Kayla St. Clair serves as Senior Associate Director of Operations in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Virginia Tech. She oversees the data integrity and processing unit, the visitor experience team, and communications. Kayla began in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions as a student worker in the mailroom and has earned progressively responsible roles since then. As a first-generation college student, she avidly supports college access initiatives and her foundation in college admissions was built through serving as the lead for diversity, equity, and access programming. This foundation now serves as a critical lens when overseeing operations within the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
In 2020, Kayla served as the implementation contact for Common App, which led to a 36% increase in first-year applications – totaling over 42,000. With this increase, Kayla worked with her teams to adapt current processes and procedures to account for the higher volume of applications. She has implemented a new domicile review workflow, communication request system, and transitioned the Applicant Portal and decision release process into Slate. Kayla actively participates in professional development opportunities by taking further coursework related to research methods in education, presenting at national and regional conferences, taking online courses through AACRAO, and participating in programs through Virginia Tech. She also previously served as college fair coordinator and later as the Vice President of Admissions and Enrollment for VACRAO.
Kayla earned her associate degree from Virginia Western Community College and then transferred to Virginia Tech, earning both her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs. She lives with her fiancé and their nine-year-old dog – a beagle named Lexie Grey. In her spare time, Kayla can be found traveling, making pottery, spending time outside, reading, or listening to podcasts.