Aura Cazares started as Eastern Michigan University's dean of students April 1, 2026. The position had been vacant since the last dean of students retired in July 2025.
Cazares received both her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and her master's in interdisciplinary studies, marketing and communication from the University of Detroit Mercy. She recently earned her doctorate in community college leadership from Ferris State University.
Cazares was formerly the assistant dean of students at Oakland University. Most recently, she served as the the chief administrative officer for the Michigan Hispanic Collaborative, or MiHC, a nonprofit organization aimed at helping first-generation and low-income students through academic and career support programs and services. She manages recruitment, oversees staff, supports students and mentors, and helps to promote MIiHC’s mission, her resume said.
Q: How would you describe the position of dean of students?
A: I love this question. I would describe the position more so as a role. The role of a dean of students is basically the person that can really support the students’ educational experience. Unfortunately, it supports them when something has happened that may impact their ability to succeed — that’s the predicament. It’s not a role that a lot of people intuitively know what it means. People align a dean more so with our academic needs, like my colleagues who oversee a particular college, right? So the role itself is just so gratifying because you see the students when they need the most help. I think part of it is supporting students and motivating them to make sure that even if something has come into your path, we are here to support you and guide you.
[Some people] only just align [the role] with discipline and consequences, which, the job does have that — that’s a big role for us to have. But we also create a campus where people feel welcomed and that they belong. It requires for us to guide people when their behavior is not in alignment with our principles and our core values, but they get to keep their humanity and advocacy. How you are treated when you make a mistake really can project you to really see your full potential, or it can really discourage you and reiterate things that you potentially have always heard about yourself that are not true.
Q: What drew you to EMU?
A: Truth be told, this is a job that if you really like it, you search and you seek it, and these opportunities don't come about frequently. What drew me to the role was the opportunity to do the role in an institution whose values I can see myself in. I think there's value in having people who have outside eyes looking in, because you can value the history and learn and take it in while inserting ideas and collaborating.
Q: What do you see as the biggest issue facing EMU students today?
A: The same that is impacting all of the students in higher education: the way our world is in turmoil right now. It's heavy. It's a heavy time to be a student, and so I think that opportunity for me lies in, how do we support students, without sounding cliche? And really, in practice, in a pragmatic way. I think the biggest challenge right now, for both of us, is the same. How do we balance and acknowledge that things are tough without losing hope that we can fix it? How do we validate people's frustrations without making it sound like, "That's how you feel, but you're wrong?"
I have children in college and college-aged, so me, being a mother of a college student, I can wholeheartedly understand. So my role and the role of President Kelly, and all of us here, is to reinforce to you that you're making the right choice, that EMU is the right choice, and that you're pursuing your career. And of course, it's not just going to change your life, but it will change generations thereafter. That's the challenge, but also the opportunity.
Q: What are your top priorities for your first year as dean of students?
A: As a linear learner, I like that 30 [days], 60 [days], 90 [days], a year concept because first, in order for me to be able to tell you what my goals and vision are for a year ... I need to really get to learn the campus culture and get to meet people and get to understand what the EMU student experience is like. I have lots of ideas, and I've been at other campuses where I know things that are working, and that if I were to do here, would most certainly make your experience better, but the most important part of the equation is for me to do the homework in meeting with students and with my colleagues.
I think the short answer is that in a year, I would like for people to say, "You know what? I love my experience at EMU. Something happened, and the Dean of Students Office and everyone in Student Academic Affairs was able to help me through this situation."
Q: What is one thing students may be surprised to learn about you?
A: I'm a first-generation student. I never knew what a dean of students was. I just remember walking through the hallways of my prior institutions where I was enrolled and at times being afraid to ask for help, because I thought, "Oh, that person, I don't know what they do, and I don't know what they are," and sometimes, people seemed to be intimidating.
I would like for students to know that you will always have a no, unless you ask, and then you might get the yes. We can figure it out. ... My role here is to support your success, even if we're meeting due to a situation that might feel uncomfortable at first. I think I'm rather approachable. I think that what people might not know is that not just me, but all of my colleagues — we’re here for your success, so don't be shy or be afraid to say hi to us. If you have a question, just ask.
Q: What is a message you want students to hear directly from you?
A: I want to be aspirational and pragmatic at the same time. I want to say that everything seems harder when you're going through the process of getting a college education, because it is hard. It requires you to be, as people say, locked in when you are tired, and at times you want to really have a lot of fun when you should be studying, but it's all together part of your journey as a university student. And so I would say, I want to validate that. It's really hard to be a college student right now, but don't let the hard aspects of your journey obscure that. There's also such an amazing reward at the end of it.
