Erica Bender, Ph.D., is an Assessment Specialist in the Learning, Teaching, and Assessment team in the Office of Undergraduate Education. As a member of the A-Team, Erica helps develop and facilitate PACE4Equity, a cohort-based assessment coaching program for faculty-led teams from academic departments and programs. Erica is also responsible for developing and advancing assessment-related programming and resources for the campus community and cultivating curiosity around student learning on campus. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from UC San Diego in 2018, where her research focused on the institutional intersections of the military, the nonprofit sector, education, and veteran-focused social services.

Prior to joining Undergraduate Education, Erica was the Director of Undergraduate Academic Programs in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences at UC Davis. Prior to joining UC Davis, she worked as the Associate Director of the Writing Hub in the Teaching + Learning Commons at UC San Diego, where she specialized in developing interdisciplinary writing education and support resources for graduate and postdoctoral scholars. Erica was recognized with a UC San Diego Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award in 2018.