UCUAAC Elects UCR Advisor as Next Vice Chair

by Mark Manalang

The voting members of the University of California Academic Advising Council (UCUAAC) elected Deisy Vaca, Assistant Director of Student Success at the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, as its next Vice Chair for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The Vice Chair serves as second-in-command for UCUAAC, an organization formally chartered in 2019 with a mission to advance academic advising throughout the 9-campus UC system through student success advocacy, exploring innovations in academic advising, and providing professional development opportunities to advisors.

With her election by the nearly 100-member voting body made up of academic advising administrators across the UCs, Vaca begins a two-year leadership commitment. She will step in as Vice Chair on August 31st, then will assume the Chair position in a year’s time. She will not only serve as part of UCUAAC leadership, but will represent the council in system-wide academic advising matters and facilitate bi-annual meetings.

A first-generation college student and the child of Mexican immigrant parents, Vaca earned her B.A. in Psychology/Law & Society from UCR and her M.S. in Educational Counseling from California State University San Bernardino.

Her first exposure to academic advising was as an advising office student assistant at UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering. She went on to work as an advisor for the UCR History department, then later the Multidisciplinary unit. She worked for three years at the UC Irvine School of Social Ecology, where she managed their Peer Academic Advising program. She returned to UCR at the School of Public Policy in 2018, and established the first Peer Academic Advising Program on campus.

In her role as Vice Chair, Vaca will work closely with the current Chair, Daniella Primavera, whom she worked with during her time as an advisor at UCI.

“It's a full-circle moment to now be teaming up as Chair and Vice Chair,” Vaca said.

Primavera’s vision for the coming school year is “Connection, collaboration, and leveraging the collective expertise within this group so we can all grow together.” Vaca said her vision is similar to Primavera’s. However she said, “I'd add a focus on strengthening our collective advocacy, so advisors across every campus have a stronger voice in shaping student success."

Vaca’s election also comes at a time when the next annual UC Academic Advising Conference (UCAAC) is set to take place at UCR in Spring 2027. Next in line to host as part of a rotation schedule among the nine campuses, UCR previously planned to hold the event in 2026, but had to postpone it due to budget constraints.

“We’re hopeful this extra time will actually boost advisor participation,” Vaca said. “In the meantime, our planning committee is working hard to put together an event that’s both informative and fun, and that gives attendees a real taste of everything UCR has to offer.”

The 2027 conference, which will be held April 26 to 28, 2027, will focus on the theme, “Advisors on a Mission: Cultivating Student Mobility through Academic Advising.”

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About the UCR School of Public Policy
Established in 2015, the UCR School of Public Policy (SPP) is one of only four public policy schools in the 10-campus UC system. It is home to the only Master of Public Policy (MPP) program offered by a major research university in inland Southern California, as well as the only undergraduate public policy program in the ten-campus University of California system. It also offers a BA/MPP program that allows students to earn both degrees in five years. 

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