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currently serves as Associate Dean for Admissions, Student Success, and Engagement and serves as Assistant Professor of Research at ºÚÁÏÍø School of Nursing. She joined the School of Nursing in 2014 and has had several key inaugural roles including Director and Assistant Dean for Academic Enhancement. Meling has more than twenty years of experience in Higher Education with expertise in enrollment management, student success initiatives, academic support for historically underrepresented students, and learning center administration at private and public institutions. During her tenure in the School of Nursing, she led the development of a student success center offering tailored academic assistance and student services made possible with funding from a US Department of Education Developing Hispanic Serving Institution program grant. The Center offers a holistic model including student success coaching, academic peer support programs, student leadership development, undergraduate research, and career readiness. Currently, she has acquired more than $3.3M in extramural funding to advance student success in nursing education. As a first generation, Latina, Meling’s research interests and her commitment are to postsecondary access and student success at Hispanic-Serving institutions. Her research agenda focuses on investigating the efficacy of academic support resources to increase student engagement and persistence among minoritized students.

Dr. Angela Watts serves as the Director for Student Success at ºÚÁÏÍø's School of Nursing, overseeing the Student Success Center. The Student Success Center (SSC) The Center, led by a team of student affairs professionals, offers holistic curricular and co-curricular support services, including student leadership development, success coaching, academic support, and career readiness programs. Watts joined ºÚÁÏÍø in 2011 as an Academic Program Coordinator in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS). Her research interests include student access and success, particularly for first-generation, rural, and Appalachian students.  A passionate advocate, Watts' core values center on social justice and equity. With over 20 years in higher education, Watts' career spans housing, student activities, leadership development, and academic affairs.

currently serves as an Assistant Professor at ºÚÁÏÍø School of Nursing and a Health Research Scientist at the Audie Murphy VA Hospital. She joined the School of Nursing in 2022 and has had several key roles including interim director of the School of Nursing Biobehavioral Laboratory. Her research focuses on advancing the understanding of sleep and mental health disorders through the integration of 'omics' methodologies (such as transcriptomics and proteomics), phenotypic presentations, and clinical symptom assessments. The goal of her work is to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of these disorders, establish personalized treatment paradigms, and improve prevention and diagnosis. Her research has been funded by the United States Department of Defense, the Veterans Affairs Administration, Rockefeller University and American Academy of Sleep Medicine. As a first generation, Pakistani American, Dr. Mithani’s is deeply committed to education and mentorship. She has served as career and academic mentors for undergraduate and graduate students navigating their academic journey. Currently, she serves as director of the SUNRISE and New Horizons summer research programs funded by the US Department of Education Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions program grant.