Frances Contreras, Professor of Education Studies and Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Recruitment and Retention for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, was appointed Dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine. Professor Contreras will assume her new role on January 1, 2022. She will be the first Chicana/Latina dean of a school of education in the University of California system.
Frances provided leadership in the creation of our Center for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion (FDI) at UC San Diego. In partnership with other campus units and academic leaders, Professor Contreras provided vision and expertise to design and implement policies and programs to enhance the presence and retention of diverse faculty at UC San Diego. These programs include faculty success workshops and seminars, mentoring programs, and writing retreats, as well as training and education on inclusive leadership and healthy conflict resolution. Professor Contreras managed and led the Faculty Equity Advisor Program in support of diverse and inclusive faculty searches, and was a core sponsor of the 2020 Academics@UCSD survey to better understand and address the workplace experiences of Academic employees at UC San Diego.
More recently, Professor Contreras led the successful submission of three UCOP awards in 2020 and 2021, for advancing faculty diversity. These included proposals for a cluster recruitment focused on STEM and Blackness to diversify the faculty and the African American Studies Major and Minor curriculum; and a cluster recruitment to advance the presence of Chicanx/Latinx faculty and culturally relevant courses at UC San Diego. As part of the third AFD award to promote retention and improved climate, Professor Contreras and the FDI team developed a Faculty Leader Mentor Program, Faculty Peer Group Coaching Program and the Faculty COVID Relief Grant to advance faculty success, leadership and well-being, especially through the pandemic.
For the past five years, Professor Contreras served as the faculty co-chair for the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) workgroup at UC San Diego. In her role as co-chair, Professor Contreras contributed her knowledge and scholarly work as a national expert in HSIs and Latinx/Chicanx community educational attainment to help advance UC San Diego’s goal of intentional transformation into an even more student-centered university for the success of current and future Latinx/Chicanx students, families, and communities. With her leadership UC San Diego launched the Latinx/Chicanx Academic Excellence Initiative and the inaugural UC wide HSI Summit and Latinx/Chicanx Leadership Conference.
Professor Contreras is a nationally recognized educator and researcher in equity and access in education across a P-20 continuum with books focused on educational equity for Chicanx/Latinx and Black students. Her work has been published in a variety of prestigious educational journals and publications, including the Harvard Education Review, American Education Research Journal, and the Journal of Hispanics in Higher Education. Professor Contreras has written several books such as Achieving Equity for Latino Students and The Latino Education Crisis with P. Gandara and High Achieving African Americans and the College Choice Process with T. Chapman, E. Comeaux, G. Rodriguez, and E. Martinez.
As a professor in the Education Studies program, Professor Contreras teaches courses with attention to education systems and policy, and mentors and guides students as they pursue their graduate and doctoral studies.
We are immensely grateful for Professor Contreras’ commitment and dedication to see our faculty members thrive at UC San Diego as Associate Vice Chancellor for FDI, as well as her work as an educator and leader within the Department of Education Studies to ensure the success of students in their scholarly pursuits and beyond.
Please join us in wishing Professor Contreras well in her new endeavors as she continues to impact communities as a leader and powerful advocate for educational equity.
