New chief of staff appointed at UVU

Fidel Montero has been appointed as Utah Valley University President Matthew S. Holland’s chief of staff.

Montero has been serving on UVU’s Board of Trustees since July 2013. As chief of staff, he will be secretary of the Board. State statute requires that he resign from his position on the Board so that he can assume his new responsibilities on July 1.

“I’m thrilled to be part of this phenomenal institution. I live here in the community so I care deeply about the success of UVU. I feel that this university is the heart of this community. As UVU goes, I think the rest of the community goes as well. To be part of that is really exciting for me,” said Montero.

Along with taking over as secretary of the Board, as chief of staff he will supervise external relations, manage day-to-day staff work, facilitate communication and coordinate special events and projects associated with the office of the president.

He has been working as the principal of Alta High School, an office and environment he is bittersweet about leaving. Before Alta, Montero taught at Dixon Middle School and worked as assistant principal at Timpview High School (both in Provo). He plans to maintain and use his relationship with primary education to enforce the bridge between high school and secondary education.

“I feel that that is a unique value that I bring to the table – that K-12 perspective and really strengthening the relationship we have with them, in terms of programs, in terms of interaction, innovation and so forth,” said Montero.

Montero has been heavily involved in education in Utah, Miami, New York City and Los Angeles. He co-founded the Latinos in Action Peer Mentoring Program, consults on educational matters for Urban Learning Center, and authored a book about multicultural educational issues. He is a member of the David O. McKay Secondary Education Department Advisory Board and was named Educator of the Year in 2011 by the Utah chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education.

He  worked with Kyle Reyes, whose position he is filling, on the Paso a Paso K-16 education partnership, an initiative to acknowledge the needs of the Latino community.

“This university is such a unique institution. The community, the leadership, the mission that it has, and it’s so appealing to be part of that, and be able to contribute whatever I can to make it successful,” said Montero.