Dr. Tracy Mulvaney has been named dean of the School of Education at UNC Pembroke. 

Dr. Mulvaney’s appointment was approved unanimously by the Board of Trustees. She currently serves as an associate professor in the Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership at Monmouth University in New Jersey. She previously served as the assistant dean and acting dean of the School of Education at Monmouth. 

“Dr. Mulvaney brings an invaluable breadth of experience as a special education scholar, middle school principal, community college and university faculty leader and assistant dean,” Diane Prusank, Ph.D., provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs said in a press release. “I am confident her knowledge, dedication to public education and passion for cultivating new generations of teachers and academic leaders will further advance the School of Education’s mission and work.” 

Mulvaney was selected for the dean role at UNCP following an extensive national search and will officially begin her role on Jan. 16, 2024. 

“I am thrilled to join UNC Pembroke,” Mulvaney said in a press release. “Educator preparation and development is built into the very foundation of this historic university. It is an honor to be asked to lead the School of Education at such an important time for  public education in the region, state of North Carolina and the nation.” 

During her time at Monmouth, Mulvaney was part of an advisory team that established a new doctoral program in educational leadership. Additionally, she collaborated with school partners to develop a teacher residency program and led study-abroad trips to China and England. 

Before Monmouth, she served as professor of education and department chair at Central Arizona College. She also participated in a professor exchange at Northeastern University in China.  

A substantial portion of Mulvaney’s early career was spent in the classrooms of the Arizona public school system where she served in various roles including as a special education teacher, department chair, principal and district director of alternative programs.  

She also taught in the Pinal County (Ariz.) community college system in a historic HSI (Hispanic Serving Institute). Mulvaney earned her doctorate in educational leadership at Northern Arizona University. She earned both her master’s degree in special education and her bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation/special education at the University of Arizona. 

Although UNCP is part of a larger, statewide system, Mulvaney said she was drawn to the university’s ‘community heart.’ 

“That’s what I felt when I did my research and came on campus,” she said in a press release. “I was impressed with the constituency groups that I met with, in that, they were all student-focused. It is clear UNCP is 100 percent committed to student success.” 

Mulvaney said she aims to establish new programs, strengthen existing ones and support the state’s literacy initiative, which aims to award two million North Carolinians a postsecondary degree or high-quality credential by 2030. All of which she recognizes she couldn’t achieve alone. 

“I believe in shared governance,” Mulvaney said in a press release. “Our collective voice is much louder and stronger than individual ones. That’s the philosophy I have had in every role I’ve served. I seek to understand what the students, faculty, staff and regional school systems’ needs are so that we can work together for the betterment of public education as a whole. Collaboration is key.”