Rachel Holloway, vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs at Virginia Tech, has been selected to serve as president-elect of the Reinvention Collaborative, an organization dedicated to reinventing undergraduate education at research universities.

Holloway will serve a three-year appointment to the organization’s Executive Committee, serving first as president-elect, then president, and finally as past president. Bringing together research university leaders with expertise in the theory and practice of undergraduate education, the Reinvention Collaborative is a network of R1/2 undergraduate vice presidents and provosts who are strategically situated leaders driving universitywide innovation.

Virginia Tech is a charter member and one of more than 80 institutions across the nation that actively participates in the Reinvention Collaborative.

“I’m honored to have been elected by my peers and excited to contribute to this important community,” said Holloway. “As we’ve navigated the pandemic, Reinvention Collaborative members have recognized the tremendous value of coming together as a community of academic leaders who are committed to the transformations our universities must undergo to become fully student centered. I’m excited to advance our shared work and to bring ideas back to Virginia Tech to strengthen our learning environment.”

As vice provost, Holloway has led the development of strategic priorities and implementation of innovative programs that support the undergraduate education mission and student experience at Virginia Tech. She works closely and collaboratively with college deans and associate deans, university registrar and enrollment management, and other vice provosts and academic vice presidents to provide support services, including academic advising, student success initiatives, teaching and learning resources, experiential learning programs, and career and professional development, that advance Virginia Tech’s undergraduate education profile.

Holloway has served on the faculty at Virginia Tech since 1989 and has progressed through academic administrative and leadership roles in her more than 30 years at the university. She served as undergraduate program coordinator, assistant department head, and head of the Department of Communication, and as associate dean for undergraduate academic affairs in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. While director of undergraduate programs in the Department of Communication, Holloway received the 2002 Alumni Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Academic Advising from Virginia Tech.

In 2013, Holloway was appointed vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs to lead the enhancement and advancement of the overall undergraduate experience at Virginia Tech and to oversee such areas as academic advising, student success, University Studies, First Year Experiences, Veteran’s Services, undergraduate research, and the Undergraduate Honor System.

In addition to her leadership duties, Holloway has taught undergraduate courses in public relations principles, campaigns, and issue management, and graduate courses in communication theory, public relations theory and practice, and crisis and issue management. She received a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from Morehead State University, and a master’s degree and doctoral degree in communication from Purdue University.

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