Rate My Professor Jesus Cisneros

Jesus Cisneros is Professor and Department Chair of Educational Leadership and Foundations in the College of Education at the University of Texas at El Paso. He earned a Ph.D. in Education Policy and Evaluation from Arizona State University in 2015, an M.S. in Higher Education Administration from Texas A&M University in 2010, and a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications with emphases in Advertising and Foreign Languages, Spanish, from New Mexico State University in 2008. Since joining UTEP, Dr. Cisneros has advanced through academic ranks to full professor and assumed the role of department chair. He also served as a 2023-2024 Provost's Faculty Fellow for Communication for Student Success Initiatives.

Dr. Cisneros adopts a critical interdisciplinary approach to education policy and practice, investigating the application of servingness at Hispanic-serving research universities. His research interests encompass the experiences of undocumented students, Latinx students, and Black undocumented students in higher education; the insider/outsider paradox encountered by LGBTQ+ scholars and practitioners; the stigma of illegality and marginalization of Latinxs; and humanizing research methodologies for undocumented students. He teaches graduate courses including Capstone Doctoral Seminar, Dissertation Research and Writing, Social Justice and Inclusion in Higher Education, Higher Education Finance, Higher Education Policy Analysis, Student Development Theory, and Practicum in Leadership. Key publications include editing 'Latinx/a/o Students in Higher Education: A Critical Analysis of Concepts, Theory, and Methodologies' (2022), which received the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Book of the Year award in the Edited Volume category; and co-editing 'Queerness as Being in Higher Education: Narrating the Insider/Outsider Paradox as LGBTQ+ Scholars and Practitioners' and 'Queerness as Doing in Higher Education: Narrating the Insider/Outsider Paradox as LGBTQ+ Scholars and Practitioners' (2023), honored with the NASPA Outstanding Publication Award. Other notable works feature 'What Does It Mean to Be Undocuqueer? Exploring (il)Legibility within the Intersection of Gender, Sexuality, and Immigration Status' and contributions to DREAMzone interventions improving attitudes toward undocumented immigrants. His scholarship amplifies overlooked perspectives, including firsthand accounts from over 50 LGBTQ+ scholars and asset-based approaches supporting Latinx/a/o student success.