Beach Connection Magazine : Fall 2017 Spring 2017 | Page 8

• Faculty Highlight
Dr. Don Haviland
Advocate, Guide, Inspire
CURRENT POSITION:
Associate Professor, Educational Leadership Department
Director, Center for Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness
EDUCATION:
1999, Ph.D., Syracuse University—Sociology of Education
1993, M.S., Syracuse University—Instructional Design
1990, B.A., St. Lawrence University—Government
Yet finding his niche took a while, Dr. Haviland said. After 10
years in various roles in administration, though, he found
his place as a College of Education professor at CSULB in
2007. Teaching, he said, provides “the chance to mentor
students and make a concrete difference.”
In addition to helping produce the next generation of
education professionals, Dr. Haviland finds solutions for
best university practices as founding director of the Center
for Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness. Here, he gets
to hone in on his research, which includes assisting college
campuses in better serving their students and identifying
ways to promote the success of faculty members.
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BE ACH CONNEC TION
When discussing his legacy, Dr. Haviland expressed, “I will
be happy if most of the students I work with leave CSULB
ready to achieve.” Many Outstanding Graduates list him as
their Most Valuable Professor. Dominica Scibetta `16 wrote:
“Dr. Haviland personifies the role of a mentor and demon-
strates what it means to advocate, guide, and inspire students.
I am honored, humbled, and grateful to be one of them.”
This education professor, researcher and advocate, whose
proudest moments are seeing “a student’s expression
when new information clicks,” spends his free time
enjoying live music, jazz and classic rock. Dr. Haviland
currently is teaching himself how to play the guitar, “but
that might be why it’s not working,” he laughed.
As a piece of advice for today’s students, he offered, “The
problems we have today are interdisciplinary and complex.
Learn to work together and collaborate.” It is thanks to
professors like Dr. Haviland that students from The Beach
will be prepared to address and solve these problems.
CSULB PROFESSOR DR. DON HAVILAND met future wife
Amy Holzgang at Syracuse University while they were both
attending the New York school. Eager to return to the sunny
skies of Southern California, Amy convinced him to move to
the West Coast, where he began his dynamic career in
higher education.