CHS Welcomes New Faculty – Meet Dr. Beatrice Lee

Published September 22, 2023                                                                                                                            By Darlene Muguiro                                                                                                                                                UTEP College of Health Sciences

This fall, the College of Health Sciences (CHS) is welcoming new faculty members across several departments.

We are pleased to present the third profile, featuring Dr. Beatrice Lee, assistant professor of Rehabilitation Sciences. Lee received her master’s degree in rehabilitation psychology and a doctoral degree in rehabilitation counselor education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests revolve around the identification of malleable risk and protective factors, assisting people with disabilities to manage their stress more effectively and promote their well-being, particularly among individuals with neurological disorders.

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Dr. Beatrice Lee says her return to El Paso following a two-year appointment at Michigan State University (MSU) was the best decision for her family. In 2021, she was recruited to MSU to teach in their Rehabilitation Counseling program and co-manage a major federal grant focused on enhancing employment assistance services for Veterans and Hispanics with disabilities and chronic conditions.

After having her first child while in Michigan, she began to reflect on the positive experience she had at UTEP as a first-time professor, and decided it was time to return to El Paso.

“When I was considering coming back to UTEP, I was thinking mainly about the support that I had received from faculty in the College of Health Sciences,” she said. “I was excited about the prospect of returning, because I really feel like my work as an early-career faculty member is respected here.”

Lee’s first teaching assignment at UTEP happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when interaction with students was mainly occurring online. This fall, she is happy to return to teaching in a hybrid format, and says that the students’ energy is completely different. She is teaching the Science of Collaboration through Neuroscience in Rehabilitation course. Her goals in her first year back at UTEP are to engage students in the coursework and involve them in meaningful research experiences.

“I want to identify different activities that can help enrich their learning, and involve them in research that will contribute to their professional development,” she said. “I can learn from students in this way. My teaching philosophy is that everyone has unique abilities and positive attributes, and these unique strengths make for a great team environment.”

Lee also plans to continue her line of research, which focuses on helping people with neurological disorders (e.g., multiple sclerosis) to manage their stress and improve mental health outcomes and well-being. Her research uses a strengths-based framework to focus on maximizing people’s potential.

Lee says that she hopes her students will quickly come to realize her open-door policy and not be afraid to reach out if they need assistance.

“I’m happy to help students with any questions, either research or teaching-related. So, if they need to gain some research experiences, or if they need any clarification on class assignments, they shouldn’t be afraid to ask. They might think that doing this is bothersome, but I don’t mind at all.”

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Go Miners!

For more information about the Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences, please visit: www.utep.edu/chs/bsrhsc/.