Undergraduate Academic Affairs announces promotions within undergraduate education team

Undergraduate Academic Affairs has announced three promotions within the undergraduate education team: Keri Swaby to director of undergraduate research, Kara Latopolski to director of undergraduate academic integrity, and Rachel Kinzer Corell to communication manager for undergraduate academic programs.

Keri Swaby joined Virginia Tech in 2011 as the project coordinator for the Scieneering Program, eventually becoming the university undergraduate research coordinator in 2014. Over the past five years, she has forged partnerships across campus and raised funds to build an office that offers a comprehensive suite of support services for the Office of Undergraduate Research that includes two annual student conferences, scholarships and travel awards for students, faculty grants, professional development opportunities, and an advanced research certificate program.

Kara Latopolski joined Virginia Tech in January 2019 as the senior associate director for undergraduate academic integrity. She oversaw a team that supported the Undergraduate Honor System, with responsibilities that ranged from overseeing the adjudication process to providing professional development for the student delegates to offering campus-wide education on academic integrity. She was recently selected to be the director for undergraduate academic integrity after a national search.

Rachel Corell joined the undergraduate education team in a part-time administrative support role in 2017, then became the full-time program support specialist to the Offices of General Education and First-Year Experiences in 2018. In addition to supporting both of these offices, she became the lead writer and communications liaison for the undergraduate education team. Her articles about the experience of students with the university’s new Pathways general education curriculum have gained national media attention. Through a recent office reorganization, she was promoted to the role of communication manager. She mentors a team of undergraduate communications interns.

“I am grateful that we have been able provide the advancement opportunities to retain such a talented team of professionals, all of whom work passionately on behalf of our students,” said Rachel Holloway, vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs.

— Written by Jill Sible