Patti Chance received her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership, Curriculum, and Supervision from the University of Oklahoma in 1992. Before returning to UNLV in 2014,  she served as chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University from 2009-2014. From 1998-2009, Dr. Chance was on faculty at UNLV, during which time she served as program coordinator for PK-12 Education Leadership. She has also provided leadership in PK-12 schools as a building-level principal, assistant principal, and coordinator for K-12 gifted education programs and has taught at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels.

Dr. Chance is author and co-author of three books. Her second edition of An Introduction to Educational Leadership and Organizational Behavior: Theory into Practice, an introductory text for educational administration, was released in February 2009. She served as editor of The Rural Educator, a national, refereed journal, for seven years, and currently sits on editorial boards for several national journals devoted to educational leadership. Her areas of interest and expertise include instructional leadership, supervision, school and curriculum improvement, and organizational behavior and leadership theory. She has published articles and chapters related to instructional supervision, educational administration preparation programs, and leading for systemic change.