Biography

Nina Leonard, Ed.D., is the Director of Academic Success Coaching assigned to the College of Business within the Division of Student Success and Well-Being. Dr. Leonard has over a decade of experience in higher education, including admissions, academic advising, orientation programming, at-risk student initiatives, scholarship funding selections and appeals, training/development, teaching, coaching, and mentoring. Before her 10+ year tenure at UCF, she worked at the University of Florida, the University of North Florida, and the University of South Florida. Dr. Leonard graduated from UCF’s 2019-2020 Leadership Empowerment Program and was selected as the 2020 UCF Pegasus Advisor Award recipient, earning her national recognition by NACADA, The Global Community for Academic Advising. Dr. Leonard led her team in achieving numerous awards, presenting at conferences, and piloting new programming. In her previous role, Dr. Leonard oversaw all advising and study abroad services, including supervision and leadership for six professional advising staff members and 17 peer staff. This included reviewing incoming/outgoing exchange program applications, course evaluation management, catalog updates, and creating partnerships with departments to ensure consistency in policy application. Dr. Leonard revamped the Office of Professional Development advising services which increased student interaction by over 79% within her first year. Student satisfaction rates were 98.59% for advising and 91.67% for study abroad. She also taught freshmen seminar courses at both the University of South Florida (University Experience) and UCF (SLS 1501: The Business Edition). Her current role includes direct supervision and leadership for 14 Academic Success Coaches assigned to the College of Business and indirect supervision of additional professional and peer staff. Dr. Leonard is excited about this model in its efforts to allow Academic Success Coaches in all colleges to create meaningful relationships with their students through reduced student-to-staff ratios. There remains a strong partnership between the College and ASCs assigned to the College of Business. Dr. Leonard remains committed to supporting College of Business students, leadership, staff, and faculty in her role within the Division of Student Success and Well-Being.