Dear Campus Community,

After more than 15 years of impactful leadership and university service, Dr. Laurel Pritchard has decided to step down from her position as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, effective August 31, to better meet the needs of her family.

Dr. Pritchard began her work at UNLV in 2007 as an Assistant Professor of Psychology. She came to the Office of the Executive Vice President & Provost in 2015 as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Education. In that role, Laurel helped to implement UNLV's new General Education curriculum, including first-year seminars, second-year seminars, and milestone and capstone experiences. Dr. Pritchard was appointed as the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) in 2019 after serving in the Interim VPUE role since 2016.

Dr. Pritchard’s leadership and student-centered vision have been a driving force to improve student retention, progression, and success at UNLV. Dr. Pritchard and her team have spearheaded campus-wide strategies that have led to increases in first-year retention, as well as a noticeable improvement in both the four-year and the six-year graduation rates. These strategies include data-informed, proactive outreach, peer mentoring, holistic first-year experience programming, and Rebel Success Scholars retention grants.

In addition to leading the expansion of our advising infrastructure, Dr. Pritchard and her team were instrumental in establishing our EAB Campus Connect platform and the ongoing effort to build our new Salesforce Student Success Hub. Under Laurel’s leadership, the Office of Online Education has partnered with colleges and schools to create online degree programs and with the Faculty Center to create the UNLV Equity Institute. In each case, our students have benefited directly from Dr. Pritchard’s work.

Laurel is the first in her family to graduate from college, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Findlay and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati. She has seen first-hand the transformative effect of education in her own life, and feels privileged to have spent her time at UNLV working to broaden access to that opportunity.

Though we are very sorry to see Dr. Pritchard move on from her Vice Provost role, we are grateful to Laurel for her campus leadership, collegiality, student-centeredness, and her hard work advancing our Top Tier initiatives to positively impact on our students. Please join us in thanking Laurel and wishing her well as she transitions into her next role.

Warm regards,

Chris L. Heavey, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost
Professor of Psychology

Kate Korgan, Ph.D.
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs