2025 Badge Summit

Dr. Jorge F. Figueroa is the inaugural Vice Provost for Curriculum and Strategic Initiatives at Texas Woman's University (TWU). He is a tenured Professor for the College of Professional Education in the School of Education. Figueroa provides leadership for curriculum development and management, undergraduate education, core curriculum, transfer agreements, university scheduling, and the micro-credential initiative. He supervises the first-year seminar, college readiness (TSI), and compliance with state and university policies for undergraduate education, the undergraduate council and the university curriculum committee, and the university course inventory. He also facilitates academic partnerships that support the university's strategic mission. Prior to the Vice Provost role, Figueroa was the Associate Dean for Research, Inclusion, and Innovation for the College of Professional Education at Texas Woman's University, where he supervised all research, inclusion, and innovation activities, facilitated international agreements, and developed and managed the COPE Emerging Leaders Program. Before joining TWU, he worked at Universidad del Este (now UAGM-Carolina) in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where he served as an Associate Professor of English and ESL in the Department of General Studies in the School of Social and Human Sciences and as Founding Executive Director of the Student Leadership Institute. Over his 25 years in higher education, he has worked as adjunct faculty at the University of North Texas-Dallas, Penn State University, Walden University, and Universidad de Puerto Rico, among other institutions, and trained multiple pre-service and in-service teachers in the United States, Latin America, and Europe and held several administrative positions. Figueroa’s research focuses on the intersection between emergent technologies and emergent bilinguals/second language acquisition with emphasis on extended realities (XR), gamification and game-based learning, culturally responsive/sustaining teaching, and critical pedagogy. His research has appeared in Contemporary Educational Technology, Educación XX1, Edmetic, the International Journal of Technology and Educational Innovation, NABE Journal, and Expert Systems, among others. He has completed fellowships for P3-EDU, the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership, the Executive Leadership Academy, and the New Leadership Academy, and currently is part HACU's La Academia de Liderazgo and  AALI-AASCU BAPA Academy fellowship programs.