Victoria Baptiste, Ph.D., began serving as Dominican University of California’s Faculty Athletics Representative on March 1, 2026. Known across campus as “Dr. B,” Baptiste also serves as an assistant professor and practicum director in the Department of Counseling Psychology. As Dominican’s FAR, she acts as the principal faculty liaison to intercollegiate athletics, supporting student-athlete well-being, academic integrity and NCAA rules compliance while strengthening communication among student-athletes, coaches, faculty members and university administrators.
Baptiste advises student-athletes on academic performance, eligibility and degree planning and helps the university monitor their educational experience. She serves on Dominican’s CARE team, administers the university’s chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma, the national college athlete honor society, and represents Dominican through several PacWest committees. She participates in the PacWest Governance, Appeals, Advisory and Faculty Athletics Representative committees. Before becoming FAR, she began serving as a faculty and staff mentor to the Dominican women’s soccer program in January 2025.
Baptiste joined Dominican in August 2022 as an assistant professor and practicum director. She teaches foundational and advanced graduate courses in counseling psychology and oversees the policies, partnerships and training experiences that prepare students for supervised clinical work. Her responsibilities include advising students, evaluating clinical proficiency and collaborating with faculty members and community partners to ensure that Dominican’s practicum program meets professional, ethical and state requirements.
Her contributions as an educator led to consecutive Dominican Teacher of the Year nominations in 2024-25 and 2025-26. She was also nominated for the university’s Melba Beals Award for Excellence in Diversity in 2024-25. An experienced speaker and trainer, Baptiste has presented on psychotherapy, culturally responsive care, identity-based stigma, interdisciplinary collaboration, mindfulness, effective communication and student well-being. Her work with Dominican student-athletes has included a presentation on mindfulness techniques for scholar-athletes.
A licensed psychologist, Baptiste founded Mosaic Psychotherapy Center in 2021. Her clinical work emphasizes evidence-based, culturally responsive and equity-centered services for adolescents and adults. She has worked with refugees, asylum-seekers, survivors of torture, children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, justice-involved populations and individuals experiencing serious mental illness. Central to her work as a psychologist and educator are the principles of teaching, mentorship and professional training.
Before joining Dominican, Baptiste established deep ties in the Bay Area with clinical and supervisory roles with Palo Alto University, Axis Community Health, Octave Behavioral Health and Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. She completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship with Marin County in 2017, working within the Support and Treatment After Release Program’s forensic track as well as adult mental health and crisis stabilization services. Her earlier clinical training included work with the University of Vermont’s Behavior Therapy and Psychotherapy Center, the New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma Program and the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center.
Baptiste earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Vermont in 2017. Her research examined stigma and the psychosocial determinants of health among underrepresented populations, including refugees, torture survivors and people living with HIV/AIDS. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in 2004, graduating cum laude with double majors in English and psychology and a minor in French. She also completed an immersive semester of study in Paris through the C.V. Starr-Middlebury College School in France, taking courses at Middlebury’s Reid Hall and Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle.
Community engagement and mentorship have been consistent themes throughout Baptiste’s career. From 2007-10, she led the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center’s TEAM SHRIVER fundraising initiative, which generated $30,000 over three years to support research and clinical services at the UMass Medical School Cancer Center of Excellence. She has also served in leadership and advisory roles with the Middlebury College Alumni Association, Middlebury Alumni of Color Community, Vermont People with AIDS Coalition and Empowerment Clubhouse.
Baptiste administers the positive.penguin.duc Instagram account, which promotes hope, encouragement and well-being within the Dominican community. She has also embraced the recreational side of campus life by participating in Dominican’s tennis lessons. Away from her professional responsibilities, she is a devoted aunt and pet parent to her border collie, Truffle, and tortoiseshell cat, Dolce.
