Dr. Melissa Dagley serves as PI of the NSF-funded STEP 1b program “Convincing Outstanding-Math-Potential Admits to Succeed in STEM (COMPASS),” and Director for the formerly NSF-funded “EXCEL:UCF-STEP Pathways to STEM: From Promise to Prominence”. She is a Co-PI for the Girls EXCELling in Math and Science (GEMS) and WISE@UCF industry funded women’s mentoring initiatives. In addition to guiding undergraduates towards a successful path in STEM, Dr. Dagley directs the STEM K-12 outreach and teacher training initiatives for the Colleges of Science and Engineering and Computer Science and leads a fellows program for faculty interested in STEM education and education research. Through iSTEM, Dr. Dagley works to promote and enhance collaborative efforts on STEM education and research by bringing together colleges, centers, and institutes on campus, as well as other stakeholders with similar interest in STEM initiatives. Her research interests lie in the areas of student access to education, sense of community, retention, first-year experience, living-learning communities, and persistence to graduation for students in STEM programs.
In this role, Lisa Henkel leads the university’s strategic and operational retention efforts. Henkel is responsible for providing leadership, definition, and organization to the advising and retention functions of the university. In collaboration with the academic community, she implements growth and retention strategies for UMUC to foster optimal continuous enrollment of students. She has a student-centered philosophy, is dedicated to the holistic development of students, and brings enthusiasm to her leadership role. Henkel considers it an honor to be able to give back to her alma mater; she took her first class with UMUC in 1993 while serving on active duty at RAF Bentwaters, United Kingdom. Henkel has more than 15 years of enrollment management experience, most recently serving as the director of UMUC’s Downrange and Europe Operations. She was responsible for directing UMUC’s enrollment operations across Europe and for meeting the educational needs of warriors serving their country downrange with the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Henkel also established the first-ever Afghanistan graduation ceremony, to honor the inspiring accomplishments of servicemembers who finished their degrees while on deployment. Henkel earned both her master’s degree in management and her MBA from UMUC. In 2009, Henkel received […]
Luke Anderson is the Assistant Vice President for Communications at the University of Virginia. He is responsible for operational oversight of the university’s central communications office, and plays a primary role in stewarding institutional marketing, public relations, and issues management. In addition to proactively ensuring that communications align with strategic priorities and emerging issues at the university and in higher education at large, Luke oversees all business intelligence activities related to communications and marketing.
Molly serves as the primary lead on many SimpsonScarborough projects, working with each college and university to develop recommendations and strategies that meet their unique branding, recruiting, and fundraising objectives. She has built her career on sound market research and translating complex data into strategic findings. As a science junky in college, Molly learned the foundations of solid research and hypothesis testing. Combining that with her interest in psychology helped her find a profession that puts her inner nerd to good use. Molly has worked in market research for over 16 years – she knows the field inside and out. Before joining SimpsonScarborough, Molly worked in the research departments of WBA Research, Kantar Health, Community Analytics, and Court TV (now truTV).
Elizabeth is a nationally recognized expert in the use of research to drive marketing and branding efforts. With twenty-four years of experience conducting market research studies, she is an industry leader in providing strategic solutions to colleges and universities. She is an expert in survey instrument design, sampling plan development, data analysis, and the compilation and presentation of marketing intelligence. Elizabeth chaired the American Marketing Association’s Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education from 2007 to 2011. She has presented more than 200 workshops and papers at a veritable alphabet soup of higher education-related conferences and symposia, including NACAC, NAGAP, AMA, CASE, AGB, NAICU, AACRAO, APLU, GMAC, AACSB, and UCDA.
Marilu Goodyear has thirty years’ experience as an academic program manager, information technology leader and librarian. Presently, she is Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus in Kansas City. In this position, she works across the University to develop academic programs targeted at Kansas City area workforce development needs. Previously, she served for seven years as the Director of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at the University of Kansas which is #1 ranked by U.S. News and World Report. From 1999 to 2005, she held the position of Vice Provost for Information Services and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the University of Kansas where she oversaw the delivery of library, information technology, networking, telecommunications, and printing services. Dr. Goodyear holds a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in public administration and masters’ degrees in public administration and library/information science. She is a Fellow of the National Academy for Public Administration. She specializes in decision-making processes, service management, policy development, organizational structure, human resource management, organizational change and interpersonal effectiveness. At the time of writing, she was Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Program Development, University of Kansas-Edwards Campus.
Jenny Mehmedovic is an experienced facilitator with more than 20 years in higher education. Her current professional focus is on building peer mentoring networks and other active learning opportunities to foster faculty and academic leadership development. Mehmedovic has presented nationally on topics including leadership, organizational change, organizational and professional development, and working from your strengths. She provides professional facilitation to groups engaged in strategic planning, team building, and process improvement. Mehmedovic served as a faculty member of the EDUCAUSE Management Institute from 2009-2012. A 2005 Frye Leadership Institute Fellow, she holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Kansas, and bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and Spanish. At the time of writing, her title was Associate Director, Center for Faculty Development & Mentoring, University of Kansas.
Jeffrey L. Buller is widely recognized as one of the most effective promoters of academic leadership development in higher education today. He currently serves as dean of the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University, having previously served for more than thirty years in administrative positions at Loras College, Georgia Southern University, and Mary Baldwin College. On July 1, 2016, he will transition, after ten successful years as a dean at Florida Atlantic University, to becoming that institution’s first executive director of a newly created Center for Leadership and Professional Development. Dr. Buller is a prolific author, best known for The Essential Department Chair: A Comprehensive Desk Reference, Academic Leadership Day by Day: Small Steps That Lead to Great Success, The Essential College Professor: A Practical Guide to an Academic Career, The Essential Academic Dean or Provost: A Comprehensive Desk Reference, Best Practices in Faculty Evaluation: A Practical Guide for Academic Leaders, Positive Academic Leadership: How to Stop Putting Out Fires and Start Making a Difference, Building Academic Leadership Capacity: A Guide to Best Practices, A Toolkit for Department Chairs, and A Toolkit for College Professors. From 2003-2005, he served as the principal English-language lecturer at the International […]
Bringing 25 years of development experience, Anne Borchert has been a long-time innovator in the creation of investment strategies to educational institutions from the corporate, foundation, government, and individual sectors. Over the course of 18 years at Case Western Reserve, Borchert has provided leadership in management as well as gift closure. Based in Tokyo, she established a regional office in Asia, creating alumni chapter activities and corporate partnership engagements that led to over $10 million in international investment to the institution. During her tenure as Assistant Dean in Case’s Engineering School she personally closed on average $2 million dollars in gifts annually while managing a team which led to over $10 million in annual investment. As the head of Corporate Relations Borchert has developed a comprehensive approach to which has led to stronger industry engagement at the University in the areas of gifts, grants, and contracts. Her holistic approach has led to greater investment by the industrial community, between $15-$20 million annually, as well as highlighting the importance of the University in the economic development of the region. She has extensive international experience including an eight-year residence in Japan. Her first tenure overseas was in 1987 as an inaugural participant […]
