When you are worried about your student at Virginia Tech
Verified September 2026 against vt.edu. Every number below links the page it came from.
If you save one number for Virginia Tech, save 540-231-6411. It does two jobs. Dialed straight, it is the Virginia Tech Police, which is who you want if your student may not be safe right now and you are not in Blacksburg. Dialed after hours with option 1, it reaches the Dean of Students on call, 365 days a year. That second part is genuinely unusual. At most universities the dean of students office closes at five and a frightened parent at 11 p.m. has nowhere to go but the police.
The thing to know honestly is where the gap is. Cook Counseling Center is the right call for a student who is struggling, but it runs during the working day only. Virginia Tech says so itself and points after-hours callers to 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is staffed around the clock and is for you as much as for your student.
So the map is simpler here than at most campuses. Daytime and struggling, call Cook. Any hour and frightened, call 540-231-6411. Pick your number before you need it.
Who to call, and when
Most parents freeze at this step, because campuses publish these offices separately and none of them is labeled for a worried parent. The short version:
- Worried, but not urgent. Start with counseling. This is the call for a student who sounds flat, anxious, or overwhelmed, and it is the one most families put off longest.
- You have not heard from them and you are scared. Call the dean of students office. This is the office that will actually go check on a student, and almost no parent knows it exists.
- Right now, and they may not be safe. Call campus police, below. From out of town that is the emergency number, not 911, because they are the ones who can actually go.
Calling is not overreacting. These offices exist because students get into trouble away from home, and staff would far rather hear from you early than late.
Cook Counseling Center
Your student is struggling, anxious, or sounding overwhelmed, during the working day. Be clear about the limit here: Cook Counseling does not run its own overnight line, and Virginia Tech's own emergency page sends after-hours callers to 988 or the nearest emergency room. After 5 p.m. the number that reaches a person at Virginia Tech is the Dean of Students on-call line below.
- Appointments and daytime crisis
- 540-231-6557
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday
Dean of Students Office
You have not heard from your student and you are frightened, or something has happened and you do not know where to start. This is the office that says start with us, and it is the rare one you can actually reach at night: the after-hours line runs 365 days a year. They also take a Refer a Student of Concern form for anything that can wait for morning.
- After hours and weekends, press 1
- 540-231-6411
- During office hours
- 540-231-3787
8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with an on-call line the rest of the time
Virginia Tech Police Department
Your student may not be safe and it cannot wait. From out of town this is the number rather than 911, which would reach dispatch wherever you are and then have to relay to Montgomery County. This is the same 540-231-6411 that reaches the Dean of Students out of hours if you press 1, so it is the one number to save if you only save one.
- Virginia Tech Police
- 540-231-6411
- Non-emergency
- 540-382-4343
- If you are local, or with your student
- 911
Other numbers worth having
Not for a crisis. Worth saving now so you are not searching for them later.
Schiffert Health Center
An illness that is dragging on, or a student who keeps putting off making the appointment themselves. Saturday mornings are urgent care only, and the center is closed on Sundays, so a weekend problem that will not wait is an emergency room question rather than a campus one.
- Appointments and general
- 540-231-6444
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday for urgent care
New Student and Family Programs
You have a question and no idea which office owns it, and it is not urgent. This is the office whose job is families rather than your student, and a reasonable first stop when the problem does not fit a category.
- Phone
- 540-231-3284
Common questions
- Who do I call if I am worried about my student at Virginia Tech?
- It depends on how urgent it is. If your student sounds flat, anxious or overwhelmed but is not in danger, start with Cook Counseling Center. If you have not heard from them and you are frightened, call Dean of Students Office. If they may not be safe right now, call Virginia Tech Police Department at 540-231-6411.
- What number do I call in an emergency at Virginia Tech if I live hours away?
- Call Virginia Tech Police Department at 540-231-6411 rather than 911. Dialing 911 reaches the dispatch center covering wherever you are, not the campus, and that agency would have to relay the call. Campus police already have jurisdiction on university property and can go directly. Use 911 only if you are local or you are with your student.
- Will Virginia Tech check on my student if I ask?
- Yes. Dean of Students Office is the office that does this, and it takes a concern raised by a parent. Most families do not know it exists, which is why students go unchecked longer than they need to.
- Does Virginia Tech have an after-hours crisis line?
- No. Cook Counseling Center does not publish its own overnight crisis number. Call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is staffed around the clock, or contact Virginia Tech Police Department at 540-231-6411 if your student may not be safe.
Encourage Us is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Virginia Tech. Every contact above is published by the school and links back to its source.
Know something we do not? If a number here has changed, or there is an office at Virginia Tech that belongs on this page, tell us and we will fix it. Parents tend to find these things before we do.