Corporate Partners

Vision

The Vision of the Virginia Tech Department of Statistics is to become the best applied statistics department in the nation. We feel we are well on the way in the area of industrial statistics. The Corporate Partners program is a cooperative outreach venture to solidify the mutually beneficial informal ties that have been built over the past 50 years by the Virginia Tech Department of Statistics with industry and government.

Partner benefits

• Annual Symposium and Advisory Board meeting for information exchange and graduate recruiting.
• Newsletter to keep partners abreast of student development, departmental research, publications, and planning.
• Opportunities to recruit interns and graduates (BS, MS, and PhD).
• Easy access to departmental dissertations and technical reports.
• Easy access via faculty referral to leading edge research.

Departmental benefits

• Comprising an Advisory Board for the department, the Partners will provide
  • curriculum refinement to tune our program to the rapidly changing needs of users of statistics
  • research ideas and opportunities for collaboration
• Internships and career opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students
• Funding for graduate student scholarships and awards
• Funding to support the departmental computing system

Advisory Board

Internships

Corporate Partners establish summer and extended (6 to 9 month) intern programs.

• to meet and cultivate potential employees and
• to provide temporary assistants for their in-house statisticians.

For the interns, the experience is a step beyond the Virginia Tech Statistical Consulting Center. An internship adds to their education in ways beyond that which can be achieved in the classroom.

Placement

The department has produced some 250 Ph.D. and 500 M.S. graduates. Corporate Partners will be kept informed of the interests, progress, and research of our students via a newsletter, and by meeting with the students at our annual Partners Symposium/Conference/Workshop.

Short Courses

The department offers short courses in several industries. With the cooperation of the partners, we hope to develop concise, well-focused, specialized courses that can be delivered in house or on campus, at the convenience of the participants. The department will offer discounts to Partners for the public offerings of our short courses.

Newsletter

The annual departmental newsletter is sent to all Corporate Partners (Partners Newsletter, Fall 2003).

Dissertations and Technical Reports

All dissertations and technical reports will be made easily available to the Corporate Partners.

Annual Conference

• Partners Conference 2007, Oct 4-6
• Partners Conference 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2001

A conference will be held annually to promote information exchange. All local expenses  will be paid by the department.

On Thursday afternoon two representatives of each partner will be greeted at the airport and escorted to lodging at one venue, preferably the Donaldson Brown Center for Continuing Education. A wine-and-cheese reception will be held at the home of one of our faculty.

Friday morning one of the representatives will participate in an advisory board meeting at which various departmental committees will report on curriculum, student recruiting, student progress, departmental research directions, etc. Concurrently, the other representative will meet with faculty and graduate students one-on-one or in small groups.

Friday afternoon we will come together for a research symposium. Faculty, graduate students, and partners will have an opportunity to present current research of mutual interest, with the goal of developing cooperative research programs, and showcasing students.

Friday evening there will be another reception and dinner at the Donaldson-Brown Center for faculty, staff, graduate students, and representatives.

Saturday we will have further opportunity to meet in small groups, and, we hope, form some strong bonds!

Membership/Contact

For further information, please contact

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