About the Executive Director

Heather Cartagena is a higher education administrator with nearly 25 years’ experience in student services including, academic advising and counseling, learning support, student success and retention initiatives, enrollment management, policy development, program design, and strategic implementation. Heather currently serves as the inaugural Executive Director of Advising in the Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

In this role, she facilitates undergraduate advising services across campus, oversees the UCI Peer Academic Advising program, leads efforts to establish shared advising policies and standards, directs campuswide collaboration between advising and campus partners, and serves on various campus committees in the areas of student success, data and technology, and educational policy.

Prior to joining UC Irvine, Heather worked as an academic advisor and central university administrator for academic advising and undergraduate programs at the University of Southern California (USC). Heather holds a B.A. in Psychology, a M.S. in Education, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration, all from USC.