Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres has been reappointed for five years as dean of UCF’s Burnett Honors College.
The decision by Michael D. Johnson, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, follows a review committee’s 5-year performance analysis of Amin and the college. The process included feedback from students, faculty, staff, the Dean’s Advisory Board members and university leaders.
“Under Dean Amin’s leadership, the college and its staff have worked diligently to attract and develop promising students from all backgrounds to advance UCF as a model for student success, inclusive excellence and innovation,” says Johnson. “I look forward to how Dean Amin will guide the college to greater impact as we strive to be the University for the Future.”
Amin joined UCF as dean in 2018 from Austin College in Texas. Johnson says she has fostered a spirit of collaboration among UCF’s colleges and academic leaders in developing new ways to promote student success and prepare future graduates to thrive in an evolving global marketplace.
During her tenure, the college’s achievements include expanding the University Honors Program to engage highly talented students entering their second year; growing honors thesis participation to new levels; creating the Inspire Scholars Program to attract and benefit more high-achieving at-risk students from across Florida; and increasing graduation rates and fundraising. Also in recent years, the college — home to UCF’s Office of Prestigious Awards — has been instrumental in boosting the number and scope of top national awards earned by students across the university.
On the national level, Amin co-leads efforts with other honors deans in the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) to advance ways to serve some of the nation’s most promising students, with a particular focus on social mobility.
“I am grateful to serve as dean of the Burnett Honors College and for the opportunity to support our students in unleashing their potential and achieving their dreams,” Amin says. “Our students are making an incredible impact in graduate schools, with employers and in the regions in which they live. I join our outstanding staff and faculty in looking forward to how our scholars will further distinguish themselves and UCF as corporate, community and global citizens.”
