Dr. Danica G. Hays serves as the Dean of the UNLV College of Education. In her roles as interim dean and executive associate dean for the College of Education, she led the expansion of student success and retention-progression-completion initiatives, facilitated faculty affairs-related activities, and increased the college’s scholarship capacity through new and reactivated research labs and centers.

Hays joined UNLV in 2015 as a professor and executive associate dean.

She earned her doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision, with an emphasis in multicultural research, from Georgia State University. She has published about 125 journal articles and book chapters in her areas of research expertise, which include research methodology and program evaluation, leadership development, domestic violence prevention, assessment and diagnosis, and multicultural and social justice issues in community mental health and counselor preparation.

Hays is co-editor of Qualitative Inquiry in Clinical and Educational Settings, Developing Multicultural Counseling Competency: A Systems Approach, and A Counselor's Guide to Career Assessment Instruments. In addition, she is associate and content editor of the American Counseling Association Encyclopedia of Counseling, co-author of Mastering the NCE and CPCE, and author of Assessment in Counseling: A Guide to Psychological Assessment Procedures.

She has extensive leadership history in the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC) and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), including serving as AARC President, ACES journal editor for Counselor Education and Supervision, and president of an ACES region.

The American Counseling Association has recognized her nationally as an ACA Fellow, as well as presented her awards for her research and advocacy as a counselor educator.