College of Arts and Sciences

Heather Bauer is a native of Indiana and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University in 2011. She earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Ball State University in 2013. Currently Heather has worked at the University of Southern Indiana for the past 5 years as the Director of TRIO Student Support Services. In 2017, she was named Outstanding Administrator of the Year in the Division of Enrollment Management.

TRIO Student Support Services is a federally funded TRIO program supported by the Department of Education that focuses on serving students who are first generation, low-income, and/or who have a documented disability. She was the Principal Investigator in renewing the 1.1 million dollar grant in 2015. As a first generation student herself, she is passionate about supporting and advocating for students in Higher Education.

She is active in the USI and Evansville community. Heather volunteers with the United Way helping families obtain financial resources for college. She has also conducted diversity trainings for organizations in the area. She is a committee member of the Sexual Assault and Gender Violence faculty/staff group, the Financial Care Team, and the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council on USI’s campus. She serves as the advisor for the Students for Gender Violence Prevention group and was recognized as the 2018 Student Organization Advisor of the Year. In addition, she also serves on the Institutional Review Board and provides Substance Abuse Education for the Dean of Students office. She is an instructor for the First Year Experience, Success Strategies, and Career Planning. In addition, she has previously taught Introduction of Psychology and Public Speaking.

She is currently Indiana TRIO’s Secretary and has been the Scholarship Chair for the past three years. Heather has presented at the state and regional area on topics related to Overcoming Barriers, Suicide Prevention, Mentoring, and Meeting the Needs of Our Diverse Student Populations.

In her free time, Heather loves playing with her chihuahua Bandit, being in nature, hiking to waterfalls and kayaking, attending outdoor concerts, and finding new restaurants to explore.