Meet The Team

As the Assistant Vice Provost for Advising and First Year Experience, Dr. Tagher coordinates advising efforts on campus and provides first-year students with a comprehensive and coordinated experience during their first year at NKU, creating a sense of belonging that paves the way for success.

Dr. Tagher is originally from Louisville, KY but has lived in Walton, KY, since 2000. She started at NKU in 2005 and has served as the BSN Program Director, Department of Nursing Chair, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the College of Health and Human Services. Before starting at NKU, she worked at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Dr. Tagher received her BSN and MSN degrees from the University of Kentucky and is licensed as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Her doctoral work was completed at Northern Kentucky University, earning an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. Dr. Tagher has three children in college, one at NKU and two at The University of Cincinnati. 

She enjoys reading, hiking, kayaking, paddle boarding, and anything to do with the ocean in her free time. 

As the Director of First-Year Experience and Programming for the office of Advising and First-Year Experience, Amanda oversees the department's First-Year Seminar courses and corresponding events; FYE events and programming; and the Common Experience programs content and events for incoming students, first-year seminar faculty, and the NKU Campus. Our programs highlight needed academic content for student success, different resources across campus, and student success through engagement and campus connection. Amanda currently serves as one of the twenty-six Faculty who teach University 101: Orientation to College and Beyond to incoming students. 

Amanda served as a student worker in the NKU First-Year Programs department starting in 2017. While in this department, she helped with engagement, programming, and content creation. Before returning to FYE, Amanda worked for the Institute for Health Innovation at NKU as the K-12 Program Coordinator. She designed programs that brought Faculty in the College of Health and Human Services and related health fields to students across the tri-state. Amanda returned in April of 2022 as the Engagement Coordinator and Common Experience Program Manager. She created successful Victorfest events for the department and designed content for Faculty using the Common Read book Weapons of Math Destruction. 

Amanda graduated from NKU in 2019 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies and Anthropology. As an undergraduate, Amanda researched the burial practices of Iron Age bog bodies. She presented her findings at multiple conferences, in classrooms, and at a Scripps Howard Six@Six Lecture Series. As a graduate student, she focused on cultural communication and how individual life narratives influence our identity and reception of the world we live in. Amanda graduated from NKU with a Master of Arts in Communication and a Master of Arts Communication Teaching Certificate in 2022.

In her time, she loves the outdoors, traveling, listening to music, reading books, and being with her family and friends. She is from Owenton, KY, and now lives in Florence, KY, with her family.

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."– Maya Angelou.

Mike leads the first-year peer mentoring efforts on campus through the direction of the Peer Coach program in the First-Year Student Success Hub. In addition, he supports at-risk students through programming efforts and advances coordinated care processes across campus using EAB Navigate.

In his ten years at NKU, he has spent time as a Hall Director in University Housing (2012-16), a First-Year Exploratory Advisor in (formerly) Norse Advising (2016-2021), and transitioned to his new role in January of 2022. He also previously taught FYE’s first-year seminar, UNV 101, and has experience in Student Activities at a previous institution.

Mike earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies at Hope College (graduated in 2010) and a Master’s Degree in Leadership in Student Affairs at the University of St Thomas (graduated in 2012).

His academic interests are spotlighted through his program’s role of peer mentoring in student success, particularly in the context of advising/first-year experience. He will be co-presenting at NACADA in October about the role of the Peer Mentor in student success – “Peer Mentors: From Sidekick to Super Hero.”

Mike lives in Cincinnati, OH, with his wife (Krista) and two sons, Reed (2 years old) and Liam (1-year-old). A favorite quote of his: 

“Be curious, not judgmental” – Walt Whitman

Megan LaDow is the Coordinator of Advising Programs. In this position, Megan coordinates the Master Advisor program, oversees professional development for academic advisors on campus, and provides leadership for New Student Orientation for the First Year Student Success Hub.

Megan has been at NKU since 2014 and previously advised students in English, History, and Geography. Before NKU, Megan’s higher education experience included working in admissions at Thomas More University and student success and retention at Xavier University.

Megan earned a Bachelor’s degree in history and International Studies at Thomas More University and a Master’s degree in School Counseling from Xavier University. She and her family live in Independence, Kentucky.

Frank serves as the Director for the First Year Student Success Hub at NKU, supporting our incoming first-year students' holistic transition from high school to college. Frank has been at NKU since 2007, previously served as an academic advisor in the College of Business, and currently serves on numerous committees on campus. 

Before service at NKU, Frank worked in Downers Grove, Illinois, as an Operations Manager for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions and at Anderson University in Indiana as a Transfer Admissions Counselor. Frank has over 20 years of higher education experience, specializing in business management practices and diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives. 

Frank received a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1999 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership in 2003 from Lewis University and currently serves as an adjunct instructor for the Organizational Leadership department at NKU. 

In his time at NKU, Frank has won such accolades as the Dean's Citation Award for Outstanding Citizenship (2012-13), NKU Outstanding Advising Award (2015), Outstanding Advisor for the Local Phi Beta Lambda Chapter for Kentucky (2015), and Outstanding Staff Member from the NKU Black Faculty and Staff Association in 2018. 

Frank published an article that captured the mission of FYE before its inception. With his insight concerning the transition from high school to college in 2018, our students found pertinent information as they came to NKU and sought degree success. Find the article here.

Outside of work, Frank enjoys spending time with family, cooking and grilling, attending church, and visiting fun places in the Cincinnati region and beyond.

Rose came to NKU from Thomas More College (now Thomas More University) in 2002. Between these two universities, she has had the pleasure of working with, getting to know, and helping students of all ages and from many different locations and countries since 1977. Although she is the assistant for the Advising & First Year Experience (FYE) team, she also assists the UCAP (University Connect and Persist) office staff and visitors. Rose has been with the Advising and First Year Experience team since 2021. ‘It is always exciting for me to see new students arriving at NKU – each with their own story and journey. I am glad to be in a position where I can help them along their way, hoping to make their experience at NKU the best possible!’