Zara Sibtain

Zara Sibtain is the Associate Dean of Westhampton College. Dean Sibtain has a lifelong passion for supporting students, with a particular focus on mentoring underrepresented populations.  At Westhampton, Dean Sibtain meets with students to provide individual support and guidance, serves as dean on-call, and helps to create and sustain our communities through College programming.  She is also Westhampton’s conduct officer, and serves as advisor to the Student Conduct Council and co-advisor to the Westhampton Student Government Association. Dean Sibtain spearheads the College’s communications initiatives, including a long-term project to update the website and overseeing social media, and works collaboratively with our partners across campus.

Prior to coming to the University of Richmond, Dean Sibtain served as the Assistant Director of Parent & Family Programs in the Dean of Students Office at the College of William & Mary.  In this position, she worked extensively with students and alums, broadened the scope and delivery of student and family programming and communications, and collaborated across the campus community to support students and their families during times of challenge and triumph. During her time at William & Mary she also assisted in the founding of the Office of First Year Experience, with a focus on new student orientation and holistic first-year initiatives. 

Dean Sibtain is originally from Lahore, Pakistan where she lived for fifteen years before moving to the Philippines to attend high school. After graduating from the International School Manila, she moved to the U.S. for college. Dean Sibtain attended Randolph College (founded as Randolph-Macon Woman’s College), where she studied Psychology and Environmental Science. Shortly after obtaining her degree from Randolph, she started her career at William & Mary as a graduate student in the Master’s of Higher Education Administration Program.

Some fun facts about Dean Sibtain: She speaks three languages fluently (English, Urdu and Punjabi). She hates wearing pants, including but not limited to: jeans, sweatpants, slacks, leggings and jeggings. Shorts are okay, she supposes.

To make an appointment with Dean Sibtain, please call Kristen Phelps at 804-289-8468.