Tom Wilkinson appointed associate provost for distance learning and summer sessions
Thomas (Tom) W. Wilkinson of Radford, Va. director of the Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning at Virginia Tech, has been appointed the university's associate provost for distance learning and summer sessions.
Since its 1999 inception Virginia Tech's Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning (IDDL) has been committed to providing leadership, coordination, management, and support of the university's distance and distributed learning activities. The university Summer Sessions were established to promote summer sessions as an integral component of a student's learning, discovery, and engagement experience while with the university.
In his new position, Wilkinson will provide overall leadership to Virginia Tech’s distance and distributed eLearning as well as summer and special session activities and initiatives. This includes providing strategic planning in support of the university’s academic agenda; creating opportunities for colleges, departments, and faculty to enhance existing educational activities and to engage in new initiatives; creating opportunities for potential, existing and former students to complete or enhance their educational goals through flexible, and non-traditional educational methods; developing policies and procedures that ensure quality and improve access to learning; working with colleges and departments to ensure compliance with state, and regional accreditation standards; and acquiring and leveraging resources to support the missions of the Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning and the Office of University Summer Sessions.
Wilkinson who earned his doctorate degree from Virginia Tech has been a leader and administrator in higher education and business and industry for over 30 years. Hired by Virginia Tech in 1997 to lead the development of a university’s strategic plan for distance learning, Wilkinson actively involved the university community in the planning process and helped in resolving barriers to educational access through the use of technology.
Throughout his years many of service particularly in distance learning education, Wilkinson has received a number of awards for his dedication to higher education.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
