Featured grants
- Martinez, Melissa A (Principal). Increasing college readiness and creating a college going culture: A case study of successful Texas high schools that predominantly serve low-income students and students of color, Greater Texas Foundation, State, $90000. (Submitted: January 1, 2013, Funded: December 2016). Grant.
- Martinez, Melissa A (Principal). University starts at home: A pilot program to help parents guide their children to college, Texas State University - College of Education Faculty Pilot Research Grant, Institutional (Higher Ed), $5000. (Funded: 2013). Grant.
- Miller, Trey (Principal), Andrews, Rodney (Co-Principal), Kosiewicz, Holly (Co-Principal), Martinez, Melissa A (Co-Principal). Part-time college students in Texas: Characterizing enrollment patterns, understanding the issues they face, and identifying promising approaches to promote their success, Greater Texas Foundation, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $295852.6. (Submitted: September 17, 2021, Funded: December 2021 - December 2023). Grant.
- Martinez, Melissa A. Latina educational administrators nationwide (LEAN)., Research Enhancement Program. Texas State University, Texas State University, $6000. (Submitted: October 2016, Funded: January 2017 - May 2018). Grant.

Featured scholarly/creative works
- Martinez, M. A., Enyioha, J. C., Marquez, J. G., & Baker, A. M. (2024). “I get Emotional About it”: Teachers’ (Com)Passion in College-Going Efforts at Three Urban High Schools. Urban Education, 59(6), 1905–1934. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859221089544
- Calderone, S., Lozano, M., Serafini, A., & Martinez, M. A. (2025). Engaging in plática and photo elicitation to explore cross-racial trust in a woman faculty co-mentoring circle. Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 18(3), 201–222.
- Serafini, A., Lozano, M., Calderone, S., & Martinez, M. A. (2025). No wom(b)an no cry: Contemplating wom(b)anhood as (In)voluntary childfree education faculty. In Experiences of Child-Free PK-16 Educators: Bias, Perspectives, and Assumptions (pp. 131–162). IGI Global.
- Buchanan, M., Martinez, M. A., & Pena, R. M. (2025). Mean girls in educational leadership: Overcoming incivility among women. In Incivility and Workplace Toxicity in P-12 Schools: The Causes, Costs, and Solutions for Educational Leaders. Routledge.
- Martinez, M. A., Guajardo, M., Rivera, E. R., & Saenz, D. (2025). Bearing witness to the loss of familia as Chicana/os/Latinxs in pandemic times: Finding community healing through testimonio and plática in higher learning. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2025.2519315
Featured awards
- Award / Honor Recipient: Journal of Research on Leadership Education Best Article of the Year, University Council for Educational Administration. November 2018
- Award / Honor Recipient: 2025 Outstanding Mentorship Award, Conference of Southern Graduate Schools. 2025
- Award / Honor Recipient: College Achievement Awardee, College of Education Award for Excellence in Service, Texas State University. 2025
- Award / Honor Recipient: The Graduate College Outstanding Mentor Award 2024-2025, Texas State University. October 31, 2024 - 2025
- Award / Honor Recipient: Friends of JCEL Awardee, Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. November 2024

Featured service activities
- Editorial Review Board Member
The Urban Review
- Editorial Review Board Member
Leadership & Policy in Schools
- Member
COERO Advisory Committee
- Graduate Advisor
Director of PhD in School Improvement Program
- Member
The Education Institute
- Member
HSI Community Council
