Courteney Harris

Courteney Harris is the Assistant Dean for Career and Professional Development for the UNT Dallas College of Law. Dean Harris is a second career attorney. Immediately following her undergraduate education, she worked as a Legislative Assistant in the Texas House of Representatives. In her capacity as Legislative Assistant for the Chair of The Legislative Black Caucus (“TLBC”), she was afforded the opportunity to provide program support for conferences and other constituent focused activities.

Dean Harris worked for the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council for 5 years. While she enjoyed her work supporting various older girl programming - including those earning the Gold Award (a recognition equivalent to The Eagle Scout awarded by the Boy Scouts), she was eager to secure a role associated with the practical execution of public policy.

In her role as a workforce planner managing the administration of the job training providers grants portion of the Temporary Aid for Needy Families program, she acted as a liaison between Houston Workforce Solutions – a local organization mandated to implement a system of services that complement economic development - and organizations that trained customers to become skilled workers. She simultaneously earned her master’s degree in public administration. She participated in a year-long leadership development program managed by The National Association of Black Public Administrators. This program afforded her the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. and gain insight into the intricacies of Congressional policy making. Shortly thereafter, she enrolled in law school.

Dean Harris practiced law for 10 years. As an Assistant Attorney General, she worked in the Child Support Enforcement Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Subsequent to that experience, she worked as a Tax Attorney for a Texas school district.

Dean Harris recognizes the value of leadership development and building relationships. Since relocating from Houston to Dallas to open UNT Dallas College of Law, she has been a member of the Dallas Bar Association, completed the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Leadership Dallas program and participated in other leadership and relationship development programs and committees. Dean Harris understood the value in continuing to present herself as a persuasive public speaker in a non-legal setting. To that end, she enrolled in the National Association of Public Speakers – Charbonneau Academy.

In her work as both a committee member and current co-chair of the State Bar of Texas – Texas Minority Council Program (“TMCP”), she has developed professional relationships with attorneys throughout Texas. TMCP is a client development, networking, and CLE event for diverse attorneys in Texas https://www.texasbar.com/Content/NavigationMenu/ForLawyers/BarServiceOpportunities/FindDiversityResources/TMCP.htm.

Her multifaceted pre- and post- attorney professional experiences have allowed Dean Harris to develop summer legal experiences for law students and post graduate employment opportunities for alumni. The following link can provide specific information about post graduate employment outcomes.  https://lawschool.untdallas.edu/sites/default/files/placement_summary_final.pdf.

Dean Harris graduated from Xavier University of New Orleans with a B.A. in English. She earned her M.P.A. and J.D. from Texas Southern University.