About

Dr. Ashley Batts Allen joined the UNCP faculty in 2014 and in 2019 became the Assistant Dean of Research for the College of Arts and Sciences.  In 2021, she was selected as the Associate Dean of Faculty and Research for the college.  Allen manages research and travel funding for the college and works with departments on faculty evaluation. Allen also manages several CAS programming grants and assists faculty who are pursuing external funding.  Working with multiple offices across the university, Allen evaluates relevant enrollment and retention to determine trends and potential areas for growth. Allen received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Duke University and graduated with her B.A. in Psychology from Wake Forest University. She was on the faculty at the University of North Florida from 2011 to 2014 where she focused on community-based research.

As a scholar, Allen is an expert in self and identity with her most recent research being in the area of self-compassion. Her research on the benefits of self-compassion for older adults, sexual assault survivors, and hurricane survivors has been funded by numerous internal grants as well as the National Institute on Aging and the National Science Foundation.  Allen runs an active undergraduate research lab—the Self, Well-Being, and Social Behavior lab—where she strives to engage students in the research process as they prepare for graduate school. Her students have presented over 70 times at university, regional, and national conferences.