Dr. Carvan serves as associate professor in the Department of Interprofessional Healthcare Studies in the College of Health Professions. Her discipline is curriculum and instruction in science education, with an emphasis on both quantitative and qualitative research design. Dr. Carvan’s scholarship is grounded in theories of knowledge and action, leadership, and systemic change in higher education — knowledge she applied during a decade of administration and teaching within the University of Wisconsin System and for eight years at Marian University in Wisconsin.

Dr. Carvan has served as member of both the undergraduate and graduate faculty at UW Milwaukee in the School of Education and at Marian University. She’s taught curriculum design, assessment, and methods of science education for both K-12 and higher education, including education of science faculty. As a member of graduate faculty, she has taught organizational culture, organizational change, change theory and practice, research design, and both quantitative and qualitative methods.

As a member of faculty, Dr. Carvan also took a leadership role in shared governance. She was elected senator at UWM, and was appointed by the chancellor to serve as a faculty lead in the design of the university’s assessment system, and on a taskforce charged with addressing the academic concerns of students of color and members of the LGBTQ community. At Marian University, she chaired the School of Education Assessment Committee and served on the faculty senate Committee on Student Learning, as faculty and ultimately as ex-officio in her role as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness.

Prior to earning her doctorate, Dr. Carvan taught secondary science (biology, chemistry, and the earth sciences), primarily in multiethnic, multinational communities in Texas and Florida. She’s served in the former Ohio Department of Education as state consultant for science education and teacher quality reform, and in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction as the assistant director of professional development and licensure.

Dr. Carvan is a member of the American Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education and Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership. She earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Cincinnati and holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Texas A&M University.

Please see the accompanying curriculum vita for further information regarding Dr. Carvan’s teaching, research, and service.

Curriculum Vitae