Mayra Olivares-Urueta, Ph.D., serves as Executive in Residence in the Higher Education program at the University of North Texas. In this role, she is part of the faculty, teaching master’s and doctoral level higher education students, and directs the Bill J. Priest Center for Community College Education. Prior to UNT. Dr. OU was an associate professor of professional practice in the higher education leadership program and coordinator of the master’s program at Texas Christian University. In her last role in Student Affairs administration,  Mayra served as Vice President for Student Development Services at Tarrant County College (TCC) Northeast Campus.

Dr. Olivares-Urueta has served as a recruiter, student life coordinator, academic instructor, registrar, researcher, and executive administrator. Additionally, she has held administrative roles for research projects through the University of North Texas’s Latino Family College Access Program and nationally through the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). Dr. Olivares-Urueta’s research focuses on the success of minoritized students, with an emphasis on Latinx students, and on infusing anti-deficit narratives into higher education about all minoritized students. Mayra is an active member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), the National Community College Hispanic Council, the American Association of Community Colleges and the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education.

Mayra understands that community service is an integral part of giving back, that we rise by lifting others. As such, she has served the community as an advisory board member for the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview School of Health Professions, where she also served as president of the advisory board. She has been active at the state level through the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education for which she currently serves as president-elect of the State Board and chair of the 2021 state conference planning committee. Nationally, Mayra has served in multiple roles with the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). Dr. Olivares-Urueta is a volunteer for Daisies Troop 1679 and is a dedicated mentor serving colleagues locally and at the state and national level.

In her time overseeing the work of conduct officers, CARE Team chairs, and deputy Title IX coordinators, Dr. OU ensured she stayed abreast of all national, state, and regional issues impacting this imperative work. She participated in the Gehring Academy in the summer of 2018 and that same fall, she earned a Campus Threat Management Certificate from the National Association of Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment (NABITA). More, at the college level, she spent some time as the vice president champion for the directors of student conduct and prevention education (responsible for conduct, BIT, and Title IX-related work). In her time overseeing and working with this group district wide, she facilitated important policy and handbook edits which aligned with Texas Title IX and Campus Carry mandates, but which were also more student friendly and educational rather than punitive. She also worked with the directors to upgrade their positions from coordinators to directors to bring attention (and better compensation) to the enormous work they did for the college and our campus communities. One of her proudest accomplishments with her TCC colleagues involves the implementation and operationalization of the TCC Emergency Assistance program. Directors of student conduct and prevention education were responsible for implementing the program and assisting thousands of students in the time since its September 2019 inception. This specific work has been recognized through awards bestowed by Tarrant County College , the North Texas Community College Consortium and NABITA. Finally, while at TCC, Dr. OU served in the Behavioral Intervention Team first as a committee member and later overseeing and being fully responsible for the work done on campus while she served as vice president for student development services.

Mayra’s work and impact on the field have been recognized locally and nationally. Most notably, in 2018 she was nominated and selected as one of the country’s top 40 under 40 women in community colleges by the American Association of Women in Community Colleges. In spring 2020 she was named to the 2020 class of the Aspen Institute’s Presidential Fellows Program. In 2021, Dr. OU was recognized as an Outstanding Alumnx of the UNT Higher Education Program.

Mayra holds bachelor’s degrees in European Studies and in Spanish and a master’s degree in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. In 2013, she earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in higher education from the University of North Texas. She lives in Arlington, TX with Alejandro, her husband and their daughters Isabel and Olivia.  She enjoys spending time with her family, running, cooking, and traveling.