Holli Drewry to represent administrative and professional faculty for Board of Visitors

When the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors meets in April for its first meeting of 2022, there will be a Hokie in the room representing for the first time a portion of the university’s employee base — administrative and professional (A/P) faculty. 

Holli Gardner Drewry, who is the first president of Virginia Tech’s newly established administrative and professional faculty senate, will serve as a spokesperson and advocate for the approximately 2,100 employees at Virginia Tech who fall in this category.

At Virginia Tech, administrative faculty, often senior administrators, perform work directly related to management of the institution, college, or an administrative department. Professional and managerial positions include jobs in finance, communication, human resources, and information technology. They also include counselors, extension agents, coaches, physicians, academic and student affairs professionals, advancement officers, and others.

“I feel honored to have been given this opportunity to represent A/P faculty,” Drewry said. “I hope that I will be a good representative of the needs of A/P faculty and hope it will help elevate for the board this very important group.”

Drewry is a digital content strategist for Technology-Enhanced Learning and Online Strategies at Virginia Tech, and she’s a 1994 graduate of the university. She has worked at Virginia Tech for 30 years and has held numerous positions, namely in communication for the Division of Student Affairs.

“The thousands of administrative and professional faculty at Virginia Tech now will have a voice at meetings of the Board of Visitors, just as teaching and research faculty, staff, undergraduate students, and graduate/professional students have had for decades,” said Kim O’Rourke, vice president for policy and governance and secretary to the Board of Visitors.

Drewry’s role provides an important voice.

“Having the A/P faculty senate president as one of the non-voting representatives to the Board of Visitors ensures that A/P Faculty achievements, needs, and concerns are represented at the highest level of university governance,” said Janice Austin, who is chair of the Commission on Administrative and Professional Faculty Affairs and assistant dean and director of admissions and academic progress in the Graduate School.

Aside from her work at Virginia Tech, Drewry is a life-long Girl Scout and has served for 14 years on the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline. These experiences sparked her interest in leadership and governance, she said.