Posted on May 29, 2025 by UTSA Today
May 29, 2025 —UTSA Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Heather Shipley has named Heather Trepal as vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral studies and dean of the Graduate School. Trepal, a longtime faculty member and academic leader in the UTSA College of Education and Human Development, will begin her new role on September 1, 2025.
“Dr. Trepal’s student-centered philosophy, collaborative leadership and her commitment to UTSA make her uniquely suited for this role,” said Shipley. “I’m confident she will lead the Graduate School with excellence and impact and help prepare the next generation of graduate and postdoctoral scholars and professionals to make meaningful contributions in Texas and beyond.”
As a senior academic leader, Trepal will provide strategic direction to elevate graduate education, support interdisciplinary program development and champion the intellectual and professional growth of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. She will also guide policy and program development, oversee human and financial resources, and advance efforts in graduate recruitment, enrollment and student success. Trepal will also collaborate with counterparts at UT Health San Antonio to envision new opportunities in graduate and postdoctoral education arising from the integration.
“Dr. Trepal’s student-centered philosophy, collaborative leadership and her commitment to UTSA make her uniquely suited for this role.”
Since August 2022, Trepal has served as associate dean for academic programs and student success in the College of Education and Human Development, where she oversees academic support for approximately 2,000 students across 24 undergraduate and graduate programs.
In this role, she led initiatives to enhance student success, academic quality, and operational efficiency. Her accomplishments include establishing standardized compensation for Graduate Advisors of Record and equitable funding packages for doctoral students, restructuring the college’s graduate advising model, and helping to launch the college’s Student Success Center. She also played a key role in the development of several new academic offerings, including the new undergraduate degree in behavioral science.
Trepal has also championed the creation of innovative graduate certificates designed to enhance professional preparation. In collaboration with the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, she helped launch the UTSA Bilingual Counseling Certificate training program to increase the number of trained Spanish-speaking mental health professionals. She also helped develop the Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Certificate to prepare counselors for integrated healthcare delivery in medical practice settings. Additionally, during a yearlong faculty fellowship with the Graduate School in 2021–2022, she led the development of a Graduate Certificate in Teaching to help prepare doctoral students across all colleges for future faculty roles.
Prior to her current administrative role, Trepal served as program coordinator and graduate advisor of record for the counseling department’s clinical mental health and school counseling programs. Altogether, she brings a wealth of experience teaching, mentoring and collaborating with graduate students.
“UTSA’s Graduate School is known for its innovation and strong commitment to supporting graduate students and postdoctoral scholars,” said Trepal. “I’m excited to step into this role during such a dynamic period of growth for the university. I look forward to working collaboratively with faculty, staff and students to enhance graduate and postdoctoral preparation and to support the development of innovative new programs and pipelines.”
A licensed professional counselor and board-approved supervisor in Texas, Trepal’s research focuses on behavioral health workforce training, supervision and development, culturally responsive counseling, professional advocacy and trauma.
Her research has been supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services, and the national Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She currently serves as principal investigator for the Program for the Integrated Training of Counselors in Behavioral Healthcare — Expanded Providers Project (PEP), a federally-funded initiative that addresses health disparities by training students in four behavioral health disciplines to provide culturally responsive mental health care in underserved communities.
A leading scholar in counselor education and supervision, her work has been featured in numerous publications, and she presents regularly at national and international conferences.
Trepal is a fellow and past president of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and has also served as president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) and the Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC).
Her many honors include the ACA Presidential Award, the ACES Professional Leadership Award, the Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Advocacy Award, the UTSA President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Innovation and Impact, and the Dwight D. Arnold Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Department of Counseling and Human Development Service program at Kent State University.
Most recently, she represented UTSA as a 2024–2025 fellow of the Texas Academic Leadership Academy.
Trepal earned her Ph.D. in counseling and human development services from Kent State University before joining UTSA in Fall 2004.
She succeeds Ambika Mathur, who will retire from UTSA on August 31, 2025.
The UTSA Graduate School supports more than 4,500 graduate and postdoctoral students through career and professional development, skills building and training, funding opportunities and community building and networking. UTSA offers more than 100 doctoral, master’s and graduate certificate programs.
--KC Gonzalez
— UTSA Today
Originally appeared in UTSA Today.
