communities can also be coordinated
Assistance for Proposals
Broader Impacts of VIP
- VIP teams impact a large number of students (23 per semester on average), yielding greater impact than conventional REU models.
- VIP teams attract students from a wide range of backgrounds, which supports equity.
- VIP can increase student interest in graduate school.
- VIP supports workforce development, and it is associated with higher job-placement rates at graduation.
- VIP teams attract students from a wide variety of majors, which supports an educated electorate.
To support current and prospective faculty, the program can provide:
- Boilerplate text on VIP (e.g. program structure, student benefits, equity issues, etc.)
- References to scholarly articles about the impact of VIP
- Letters of support
- General statistics on VIP*
- Number of students served
- Proportion of degree recipients served (e.g. ~30% in AY 2023-2024)
- Majors served
- Customized statistics
- Number a students an existing team has served
- Majors an existing team has served
*The statistics mentioned above are also available here to anyone with a FERPA flag (academic advisors, department chairs, etc.)
Industrial Affiliates Program
VIP has arranged for companies to support student activities on teams for $20k a year with no overhead. Interactions between faculty, company representatives, and students are tailored based on the specific interests of the company and the team. Faculty looking for this kind of support should reach out to Corporate Engagement at Georgia Tech, though VIP staff are happy to join meetings to provide our perspective and expertise.