12.10.17 – Dr. Kimberly Walker McAlister was approved by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors as the next dean of the Gallaspy College of Education and Human Development, within which the Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Counseling is housed. McAlister will lead that department and the Departments of Health and Human Performance, Military Science, Psychology, and Social Work.
McAlister has been head of the Department of Teaching, Leadership, and Counseling since 2014 and was head of the Department of Teaching and Learning from 2010 until the name changed in 2014. She has been a member of Northwestern State’s faculty since 1998, holding the Dan and Lilly Chase Endowed Professorship in 2016-2017.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I accept these new responsibilities as dean of the Gallaspy College of Education and Human Development,” said McAlister. It is my privilege to continue my passion of education, working with department heads, faculty and staff to serve our students in reaching their academic and professional goals.”
McAlister said she was appreciative of the opportunity to lead the Gallaspy College of Education and Human Development, which offers degrees at the baccalaureate, masters, specialist, and doctoral levels.
“My goal is to foster continued growth in building each of our academic units, and activate increased collaboration within and outside our Northwestern community,” she said. “It a phenomenal opportunity to lead and work at Northwestern.”
Before joining Northwestern’s faculty she was a mathematics teacher at Baton Rouge Magnet High, Sulphur High, and Bolton High.
McAlister serves as a site member of national accreditation teams for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) as well as a state team member. She has previously served as a Board of Examiner team member and chair for accreditation teams for the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher education from 2009 to 2016. McAlister is president-elect of the Louisiana Association for Colleges of Teacher Education and is also the organization’s treasurer.
She has authored numerous publications for national and international professional journals and made a number of presentations at state, national and international education conferences.
McAlister earned an Ed.D. (Curriculum and Instruction) from the University of Louisiana-Monroe. She received a master’s degree from Northwestern State and a bachelor’s from Northeast Louisiana University.
Dr. Dustin Hebert, associate professor of education and program coordinator of educational technology leadership, has been named interim department head of Teaching, Leadership, and Counseling for 2018 while a search for a permanent department head is conducted. Hebert has been a faculty member at Northwestern State since August 2014. Previously, he held faculty and leadership positions at McNeese State University and Louisiana State University-Eunice and was a business and social studies teacher at Crowley High. Hebert holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from McNeese State and educational specialist and Ph.D. degrees from Louisiana State University.
McAlister’s and Hebert’s appointments are effective January 3, 2018.
