Directory & Faculty Profiles

An educator at heart, I have been involved with education at multiple levels, throughout K-12 and higher education, teaching classes and leading various research projects. I have conducted assessment and program evaluation studies with higher education institutions as well as schools districts and various state agencies, regarding online instructional technologies, Safe Schools and Healthy Students, HIV/AIDS programs. I started my academic career in Ankara University, Turkey, while working on my Master’s degree in Educational Research and Statistics. Later, I moved to the USA to earn a Ph.D. degree in Educational Administration, Public School Leadership and Policy from The University of Texas at Austin. On a sunny March day, this academic journey led me to Phoenix, Arizona, where I worked with Arizona State University as a part of a team that wrote grant proposals and conducted grant funded evaluation studies. I have been with the University of Phoenix since 2007, conducting programmatic assessment projects, program evaluation studies and teaching research methodology and educational leadership courses. Currently, I am program faculty for Ed.D programs. I have been teaching research methodology and education courses with SAS for 5 years, while pursuing a dual research agenda about culturally responsive school leadership in K-12 schools and effective chair practices in online doctoral programs. I am a member of American Educational Research Association, American Evaluation Association and Arizona Evaluation Network. I have published articles about online student retention, student engagement and experiences of Turkish parents with the American educational system in Arizona.