Dr. Heather Ortiz is the assistant dean for the School of Arts, Sciences and Health at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology. Her growing responsibilities and experiences at OSUIT include leading academic advising redesign and assessment, supporting early alert intervention processes and training, leading campuswide redesign of new student orientation and first-year student success course, promoting continuous improvement for mathematics pathways, corequisite support, and use of multiple measures for student placement. Dr. Ortiz’s school serves almost 1,000 students with over 2,400 students at her campus. Additionally, Dr. Ortiz currently serves as a systems- and state-level consultant with the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin for SUNY and CUNY and as an advisory board member for the University of North Carolina System Math Pathways African American Collegiate Transformation NSF project.
Education:
Ed.D. (Educational Leadership and Policy Studies) | Tarleton State University
M.Ed. (Educational Administration) | Tarleton State University
B.A. (History) | Tarleton State University
Past Experience
Assistant Dean | Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (current)
Systems Implementation Specialist | Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin
Dean of Academic Affairs | Ranger College
Doctoral Fellow | Tarleton State University
How has education changed your life/your family?
Coming from an unstable, low-income household as a child, education was the greatest asset and determinant of opportunity for my life. It opened and reshaped possibilities in my life that have promoted upward social and economic mobility. The benefits of getting and advancing my education have forever changed my life and that of my future generations, which is invaluable.