Currently serving as Associate Vice President, Instruction & Student Success at El Paso Community College, Dr. Paula Mitchell oversees multiple departments. These include Counseling, Curriculum & Instructional Development, Distance Learning Support Services, First Year Experience, Veterans Resource Center, Social Services/Mental Health Center, Grade Appeals & Student Complaints, Libraries. Open Educational Resources, and Student Success (Tutoring, Parent Resource Centers). She has been with El Paso Community College in various positions since 1979.

Prior to her appointment as AVP, she served as Dean, Health Career & Technical Education, Math and Science and Campus Dean, Rio Grande Campus, El Paso Community College. In that role, Dr. Paula Mitchell supervised more than 16 allied health programs as well as academic math and science courses. She has taught various courses in the nursing program as well as introductory health courses such as Introduction to Health Occupations and Pharmacology.

Dr. Mitchell holds a BS in Nursing from Graceland University (Lamoni, Iowa), MS in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin, and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration with a minor in Management from New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM).

Paula also served in a volunteer position as the Coordinator of the West Texas Medical Reserve Corps which was approved by the Office of the Surgeon General in November 2006. She served in this position until September 2014. She continues to serve on the Steering Committee. This volunteer program was established with the recognition that this region may need to respond to emergency situations such as localized flooding, hurricane evacuees, pandemic flu, or bioterrorist attacks. She also served as Chair of the El Paso VOAD, Voluntary Organizations Assisting in Disaster, 2013-2015, and was on the Board prior. She also served for many years as a member of the El Paso VOAD.

Paula also served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, serving as an OB-GYN Nurse Practitioner. She was stationed in Fort Leonard Wood, Fort Bragg, William Beaumont Army Medical Center, and at the 121 Evacuation Hospital in Seoul, Korea. She held the rank of Captain.

She is an active member of the Greater El Paso Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars. She is currently the Adjutant for the Chapter. She served as Commander for the El Paso Chapter from 2012-2016 as well as Past Commander for the Department of the Rio Grande, a position she held from 2012-2015. She also served as the Junior Vice Commander for Region 13 (2015-16). She has received the Chapter Merit Award, Outstanding Chapter Companion, Silver Patrick Henry Award, Outstanding Service Award,and National Citation for Distinguished & Exceptional Service. She also served as the Chair of the Phoenician Selection Committee for the Patriotic Education Committee at the National Level (2010-2016). She served seas a National MOWW Vice Commander-In -Chief, a position she had held from 2016 to 2021.

Dr. Mitchell has been active in other community activities, including but not limited to:
Treasurer, El Paso Commission for Women, 2007-present

• Past Commissioner and Chair, El Paso County Civil Service Commission
• Past President, Texas Society of Allied Health Professionals (TSAHP)
• Inducted into the El Paso Commission for Women’s Hall of Fame in March, 1999
• Recipient of the TSAHP Distinguished Services Award, 2013
• Recipient of the NISOD Excellence Award, El Paso Community College, 2014