Associate Vice President for Student Success & Academic Support
Yuying Tsong, Ph.D.
As the Associate Vice President for Student Success & Academic Support, Dr. Tsong leads programs and initiatives and oversees academic unit and offices that support students’ entry and access to Cal State Fullerton, remove barriers to their progress, and enhance their academic experiences.
Dr. Tsong serves as the Principal Investigator/Project Director for four Department of Education Title V grants totaling 13 million dollars, including Fullerton ASPIRE:Access, Support, Pathways, and Inclusive Resources for Everyone ($3 millions) and Fullerton RISES: Re-Imagine Success for Every Student ($4 millions). Fullerton ASPIRE aims to create and expand access and pathways to CSUF (e.g., Open House for Community College students and their families; dedicated academic advising for community college students before transferring into CSUF, etc.) and enhance support and care while at CSUF (e.g., deepening a sense of belonging for incoming students, Rising Sophomore Summer Summit , faculty pedagogy community of practice based on science of learning, etc.). Fullerton RISES aims to support students who experience academic challenges and those who are at-risk of being on academic notice through enhanced and holistic academic advising and academic success skills building. As of 2025, Dr. Tsong serves as the Principal Investigator/Project Director for Project upGRADS (year 6 of a $3 millions grant) and Elevar ($3 millions), aiming to support recruitment, retention, degree completion, and workforce development of graduate students, especially those from historically disadvantaged communities.
Dr. Tsong has served the campus in various capacities, including as the Director of the University Honors Program, Senator on the Academic Senate, co-chair of several campuswide Student Success committees and the Academic Affairs division strategic planning committee, and the campus lead of CSU systemwide workgroup and community of practice.
As a mixed-method researcher and a science-practitioner, Dr. Tsong’s research and clinical areas of interests include mental health disparities, body image and disordered eating, transnational family’s bi-cultural adaptation process, and help seeking access and promotions. Dr. Tsong’s backgrounds also includes clinical work in University Counseling Center as a staff psychologist, learning disability assessment at University Disability Support Services, and psychological services provider in community mental health. In addition to research and scholarship with students and colleagues, Dr. Tsong co-edited two special issues for the journal of Women and Therapy: “Trauma and Psychology Well-being of Asian American Women” and “Asian American Feminist Activism” and co-authored the first book focusing on body image and the Asian experiences globally, entitled “Body Image and the Asian Experience: Asians, Asian Americans, and Asian Diasporas Across the Globe.”
Dr. Tsong’s was elected as Asian American Psychological Association Fellow as well as American Psychological Association (APA) Fellow Division 35 Society for the Psychology of Women and Division 45 Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race, in recognition of outstanding contribution to psychology. Most recently, Yuying was awarded the APA Presidential Citation in 2023. Dr. Tsong’s national leadership included President of the Society for the Psychology of Women, APA Board of Convention Affairs, and APA Racial Equity Think Tank. Dr. Tsong is currently elected as an APA Council of Representative, the legislative body of APA, and is the Chair-Elect of the APA Women’s Caucus.
Marina Zarate
Maria Organista
Director of Academic Advising, Operations and Special Programs
Liz Gomez
Stacy Mallicoat
Shayna La Scala