Tabitha

Smith

A 2005 Alumna of UVA Wise, Tabitha Hackney Smith is currently the Associate Vice Chancellor for Advocacy and Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator. Tabitha joined the College in the Counseling Center in June 2011 and remains a Licensed Professional Counselor through the Virginia Department of Health Professions. She became the College’s first full-time Title IX Coordinator in November 2014 and joined the Chancellor’s Senior Leadership Team in 2021.

Tabitha has obtained extensive knowledge in matters related to gender and race discrimination, sexual harassment, equity, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. Additionally, she led the College’s strategic plan for Inclusive Excellence. Tabitha provides direction, oversight, and management for UVA Wise’s student-led Multicultural Center, Title IX, Clery, Violence Against Women Act, Youth Protection, Counseling Center, Disability/Student Support Services, and the Federal TRIO Program.

Tabitha earned an M.Ed. in Counseling & Human Development from Lindsey Wilson College, an M.A. in Human Services with a concentration in Marriage and Family from Liberty University, and a B.A. in Government, minor in Women’s Study from the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Tabitha is the first UVA Wise employee to receive the John T. Casteen III Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Leadership Award in April 2021.  She completed Cornell University’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certification Program in 2020, and the American Education Council’s Virginia Network Senior Leadership Seminar Series in 2023.