Thursday, June 22, 2023
Yolanda Mitchell, clinical assistant professor of educational psychology in the College of Education, has joined the Faculty Success team as a full-time faculty development director. Her appointment began June 1.
In her new role, Mitchell will support and advance the diverse teaching and curriculum needs of the UNT community, collaborating with faculty, academic leaders and other divisions to assess faculty teaching needs, design and develop inclusive events and initiatives, and assess outcomes for continual improvement.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Mitchell to our team,” says Holly Hutchins, vice provost for faculty success. “The experience and passion she brings to this role — combined with the strong relationships she’s cultivated during her years at UNT — will have far-reaching benefits for our university community. I’m grateful to President Smatresk for supporting the creation of this new role. Faculty are key to our students’ success, and Dr. Mitchell’s insightful leadership will help us find new and innovative ways to better support their growth and success.”
Mitchell’s career has given her the opportunity to view the classroom through many lenses. She joined UNT as a senior lecturer in 2016 and has served as a clinical assistant professor since 2022. Before coming to UNT, she was a professor of practice at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She’s also a marriage and family therapist and a family scientist, working to better understand family experiences and promote individual and family wellbeing.
“I identify as an educator in many spaces, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to support other faculty members in their teaching in the classroom,” Mitchell says. “I’m hoping to use these different lenses with other faculty to reinvigorate their teaching and bring new light to different ways that teaching can be used in the classroom.”
She plans to dedicate part of her first year to listening to what faculty need and building a system that addresses the diverse experiences of the many faculty and students who call UNT home. Her approach will be two-fold: working closely with UNT’s colleges to support and acclimate new faculty to the UNT community while also finding ways to engage with and respond to current faculty looking to deepen their pedagogy and grow as professionals.
“I’m glad that UNT recognizes that we need to provide concrete systems to continually support faculty development and teaching in the classroom, because it impacts all parts of their professional career — from the research they do to the presentations they give to the positions they hold. I want to give as much light to teaching as we give to research and service.”
MORE ABOUT YOLANDA MITCHELL
Mitchell currently serves as co-chair of the College of Education’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and is on the leadership team for the UNT Black Faculty Network. She also is a member of the Black Professionals Network, Men of Color Task Force and Multicultural Center Black History Month Planning Committee. Her past service commitments include roles on the Merit and Awards Committee, Student Affairs Committee and numerous search committees.
At the national level, Mitchell is a member of the Inclusion and Diversity Committee for the National Council on Family Relations, the premier professional association for understanding families through interdisciplinary research, theory and practice. She has held numerous leadership roles in the NCFR Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families Section since 2016, including chair and student/new professionals representative.
She attended Kansas State University, where she earned her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and her Ph.D. in family studies.