New executive director of iSTEM

Dr. Melissa Dagley has been appointed the new Executive Director of iSTEM (Initiatives in STEM). 

iSTEM is a joint effort between COS and the College of Engineering and Computer Science to improve collaboration in STEM-related activities.

Dr. Dagley has served as the CECS Director of Academic Affairs and has coordinated the NSF-funded EXCEL and COMPASS STEM education programs. In addition, she currently serves as Co-PI for two industry-sponsored mentoring initiatives, ‘Girls EXCELling in Math and Science’ (GEMS) and ‘Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Mentoring at UCF.’ Her research interests lie in the areas of psychological sense of community, first-year experience and retention, living-learning communities, and persistence to graduation for students in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

iSTEM has as its core mission to promote and enhance CECS and COS collaborative efforts on STEM education and research, with four primary goals:
– To bring coherence to the many externally and internally STEM funded projects at UCF.
– To increase grant and philanthropic funding efforts that support STEM education and related research.
– To position UCF in Florida and nationally as a hub for STEM education and related research.
– To improve the STEM pipeline and produce a better STEM workforce.