Current Undergraduate Students
Civil Engineering Undergraduate Advising Team
To schedule an appointment with your advisor, click here
Lauren Varboncoeur
211-C Patton Hall, laurpv1@vt.edu Lauren serves as the academic advising coordinator for undergraduate advising in CEE. She leads departmental advising initiatives, disseminates advising information to the CEE advising team, and works with many students herself. Lauren has worked in an academic advising capacity at Virginia Tech since 2014 and enjoys connecting with students as they navigate their time at VT
Christy Cumbia
211-B Patton Hall, ccumbia@vt.edu Christy serves as an academic advisor for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Along with advising, she works on the departmental class schedule and advising events. She has served in CEE at Virginia Tech since 2021. Christy looks forward to working with CEE undergraduate students and helping them discover and achieve their goals.
Dr. Joe Dove
110 Patton Hall, jodove@vt.edu Dr. Dove is a faculty member in the Geotechnical Program Area and teaches CEE 3514-Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering (lecture and lab), CEE 4534-Earth Pressures and Foundation Structures, and CEE 4544-Design of Earth Structures. Dr. Dove is a CEE alumnus and has geotechnical industry experience working in the New York Metro and San Francisco Bay areas. He is well-versed in the undergraduate curriculum and is happy to answer student questions
Dr. Kathleen L. Hancock
109-A Patton Hall, hancockk@vt.edu Dr. Hancock is a faculty member in the Transportation Infrastructure and Systems Engineering Area of the Department. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses and works with graduate students who focus on transportation infrastructure and systems engineering. Dr. Hancock has an interest in freight operations and planning, transportation safety, and geospatial solutions to transportation problems
Rob Jacks
211-D Patton Hall, rjacks@vt.edu Rob Jacks is a professional academic advisor in the Via Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering advising over 300 different CEE students. Rob is a two-time Virginia Tech graduate with 15 years of higher education experience at Virginia Tech. He is a past recipient of Virginia Tech's Provost Award for Excellence in Academic Advising and the National Resource Center for First-Year Experience and Students in Transition Outstanding First-Year Student Advocacy Award. Some of his favorite areas of research and personal interests are in advising technology, advisor professional development and training, and student retention.
Claire White
208 Patton Hall, cmwhite@vt.edu Claire White is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Land Development within the Department and also works in the Real Estate Program. Her primary role in the department is teaching as part of the undergraduate curriculum. Claire’s experience includes first-hand knowledge of the CEE Department as well as working for a private consulting firm. She is available to advise students on their time at Virginia Tech and beyond.
Claire White
Accelerated Undergrad/Graduate Degree Program – The Accelerated programs allow advanced Virginia Tech Undergraduate students an opportunity to push forward towards the pursuit of a graduate degree while they are completing their undergraduate degree.
Advising – To find out more about advising and how to make an appointment.
Applying to Graduate School – Information provided here will assist students who are considering applying to graduate schools.
Change of Major – Find the forms needed to change your major.
Checksheets and Advising Guides – Checksheets and Advising Guides are available to students to create their own plans and allow for depth and breadth of study in a variety of areas. Students will be able to create their own plan of study by strategically selecting courses of interest.
College of Engineering Forms – Course Withdrawl, Overload Requests, Exam Change, Transferring Credits and many other forms are available here.
Course Listing – Find the courses offered in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Department Grade Policy – Explanation of the department’s grade policy.
Bridge Experience (ENGE 3900)/Experiential Learning – Students completing the CEE degree based on program requirements for the 2024-2025 catalog year and beyond must fulfill an experiential learning requirement. Information about this requirement is available at this link.
Force Add Requests – Fill out this survey for force add requests
Fundamentals of Engineering Exam
Pre-Requisite Undergraduate – Click to find a list of pre-requisite courses for required CEE courses.
Student Ambassadors – The CEE Department has several dedicated juniors and seniors that assist the department with recruiting events such as the College of Engineering Open House, Admissions weekends and individual campus visits by prospective students.
Tentative Future Class Schedule – This document shows the tentative future class schedule.
Undergraduate Research – There are many ways to become involved with research at Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech Undergraduate Catalog – Find the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Course catalog and academic policies.
Many opportunities are available to assist with the financing of a students’ college education. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid at Virginia Tech maintains many resources to assist students and families in locating scholarships.
Scholarship Opportunities for CEE students
Civil Engineering Scholarships
The Civil Engineering Department participates in the College of Engineering’s merit-based scholarship process. All Departmental funding is awarded through the COE’s application process. Therefore, if a student is interested in applying for scholarships from the CEE Department directly, they must complete the COE scholarship process. Information can be found in the navigational links at the top of the page under COE Scholarship Opportunities.
It is strongly recommended that all current students submit this application, as the Civil Engineering Department distributes nearly $180,000 to undergraduate students in merit-based scholarship each year. Applications are available each year beginning in February. Current students are notified of this date and deadline via e-mail.
College of Engineering Scholarships
Applications are available for merit scholarships in the College of Engineering in February of each year.
- Prospective College of Engineering students can find information about scholarships related to new students here.
- Current College of Engineering students can find information about the COE scholarship process here.
- College of Engineering Study Abroad Scholarships
Other Scholarship Sources
Companies and organizations often notify the Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of available scholarships for students pursuing a civil engineering degree. Information about these scholarships is disseminated to currently enrolled students via an undergraduate communication forum and posted on the undergraduate scholarship webpage for students to review.
The Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is home to several active student groups and societies. They participate in a variety of activities ranging from public service to competitions with other schools. They can provide many wonderful memories and challenges, as well as strengthening friendships with other students.
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA)
- American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)
- American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE)
- American Waterworks Association (AWWA)
- Chi Epsilon
- Construction Management Association of America (CMAA)
- Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)
- Engineers for a Sustainable World
- Engineers in Action
- Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI)/Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI)
- Geotechnical Student Organization
- Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) formerly ATES
- North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT)
- Order of the Engineer
- Structural Engineering Institute (SEI)
- Sustainable Land Development Club (SLDC)
The CEE Department provides many opportunities for students to network with employers to secure connections for their future. However, students must take advantage of these opportunities in order to benefit from them!
There are different job fairs at Virginia Tech that offer many different opportunities for student employment, both internships and jobs after graduation. Visit the individual webpages for each career fair for more information such as dates, locations, and companies attending.
Each fall, the Charles E. Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering hosts a career fair, specifically for CEE majors. Visit the Career Fair website for more information.
This link provides a list of employment opportunities that have been provided directly to the CEE Department from various employers.
CEE Career Network
Positions posted here are provided by a third-party network called “After College”. Feel free to access these services for another avenue to search for employment.
This is the VT main database for employment across the University. Students should post their resume here – employers new to VT often start here and search for student resumes via this database.
International Employment Search
Extensive resources are available for the student seeking an international career. The Career and Professional Development (CPD) Office has resources to aid VT’s International students. The CPD staff will provide more details for students interested in these opportunities to include information about H-1B visa status.
Use this website to search for engineers and engineering firms.
Salary information can be found at the above link.