Dr. Vega received her B.A. in Psychology from Binghamton University-State University of New York (SUNY) and her M.A. and Ph.D. in School Psychology from The Ohio State University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship in the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) district through the Nebraska Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology, an APA-accredited and APPIC-approved internship program. Dr. Vega worked as a bilingual school psychologist at OPS from 2010-2013. Before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona, she was a faculty member in the School Psychology program at Texas State University from 2013-2016.
Dr. Vega’s research focuses on three primary areas: 1) Understanding bilingual school psychology training and practice; 2) Preparing school psychologists for culturally competent assessment and intervention practice; and 3) Building collaborations to advance college access and persistence. Dr. Vega served as a co-principal investigator on the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, $1.03 million, 5-year grant at Texas State University. Recently, she was awarded a Spencer Foundation grant ($49,828) to examine school psychologists’ assessment practices with bilingual students within the context of Arizona’s restrictive English-only legislation.
Dr. Vega is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award from the Graduate College (2021), the New Leader Award from the College of Education and Human Ecology Alumni Office, The Ohio State University (2023), and the Presidential Award for Exceptional Service to Children and School Psychology from the National Association of School Psychologists (2023).
