Dr. Amanda Propst Cuevas

Amanda is the Director of the Office of Appreciative Education in the Department of Educational Leadership in the College of Education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL. She works directly with Dr. Jennifer Bloom, co-founder of Appreciative Advising, to support and expand Appreciative Education initiatives globally. In addition, Amanda is a frequent guest speaker in graduate-level classes offered by the Department and either has taught or will be teaching:

• Introduction to Higher Education course (Higher Education Leadership Program)
• Student Development Theory (Higher Education Leadership Program)
• Appreciative Administration (FAU PROPEL Executive Leadership Academy)
• Theories of Leadership course (Undergraduate Leadership Minor)

Amanda has a passion for promoting and encouraging college student thriving and organizational excellence. She is an engaging presenter on the topic of Appreciative Advising and values the opportunity to train faculty, professional advisors, student affairs administrators, and educators across the globe about how to infuse this theory-to-practice framework into their work. In addition, she serves on the faculty of the annual Appreciative Advising Institute, is a published author, and is an Associate Editor of a peer-reviewed academic journal. She has also incorporated the Appreciative College Instruction (ACI) framework into courses that she has (co-)developed and (co-)taught at both the community college and university levels.

Amanda brings practical administration leadership experience to the classroom as she has served in the following positions:

• Assessment & Research Specialist for the Division of Student Affairs at Florida Atlantic University where she designed and implemented a robust Appreciative Assessment framework.
• Founding Director of the Frederik Meijer Office of Fellowships at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) where she appreciatively advised students and alumni who aspired to compete for nationally prestigious scholarships and fellowships, and other related opportunities
• Senior Pre-Professional Advisor in the GVSU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Academic Advising Center
• Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and the Medical Scholars Program, one of the nation’s largest MD/PhD Programs at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign
• Coordinator of the Student Leadership Program at the University of Texas-Pan American.

Amanda received a B.A. in Communication Studies with Honors from the University of Texas-Pan American, an M.A. in Communication Studies with a minor in Student Affairs from Texas State University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education with an emphasis in College Student Success from Azusa Pacific University.