The UNLV Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost is pleased to announce Danica G. Hays as dean of the College of Education, effective July 1, 2021.

“Dr. Hays has been a steady leader for the College of Education, supporting faculty and students through the unprecedented pandemic and continually charting a course to position UNLV as a leader in best practices for all levels of education,” Executive Vice President and Provost Chris Heavey said.

Hays has served as interim dean of the college since August 2020, following the departure of Kim Metcalf from the post.

“I am honored to be selected as the next dean of the College of Education,” Hays said.  “I look forward to continuing the work of our faculty, staff, students, and community partners steeped in values of equity, inclusion, and diversity.”

Hays said the college is focused on building and sustaining a diverse educator workforce, increasing access to high-quality educational and mental health supports, improving access to high-quality early childhood education, and advancing the conversation for educational practice and policy.

Hays previously served as executive associate dean for the College of Education. In that role, 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 (1/e, Guilford Press), Developing Multicultural Counseling Competency: A Systems Approach (3/e, Pearson), and A Counselor's Guide to Career Assessment Instruments (6/e, National Career Development Association). In addition, she is associate and content editor of the American Counseling Association Encyclopedia of Counseling (1/e, ACA), co-author of Mastering the NCE and CPCE (3/e, Pearson), and author of Assessment in Counseling: A Guide to Psychological Assessment Procedures (6/e, ACA).

She has extensive leadership history in the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, 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 and has presented her awards for research and advocacy as a counselor educator.