Joyce was appointed as Community Outreach Coordinator for UC Davis Presents in 1986 and retired as the first Director of Arts Education from Mondavi Center in 2016.

She was the department head for K-12 and adult arts education programs and played a key role in opening the new performing arts center (Mondavi Center) in Oct. 2002. Critical to her success were Barbara Sellers Young, Professor of Theatre and Dance; Barbara Jackson, for whom Jackson Hall is named; and Rosalie Vanderhoef, Karen Karnopp, Nancy Roe and Jo-Anne Boorkman.

She served as Director of the Globe Education Academy for Teachers from 2006-2016 with support from Dean Harold Levine, Dean of the School of Education, and Patrick Spottiswoode, Education Director at London’s Globe Theatre. She was a member of International Performing Arts for Youth and the Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education. 

Her work on professional development programs for teachers and development of K-12 educational programs served as a model for other UC partnerships.