Andrew T. Arroyo, Ed.D. - Interim Dean, University College
Harris Hall - Room 5192
804-827-1912
atarroyo@vcu.edu
Andrew T. Arroyo, Ed.D. (Higher Education), has 30 years of diverse experience in and outside higher education. Andrew began his career with a decade in community engagement, living and working in historically marginalized neighborhoods. During that period he opened two community centers, managed 88 units of low income housing and started a network of 100 non-profit community organizations. He then transitioned for a number of years to the for-profit sector, working as a fitness director and personal trainer both on his own and in a national chain.
After returning to school as a non-traditional learner in his thirties for additional graduate hours in Philosophy and his terminal degree in Higher Education, Andrew began his faculty career with appointments as adjunct, term, tenure-track and tenured faculty.
His research agenda has focused on Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and student success, with partners at top Higher Education programs such as Vanderbilt University, Ohio State University, Howard University and University of Pennsylvania. One of his five books, Black Women College Students: A Guide to Student Success in Higher Education (Routledge), was co-authored with two Black women doctoral students, and won a 2019 ACPA Research & Scholarship award. Andrew's most recent peer-reviewed article appeared in the Journal of Futures Studies (2024) and is the first to extend the MSI literature into the foresight literature.
Andrew's career in higher education administration began with a faculty director appointment in 2014 at a public historically Black university (HBCU). Since that time, he has served in two provost's offices in both student-facing and faculty/staff-facing roles with progressively increasing responsibilities. He joined the VCU Office of the Provost in 2019 as inaugural director for academic programs, and is currently Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
Andrew's four children range in age from elementary school to mid-twenties, and his wife and partner is a Registered Nurse.
