As coordinator of the Dream Success Center, she finds it very rewarding to help students make sense of their unique situation.

"I get to help students holistically on a variety of issues," she said. "I get to see them grow developmentally and academically, which is so rewarding in the work that we do in Student Affairs."

A full-time staff member since 2011, Encinas was an academic adviser with the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) and then with the Jordan College on campus. When she was a student at Fresno State, she volunteered under the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) and the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program (LSAMP). She earned her B.A. in Chemistry and will be completing her M.A. in Education in May.

"All my experiences on campus, as a student and staff, have been in student support programs," she said. "This is where I learned about the work of Student Affairs and my passion in helping students succeed through higher education."

Like many of those she helps, Encinas is a first-generation, immigrant student.

"Coming to college for many of us was not easy in many ways, both emotionally and financially," she said. "However, with the help of programs like HCOP, CAMP and LSAMP, I was able to get involved in many activities where they nurtured a sense of belonging."

At Fresno State, she says, she met peers who were intellectually curious and faculty, staff and mentors who cared about her as a student.

"That made a profound difference in my life," she said. "Through the people and services I found at Fresno State, I gained confidence and experience that helped to propel me into a career in helping students."

Since college is such an important juncture for an adult, Encinas feels that students need highly-skilled and caring individuals to help them along their way.

"I knew I wanted to strive to be that person for the countless students that we serve and I made it my goal to serve in this capacity," she said.

The Dream Success Center is a new program on campus and Encinas loves the collaboration in getting it up and running.

"Together with my leadership, the AVP of Student Success and director of EOP [Educational Opportunity Program], we are building the center from the ground up. This is very exciting for me," she said.

Her most important responsibility is to ensure that students are progressing toward a degree so that they graduate.

One of the resources she has at her command is the new degree advising tool. For undeclared students, she uses the degree advising tool to help them plan courses based on general education classes.

"For those that know they are in the right major, we introduce the tool to them and start helping them plan out their degree plan," she said. "Now with the degree advising tool, having the Degree Progress Report available to drag and drop classes makes it easier to do and it shows students in real time how to plan this."

Since her students depend on Cal Grant support to fund their education, it is critical that they proactively plan their educational road map so they maximize their funding, she said.

"This tool helps the student understand in advance how long it will take to graduate," she said. "If they see they will exhaust their funding after a certain semester and not be done with their degree, they need to plan accordingly to either up their unit load or save for future out-of-pocket expenses."

Encinas remembers helping a new transfer student who had only two years of Cal grants to fund her education.

"She was very nervous that she was not going to be able to finish her degree on time," Encinas said. "Together we mapped out her courses and how long it was going to take her to graduate. Lo and behold, she is going to finish in the two years as a transfer student."

In addition to her main responsibilities, Encinas is the chief financial officer with the HEAL Graduate Student Association. She is also part of the National Coalition Building Institute. She is a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the National Academic Advising Association, both of which help to inform her practice professionally and in a scholarly manner.

In her off time, Encinas loves to read.

"I mostly read non-fiction and really enjoy anything I can learn from psychology, sociology and biographies," she said. "I really enjoy authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Pollan, Brene Brown, etc."

Encinas has been married for seven years to husband, Art. They have a 2-year-old son, Damian, and a “very hyper” Boxer named Lincoln.