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Vanessa Bogran Meling

Contact

210-567-5837

Meling@uthscsa.edu

Vanessa Bográn Meling, Ed.D., MBA

Associate Dean for Admission, Student Success and Engagement

Assistant Professor/Research

I have over twenty years of experience in Higher Education with expertise in student success initiatives, academic support for at-risk student populations, and learning center administration at private and public institutions. In my current role as the inaugural Associate Dean for Student Success and Engagement and Assistant Professor of Research at the UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing, I emphasize the use of evidence-based student success strategies, co-curricular programs, pedagogy with specific attention to equity, and to meet priorities for access and academic success for a diverse student body. 

The center for Student Success and Engagement offers programs focused on student success coaching, academic peer support programs, student leadership development, undergraduate research, and career readiness. Additionally, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, I implemented tailored academic assistance and student services to improve academic support programs, improve instruction by novice faculty to address the needs of culturally diverse populations, and increase faculty-student engagement opportunities – especially for low-income and first-generation students served by the School of Nursing. 

As a first-generation Latina higher education professional, my research interests and commitment are to postsecondary access and student success at Hispanic-serving institutions. My research agenda focuses on investigating the efficacy of academic support resources to increase student persistence and graduation among underrepresented minority students. 

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 2012 - Doctor of Education - Educational Leadership - Higher Education - Texas A&M University Corpus Christi - Kingsville
    • 2003 - Master of Business Administration - University of Texas at Tyler
    • 2000 - Bachelor of Science, Business Administration and Marketing - LeTourneau University

    Highlights

    Licensures and Certifications

    • Title IX Training provided by University of Texas System and Littler – 2021
    • Certified Learning Center Leadership: Level 3 - 2021
    • Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Certified
    • Quality Matters Certified 

    Honor and Awards

    •  2019 Rudy Gomez Staff Excellence Award.
    • Texas A&M University System Student Recognition Award for Teaching Excellence 2011-2012.

     

     

    Appointments

    • 2022 - Associate Dean for Admission, Student Success and Engagement - UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2021 - Associate Dean for Student Success and Engagement - UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2018-2021 - Assistant Dean for Academic Enhancement & Mar 2018 – Present Co-Investigator for Title V Hispanic Serving Institution Program Grant - UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2014-2018 - Director of Academic Enhancement - UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2013-2014 - Assistant Dean for Student Success - Our Lady of the Lake University - San Antonio, TX

  • Research & Grants

    Grants

    Pending Submissions:

    • 2022-2027 National Institute of General Medical Science Grant#:  Dollars: $ 3,709,542.00.Title: Carreras Profesionales: A multi-institutional program to prepare Hispanic students for a career in the biomedical research enterprise. Role: Co-I (PI: Patel, Fleuriet, Tanner) 

    Submitted and Not Funded or Unfunded Research/Projects: 

    • 2021-2025 US Department of Education Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program Dollars: $4,872,260. Title: Hacerle Ganas: Building Awareness, Supporting Transfer Pathways, and Graduating Hispanic Nurses in South Texas. Role: PI  
    • 2020, Funder: US Department of Education Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program. Title: Caminos al Exito: Co-curricular Pathways Toward Nursing Student Success. PI: Vanessa B. Meling, Co-I: David A. Byrd & Darpan I. Patel. Award Amount: $2,944,432. Time Period: 5 years. Submitted Grant Proposal Feb 2020 – Not Funded (Score: 98/105).
    • 2019, Funder: US Department of Education Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program. Title: SON Carreras Profesionales: Pathways Toward Nursing Student Achievement. PI: Vanessa B. Meling. Award Amount: $2,921,775. Time Period: 5 years. Submitted Grant Proposal July 2019 – Not Funded (Score: 106/106.33). 
    • 2018, Funder: The National Science Foundation (NSF). Title: REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduate in Nursing Science. PI: Dr. Darpan I. Patel, Co-I: Dr. Vanessa B. Meling. Award Amount: $356,326/ Time Period: 3 years – Not Funded
    • 2017, Funder: The National Science Foundation (NSF). Title: REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduate in Nursing Science. PI: Darpan I. Patel, Co-I: Vanessa B. Meling. Award Amount: $118,461. Time Period: 3 years - Not Funded
    • 2017, Funder: US Department of Education Title V Developing Hispanic-serving Institutions Program. Title: Realce Mas: Transfer Success Collaboration and Service-Learning Experiences for Hispanic Student Success. PI: Vanessa B Meling, Co-I’s: Dr. David Byrd & Dr. Darpan I. Patel.
    • Award Amount: $3,739,112 – Not Funded (Score 91/99.33)

     

  • Service

    School

    • 2020-present UT Health SA. School of Nursing Student Deans Committee/ Member 
    • 2017, Career Exploration and Progression Task Force, Leader
    • 2017, Search Committee for the SON Director of Admissions, Chair
    • 2016, Conference Planning Committee & Reviewer, Member
    • 2016, Spherical Branding Workshop, Participant

    Institutional

    • 2021-2022 UT Health SA, GSBS Search Committee for Associate Dean for Student Affairs/ Member 
    • 2021-2022 UT Health SA Institutional Endowment Compliance/ Member 
    • 2021-2022 UT Health SA Student Services Fee Committee/ Member 
    • 2018- present UT Health SA Behavioral Intervention and Threat Team & Campus Awareness Requires Everyone/ Member 
    • 2018-2019 UT Health SA Campus Climate Task Force/ Member 

     

    Service to the Profession

    • 2021, National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA) Finance Committee – member
    • 2020, Proposal Reviewer for the 2021 AHSIE 13th Annual Best Practices Conference
    • 2020,Award Reviewer for the 2020 NASPA LatinX Knowledge Community Award
    • 2020, Award Reviewer for the 2020 TACUSPA Awards and Recognition Committee

    Professional Affiliations & Memberships

    • 2017 - present, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
    • 2018 - present, Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators
    • 2020 - present, Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)
    • 2010 - present, American Educational Research Association (AERA)
    • 2010 - present, Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (HACU)
    • 2016 - present, Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institution Educators (AHSIE)
    • 2007 - present, National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA)

    Community

    • 2019 – present, Women’s Childcare Scholarship United Way Women 
    • 2017 – present, Board Member Adoption Priorities, Inc. 
    • 2015 – present, Children’s Teacher Wayside Chapel 
    • 2014 – 2018 Workplace Mentor Big Brothers and Big Sisters of South Texas 
    • 2015 – 2017 Foster Care Parent Baptist Child and Family Services

     

  • Publications

      Peer-Reviewed Publications

      • Meling, V.B., Loper, L., Berndt, A., Amezaga, B. (In progress). Effects of Academic Coaching on the Learning and Study Strategies of Probationary Baccalaureate Nursing Students.
      • Byrd, D.A. & Meling, V.B. (2020). Student success centers in nursing education: A case study example.Journal of Nursing Education, 59(7), 396-399. doi:10.3928/01484834.
      • Gonzalez, K.P. & Meling, V.B. (2018). Modeling an effective program for Latina/o college student success. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 11(3), 139-153. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.364.
      • Patel, D.I., Meling, V.B., Somani, A., Larrotta, D., Byrd, D.A. (2017). Summer undergraduate nursing research experience: Implementing a mentored based research program for minority nursing undergraduates. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 7(7), 37-43. ISSN 1925-4040. doi: https://doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v7n7p37.

      Invited Podium Presentations (i. e. keynotes presentations)  

       

      • 2020, “Listening to our Campus Hispanic-Serving Institution Leaders.” Panel Presentation at the Texas State University Hispanic Serving Institutions Forum. Virtual Conference. 
      • 2012, “How to Build a Rock-Solid Resume.” Keynote Address at the Adelante! U.S. Education Annual Leadership, 2012 Leadership Institute & Recruitment Expo. San Antonio, TX. 

      Peer Reviewed Podium Presentations  

      • 2020, “Student Success Centers in Nursing Education: A Case Study Example.” The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Diversity Symposium, Virtual Experience. 
      • 2020, “Promoting LatinX access and success in health professions education.” The National Conference for Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE), New York City, NY (Conference Canceled). 
      • 2020, “A seat at the table: Where student success meets collaborative grant writing.” The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Annual Convention, Austin, TX (Conference Canceled). 
      • 2017, “The Big Design: A peer mentoring program supporting underrepresented students in nursing education.” The 2017 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) conference. San Antonio, TX. 
      • 2016, “Innovations in education panel part 1: Research experiences for undergraduate nursing students.” The Annual Conference for Community Engagement and Healthcare Improvement. San Antonio, TX. 

      Peer-Reviewed Poster Presentations

      • 2017 “Utilizing qualitative data to design pragmatic solutions for underrepresented nursing student success.” The 2017 Annual Meeting for the American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Antonio, TX. 
      • 2017 “Enhancing Undergraduate Nursing Research Experiences with Mentor-based Training.” Western Institute of Nursing’s 50th Annual Communicating Nursing Research Conference, Denver, CO. 
      • 2016 “Enhancing undergraduate research experiences.” The Annual Conference for Community Engagement and Healthcare Improvement. San Antonio, TX. 
      • 2015 “Lessons learned from the creation of a student success center in a school of nursing.” The 2015 Summer Institute Engaging Patients & Professionals to Advance Clinical Excellence. San Antonio, TX.