Vision & Mission

The Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance (VTIPG) was established on July 1, 2006, and those associated with it were charged in its university charter with thinking broadly about the array of topics and dimensions implicit in its name. To realize that aspiration and the allied expectations linked to sponsored research tied to it, the new unit was tasked to develop relationships with relevant collaborators at Virginia Tech and with individuals and institutions across the political economy as appropriate, at all scales of analysis—local, regional, state, national and international.

Irrespective of their provenance, those who comprised the new Institute shared a passion for discovery and for providing support to an array of vulnerable populations often underserved in our polity, including, among others, low income individuals, those with disabilities, the homeless and those suffering from various forms of mental illness and addiction. As VTIPG has matured and as conditions have shifted in our country, the Institute’s faculty also has routinely sought to explore the social, political and economic requirements necessary to secure and maintain democratic institutions in our own and other nations as a central feature of its ongoing exploration of policy and governance concerns. These dual broad foci continue to animate VTIPG faculty and staff and to underpin Institute activities today.  

To learn more about the Institute's 2024-2025 strategic planning process, please visit: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/tWyHcS0TFnrDyZj6?ref=Link.

VALUES

Collaboration: Fostering interdisciplinary partnerships and shared purpose among diverse stakeholders.

Integrity: Upholding honesty, transparency, and accountability in all aspects of our work.

Innovation: Driving creative, forward-thinking responses to complex social challenges.

Empathy: Engaging all with whom we interact and their lived experiences with empathy and respect.

Responsiveness: Adapting to evolving social and governance needs and challenges with agility, care, and continuous improvement.

FOCUS AREAS

Health and Wellbeing: Working to improve the physical, behavioral, and emotional health and wellbeing for children, families, and communities.

Public Policy, Management, and Governance: Investigating organizational mechanisms that underpin public and nonprofit sector effectiveness, including governance structures, leadership, and decision-making strategies and processes.

Community Advancement: Employing community-driven interventions designed to further the prospects for sustainable development, to strengthen governance frameworks, and to improve economic opportunities at the local, state, national, and global levels.

Accessibility: Addressing economic and social mobility access challenges at the individual or system levels.

GOALS

The Institute will pursue five primary goals to address these focus areas over the next five years (2025-2030):

Goal 1: Exemplify commitment to our land grant mission and focus on improving Virginia and beyond by further deepening and broadening our substantive areas of expertise, and partnerships related to those. 

Goal 2: Increase ties and deepen relationships among faculty and staff working at our various locations, areas of expertise, and partnerships.

Goal 3: Ensure that all proposals we pursue for external support are carefully conceived and thoughtfully developed.

Goal 4: Ensure that as we grow, we increase our individual and organizational capacities to address the claims arising from those efforts.

Goal 5: Continue to share the fruits of our work through scholarship, broadly understood, and engage with our partners in those efforts whenever feasible.