Mitchell is executive director of the Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP) and principal research scientist in the School of Public Policy.  The Regents' Researcher title represents the highest academic status bestowed by the University System of Georgia. It is meant to recognize a substantial, significant, and ongoing record of scholarly achievement that has earned high national esteem over a sustained period. 

Mitchell is the first in the Ivan Allen College to be awarded the title of Regents' Researcher. Previously, Nancy Nersessian, a joint professor in Public Policy and the College of Computing (now retired), was appointed a Regents' Professor.

The title is awarded by the Board of Regents, which governs the University System of Georgia, upon the unanimous recommendation of the president, the chief academic officer, the appropriate academic dean and three other faculty members named by the president, and upon the approval of the chancellor and the committee on academic affairs.

Helena Mitchell guides the development of the technology policy agenda at the CACP, a research center of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Her areas of specialty include spectrum management, educational technologies, regulatory and legislative policy, DTV, emergency/public safety communications, and universal service to rural and vulnerable populations.