Ashley Akers may be based in Continuing and Professional Education, but her work reaches across much of Outreach and International Affairs.

As a program financial specialist, Akers provides accounting support for several CPE program managers while also managing human resources and payroll processes for units across OIA, including the Language and Culture Institute, the Catawba Sustainability Center, and the Commonwealth Campus Centers.

On any given day, Akers might hire student, emergency, or sporadic employees; process employment eligibility documents; prepare P14s to pay faculty members and others for certain services; or complete labor redistributions.

Her attention to detail helps ensure employees are hired and paid correctly — and that colleagues across the division can keep their programs moving.

With responsibilities spanning several units, documenting processes and sharing knowledge have become especially important. Akers is particularly proud of a how-to manual she and her finance colleagues have created in Microsoft OneNote. Each team member contributes instructions related to their primary areas of responsibility, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, human resources, and payroll.

“My section is the HR and payroll stuff,” Akers said. “If I’m out, or one of the others is out, we can follow a set of instructions and get something processed.”

The shared resource gives the team a reliable place to find information while making it easier for colleagues to step in for one another. Akers has also developed considerable expertise with the P14 process.

People outside CPE may see Akers and her finance colleagues as quiet, she said, but that impression tells only part of the story.

“We can have a good time in our office and laugh and joke to help during the not-so-good days,” Akers said. “When you put us in a room with really outgoing and loud folks, we kind of stick together and hang off to the side.”

One day each year, however, the finance team makes a point of stepping into the spotlight. Their Halloween costumes have transformed them into everything from rocker chicks to Wild West outlaws.

“On Halloween, we come out of our shells to play dress up,” Akers said.

Five finance team members pose in an office hallway wearing 1980s-style rocker costumes, wild wigs, and sunglasses while holding inflatable guitars and a jack-o’-lantern bucket.
Ashley Akers (second from left) and Engagement finance team colleagues became the Bad A$$ets for Halloween in 2024.
Six staff members dressed in Old West costumes, including cowboy hats, bandanas, vests, and toy pistols, pose in an office around a seated dog wearing a red bandana and oversized handcuffs.
Ashley Akers (from left), Desirae Linkous, Lisa Mink, Nancy Gruber, Lisa Mahaney, and Tracie Smith dressed up as Old West outlaws for Halloween in 2025.

Outside the office, Akers brings the same blend of practicality and creativity to a wide range of interests.

She grew up on a dairy farm that her parents continue to operate. She can often be found photographing sports for a local high school and has had the opportunity to photograph several Virginia Tech football and basketball games.

Akers also enjoys woodworking, building things, and giving old furniture a second life. She admits she has been known to pull over when she spots a promising free item along the road.

Much of her free time, though, revolves around her two nephews and niece, who call her “A.”

“They have stolen my heart,” Akers said. “I love throwing football, playing baseball, playing in the dirt, and riding four-wheelers. Eventually, I may be doing tea parties with my niece once she gets bigger.”

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