Academic Affairs

Mary Leppe

Senior Executive Assistant

Mary Leppe is the Senior Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Mary joined Valencia as an Administrative Assistant within in the Institutional Effectiveness and Planning department in 2013 and took over the role of Executive Assistant to the VP of Academic Affairs in September, 2014.

After moving from New York to Florida with her husband in 1985, Mary went to work for the Walt Disney World Company where she worked for 25 years in various areas including, Convention Sales, Special Events, Operations, Entertainment, and Catered Events. In 2010 Mary went to work at the Central Florida Urban League and enjoyed her work in the non-profit sector providing services such as youth development, economic services, and workforce development for their clients.

Mary’s love for animals has kept her very busy for over 10 years by volunteering hundreds of hours fostering and finding homes for countless orphaned canine and feline friends.

Dr. Nasser Hedayat

Assistant Vice President of Career & Workforce Education

Dr. Nasser Hedayat is the Assistant Vice President of Career & Workforce Education.

Dr. Hedayat holds a Master in Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology, and a Doctoral degree in Higher Education Leadership from NOVA Southeastern University. He joined Valencia College in 1992 as a faculty member of the Electronics Engineering Technology program and assumed the Program Chair responsibilities for Engineering, Computer Engineering Technology, and Electronics Engineering Technology programs. In 2007, Dr. Hedayat became the Division Dean of Architecture, Engineering, and Technology at Valencia’s West Campus and since July 2011 he has assumed the role of Assistant Vice President for Career and Workforce Education at Valencia College.

Dr. Hedayat enjoys building relationships with both internal and external community leaders; building on current strengths, creating pathways for growth, and many other opportunities. He also enjoys golfing.

Wendi Dew

Assistant Vice President of Teaching and Learning

Wendi is responsible for leading the college’s faculty and instructional development programs for full-time and part-time faculty members, the broad strategy for online/mixed-mode teaching and learning, and the development and implementation for strategic teaching and learning initiatives.  In this and previous roles at Valencia, she has been instrumental the development and expansion of Valencia’s comprehensive, competency-based faculty development programs; the advancement of outcomes-based practice and program learning outcomes assessment; and implementation of quality improvement and excellence initiatives for online teaching and learning. She also has extensive experience with the design and implementation of student learning outcomes, curriculum development for all instructional modalities, course and program assessment, and evidence-based improvement across two-year general education and career technical education programs.

As a tenured faculty member at Valencia for over ten years, her work and research interests included grant-funded projects for the development of career-technical programs, integration of learning technologies, and the use of high-fidelity simulation in allied health programs. Additionally, she has consulted with colleges across the country on issues related to faculty development, program learning outcomes assessment, strategic planning, and the improvement of teaching and learning.