Eduardo Arellano

Associate Professor of Instruction, Master’s in Educational Administration with a Concentration in Higher Education Leadership
Dr. Arellano is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the College of Education's Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations. He has been at UTEP for almost 16 years and prior to that, taught at New Mexico State University for seven years. One of the more important reasons he came to UTEP was due to its unapologetic commitment to serving Hispanic students and the US-Mexico border community.
His specialization is in Higher Education Leadership and Administration; in addition to teaching various courses in that specialization, he has also taught and co-taught K-20 education courses including in research, policy and evaluation. His areas of interest include competency studies, cross-racial interactions among college students, and higher education policy, and international higher education collaboration.
Subjects he teaches:
Some of the courses that I have taught include Higher Education Organization and Governance, College Student Learning and Development, Legal and Ethical Issues in Higher Education, Higher Education Policy Analysis, and The Community College.
On what ignited his passion for these subjects:
I have been interested in leadership since I was 12 years old when I read the article about John F. Kennedy in our family’s World Book Encyclopedia which our parents purchased for us in small payments. And, I knew since my undergraduate years, that I wanted to become a professor. Therefore, I was initially inspired to lead and contribute to my students’ learning thanks to the teaching and mentorship of my university professors throughout my undergraduate and graduate degrees, especially those Hispanic professors who blazed a trail ahead of my academic and professional accomplishments.
His proudest accomplishment and biggest challenge as an online instructor:
My proudest accomplishment as an online instructor has been helping previous master’s students decide to pursue a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership in order to reach a top administrative position so as to make a greater impact on college students.
The biggest challenge that I have face with online teaching is carving sufficient time to establish meaningful and genuine relationships with all of my students to continually assist them throughout their studies and after graduation.
On what makes a successful online student:
A successful online student engages with his or her instructor and fellow students about the course content, and takes the time to engage with colleagues and supervisors in their work about the subjects discussed in his or her courses.
His advice to online students:
The one piece of advice that I would give to one of my online students is to be genuinely and constantly curious about the issues we discuss in the courses. Show your curiosity by seeking more information from many reliable sources of information including people, books, articles, podcasts, and videos, among other forms of media. In other words, be a true life-long learner.