Rozita Smith is Associate Director of International Student Experience and Retention at Arizona State University, where she leads and designs student engagement and success strategies focused on creating scalable, sustainable, and student-centered experiences.
Her work centers on identifying gaps in the student experience and developing systems, frameworks, and engagement models that strengthen belonging, leadership development, student agency, and connection. She has founded and architected initiatives including FutureSelf and the Explorer Buddy Program and has led the evolution of student engagement from narrower population-based approaches toward broader regional and lifecycle models.
A central focus of her work is student empowerment. She develops structures that enable students and student organizations to take greater ownership of programs, leadership, partnerships, and community building. Her work also spans program and organizational design, student engagement assessment, leadership development, team building, and cross-functional collaboration with academic units, faculty and staff, student organizations, alumni, employers, and community partners.
Smith also serves as Founding Chair of ASU's Asian American and Pacific Islander Faculty and Staff Association (AAPIFSA). She is the founder and principal investigator of Hidden Cultures at ASU, a CCI Catalyst Grant-funded initiative that developed a Cultural Ambassadors model to elevate less-visible international communities and foster student-led cultural engagement.
Her academic background in Learning Design and Technologies, Mental Health Counseling, and Guidance and Counseling informs an interdisciplinary approach to student experience design grounded in human development, learning, relationships, and systems. Across her work, she is particularly interested in designing sustainable models that empower others to lead, grow, and carry successful ideas forward.