Mandel is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, and Research Methods in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas. He is the Program Coordinator for the Human Resource Development (HRD) undergraduate degree program. Prior to entering higher education, Mandel held various management positions with Fortune 500 companies such as Disney and JCPenney, as well as an administrative position with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).
While at Disney, Mandel worked with upper management to create a crew chief training program. He was the Television Operations Manager for JCPenney’s $30 million dollar television production facility. As the Director of Broadcast Services with DISD, Mandel’s team created educational programming for students and the community.
After entering higher education, Mandel identified the chair position as a key entry point into community colleges. Due to this interest, Mandel chose to complete a national study on the factors used to determine the teaching load for chairs in public community colleges. His primary area of research is associated with human resource development in higher education as it relates to faculty, staff, and administrative positions.