Biography

Jose L. Melendrez has expertise in youth and parental empowerment in education, leadership development and alternative choices for at-risk youth. He is also an expert in social justice advocacy for diverse and multicultural populations, diverse perspectives in community engagement and empowerment, community organizing, and student and organizational development in education.

For UNLV's School of Community Health Sciences, Melendrez is responsible for coordinating and building partnerships with community-based organizations that provide internships for students and real-world experience.  He also develops recruitment strategies to increase the diversity of students in the school, which includes programmatic support for the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition and service with the Nevada System of Higher Education's Hispanic Serving Institutional task force.

Melendrez has served as a field instructor for the UNLV Schools of Social Work and Community Health Sciences, where he works with undergraduate and graduate students to help them achieve their academic and professional goals. For the university, he has led the development of the Title III and Title V Minority Serving Institution Leadership initiative, the Vice Presidential Diversity Commission, the Institute on Diversity and Social Justice, and as director of the UNLV Multicultural Center.