Campus Leadership

Nina Coppens’s area of research is developmental psychology with an emphasis on health promotion, culture, community action, and program evaluation. In Lowell, Coppens served on the Board of Directors of the Angkor Dance Troupe and as the Evaluator for the Angkor Youth Dance Program.  Purposes of the program are to provide instruction in Cambodian Dance, increase awareness and pride in Cambodian culture, and promote health. The dance program received the National Coming Up Taller Award presented at the White House by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The Troupe honored Coppens with their Community Leadership Award.

Before becoming Dean of the Division of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Coppens taught for many years and held leadership roles in the Nursing Department at UMass Lowell.  She then joined the Psychology Department in 2000 and became chairperson of the department in 2005.  She received the Teaching Excellence Award in both the Nursing and Psychology Departments. Across the years she has served on numerous university committees and task forces.  Currently she is leading a collaborative investigation examining relationships between university students’ outside the classroom campus experiences and factors that relate to that involvement.