At its March 25 meeting, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors selected new undergraduate and graduate student representatives who will serve as liaisons between the student body and the board starting July 1.

The two student representatives are appointed to one-year terms. They will serve as ex-officio members on the Commission of Student Affairs and sit on a committee of the governing board. These non-voting members are required to maintain contact with university faculty, administrators, and Virginia Tech students.

Undergraduate Student Representative

Erica Wood of Cumming, Ga., is a junior majoring in international studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and is pursuing minors in civic agriculture and food systems and crop and environmental science. She also serves as student representative to the Commission on University Support.

For the past two years, Wood has been a facilitator for Leadership Tech, a program that fosters student leadership development through experiential learning. She has been director of alumni relations for Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and was one of six students selected to participate in an ACC Leadership Conference in 2012. During her sophomore year, Wood served on the student advisory committee to the undergraduate representatives to the board of visitors.

Wood’s extensive volunteer roles include community outreach director for the Sustainable Food Corps, volunteer for breast cancer awareness and education as well as a volunteer for Hale-Y Community Garden, Glade Road Growing, and Micah’s Backpack.

Graduate Student Representative

Nick Warrington of Wellston, Ohio is a master’s degree student in educational leadership and policy studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.  In addition to living with students as a resident scholar in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house, he also serves as a graduate teaching assistant for the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity. In this role he has taught two courses on academic success and provided support to first-year engineering students.

In addition, Warrington was recently appointed trustee associate for the board of foundations of the American College of Personnel Association. Warrington’s leadership roles during his undergraduate years at Wright State University were also extensive. He was vice president of the student body, a resident assistant, and a Wright State President’s Ambassador. Additionally, he was co-president of Omicron Delta Kappa fraternity.

Warrington was vice chair of finance affairs of the Ohio Student Government Association where he lobbied university presidents and legislators across Ohio to gain funding for a statewide Student Government Association.

The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors is the governing body of the university. It is composed of 14 members, 13 of which are appointed by the governor and the 14th member is the president of the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services, who serves ex-officio. The term of office for each member is four years.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

Written by Catherine Doss.
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