Associate Professor of Education Cynthia Reyes, PhD, will begin serving as the Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs of UVM’s College of Education and Social Services (CESS) starting June 1, 2022.
“Over the years, Cynthia has provided outstanding leadership, faculty mentorship, and service to our college, the university, and the profession,” said Interim Dean Katharine Shepherd in her announcement to CESS faculty and staff.
A nationally recognized expert on English learner (EL) education, immigrant families and literacy, qualitative research methods, and teacher education, Dr. Reyes previously served as program coordinator for the Middle Level Education Program and as program coordinator for the Education for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Minor in the CESS Department of Education.
“Her stellar record of service includes eight years as Chair of the CESS Committee on Diversity Initiatives, six years as a co-chair of the General Education Diversity Assessment Committee, three years as a member or chair of the Faculty Standards Committee, and chair of searches for three tenure-track positions in Counseling in the Fall of 2021,” said Shepherd.
In 2019, Reyes received the UVM Alumni Association’s prestigious George V. Kidder Outstanding Faculty Award as well as the College of Education and Social Service’s Joseph A. Abruscato Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship. In 2015, she received the John Dewey Award for Excellence in Teaching. Reyes was also a previous participant in HERS, a transformative leadership development program for women in higher education.
“Her commitment to ensuring high quality academic programming, mentoring faculty, and engaging deeply with issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion will inform her role as Associate Dean and enhance the work of our CESS leadership team,” said Shepherd.
With an extensive background in community-engaged work involving the needs of immigrant families and diverse populations, Reyes’s research and service interests include family and school professional partnerships, digital literacy, and educational policy and language. She is especially passionate about work that is generative, creative in problem-solving, and community-based to effectively address the needs of families and youth.
In 2021, Reyes co-authored her most recent book, “Humanizing Methodologies in Educational Research: Centering Nondominant Communities” with CESS colleagues Dr. Shana Haines and Dr. Kelly Clark-Keefe.
Reyes’s current projects include collaboration with Dr. Haines on family and school professional partnerships through Project RAFT (Relationships between Families and Teachers). She is also a member of the Vermont's Ethnic and Social Equity Standards Advisory Working Group, which was created by Act 1 of 2019 to review and recommend updates and additional standards to the State Board of Education to recognize fully the history, contributions and perspectives of ethnic and social groups. This group is part of the Education Justice Coalition of Vermont, a statewide alliance led by a multicultural and multigenerational group including people of color from various racial and ethnic groups, anti-poverty, disability rights, and LGBTQIA advocates.
Prior to her career in higher education, Reyes taught in a bilingual (Spanish/English) classroom in a Chicago Public School and English as a second language in adult education.
The College of Education and Social Services (CESS) offers 19 undergraduate programs and 16 graduate programs across three academic departments. The College’s mission is to educate and prepare outstanding professionals in education, social work, and human services; to engage in policy relevant scholarship of highest quality; and to provide exemplary professional service within the state of Vermont, nationally, and globally.
Cultivating interdisciplinary and synergistic connections in education, human development, counseling, and social work, CESS strives to create a more humane and just society that maximizes human potential and the quality of life for all individuals, families, and communities.
CESS prioritizes teaching, research, and service through a student-centered, community-engaged, culturally competent, and collaboratively designed approach that leverages the interconnected nature of the schools, families, and communities.
