Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs

Jessica Bates joined University College as the Associate Dean in 2021. Jessica’s responsibilities include overseeing academic and student affairs for all of UC’s year-round offerings and leading the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice efforts for the college. She works closely with the program directors and UC Faculty to provide academic oversight, including curricular design, admissions decisions, instructional design, and student affairs issues.

Before joining Tufts, Jessica comes to us from Northeastern University, where she was Senior Director for Academic Support and Student Services. In this role, she built a student services infrastructure across the NU campus network and was a key leader in the launch of two Canadian campuses. Previously, Jessica held the role of the Director of the University Honors Program at Saint Louis University, including oversight of academic planning, admissions, and assessment. Jessica earned a Ph.D. in Education Administration from Saint Louis University with a dissertation on the needs of nontraditional adult learners in college-level writing courses.