Dr. Arias is Vice President, Chief Development Officer, for the Center for Applied Linguistics. She oversees CAL’s development office, enhancing CAL’s processes for responding to Requests for Proposals to secure grants and contracts, strengthening CAL’s relationships with foundations, and supporting CAL’s business development initiatives in the U.S. and internationally.  

Arias also directs CAL’s professional development and online education activities, working closely with subject matter experts to continue to expand CAL’s offerings in these two critical areas for the organization.

Arias was formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of English with a focus on Applied Linguistics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University. She has extensive experience in obtaining grants from the Federal Government, and served as the Principal Investigator for three Title VII Doctoral Programs, three Educational teacher preparation grants, one research grant from the National Institutes of Education and one National Professional Development Program. Arias has also been engaged in seed grant activities with the Carnegie and Kellogg Foundations to explore the implications of restricted language policies on student outcomes and is consistently engaged in the proposal preparation process for both federal and philanthropic foundations.

In addition to her development expertise, Arias has extensive experience in the field of applied linguistics. She edited a volume for Multilingual Matters (2012) on the implementation of Structured English Immersion Programs in Arizona. She is currently co-authoring a volume of Research in Second Language Learning focusing on academic language to be published later this year. Arias’ scholarly interests focus on educational policy and programs for English Language Learners (ELLs). A recent on-line series of Teachers College Record published the work that Arias and her colleagues have recently completed, Teachers College Record Volume 114 Number 9, 2012.

Arias, a National Education Policy Fellow, has been a Court-appointed expert in many school desegregation cases across the nation, including Los Angeles, CA, Denver, CO and Chicago, IL. She was a federally appointed Court Monitor in San Jose CA from 1987 through the termination of the desegregation decree in 2003. She also served as a member of a court appointed panels in Los Angeles and in Denver. In her capacity as a Court Monitor or expert, she has been asked to focus on educational programs which promote equity for English Learners, including but not limited to bilingual/dual language programs, language focused magnet programs, advanced placement programs for native speakers of Spanish or Chinese, and International Baccalaureate Programs which stress language development.