UTEP Appoints New Provost and VP for Academic Affairs
Last Updated on May 01, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Originally published May 01, 2017
By UC Staff
UTEP Communications
Carol A. Parker, senior vice provost for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico (UNM), has been appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs at The University of Texas at El Paso, effective September 1, 2017.
As the University's chief academic officer, Parker will work with deans, faculty and staff across the campus to continue developing and promoting UTEP's nationally recognized model for enhancing the excellence of its academic and research programs, while successfully offering access and affordability to a first-generation and historically underserved student population. She will have responsibility for the oversight and administration of all academic programs, ensuring that they provide a broad range of post-graduate and career opportunities for UTEP students, and increased prosperity and quality of life for the surrounding region.
"We are very pleased to welcome Carol Parker to UTEP," said President Diana Natalicio. "Her leadership as a senior academic administrator at the University of New Mexico, together with her strong commitment to the role of public higher education in fostering social mobility, align extremely well with the academic leadership role she will play at UTEP. I look very much forward to working with her as we continue enhancing our academic and research programs and launching our newest student success initiative, the UTEP Edge, which focuses on developing students' strengths and talents to ensure their competitiveness for post-graduate education and careers."
Parker has more than a decade of experience as a faculty member and administrator at New Mexico's flagship research university. She joined the University of New Mexico as an assistant professor of law in 2004, and later served as associate provost for academic personnel and, subsequently, senior vice provost for academic affairs. She also currently holds the rank of professor at the UNM School of Law.
"It is an honor to be selected to serve as UTEP's next provost," Parker said. "I am really looking forward to working with the faculty and the senior leadership teams to continue UTEP's important mission of providing students with an excellent education, preparing them for successful careers, and advancing the El Paso region through new research discoveries."
Parker's breadth of experience includes service on UNM committees related to accreditation, budget and finance, capital projects and facilities, economic development, faculty policy development, strategic planning, and information technology and data governance. As an American Council on Education Fellow in 2012-13, she participated in a yearlong development program for higher education leaders.
Parker received her law degree from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan, and is a licensed attorney in the state of Michigan. She earned an M.S. in Information from the University of Michigan, Rackham School of Graduate Studies, and a B.A. in Humanities from the Michigan State University Honors College.