Northcentral University has over 370 active Faculty Mentors. Our faculty are academically qualified, professionally engaged in their careers, and trained to support online learning by guiding and stimulating the learning process in one-on-one interaction.

A majority of NCU Faculty Mentors have careers in business, education, mental health, or government and teach for NCU on a part time “adjunct” basis. Space limitations prevent us from listing all their names here or presenting their photos and biographies. Among the full time faculty of NCU’s School of Education, are the following individuals.

Aaron Givan, Ph.D.

Dr. Aaron Givan serves as Lead Mentor for Curriculum and Instruction in NCU’s School of Education and brings an extensive education background to the task.

Givan has a three doctoral degrees in three different fields. In 1978 he was awarded a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree with a specialization in Community/Organizational Development by the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in 1984 at Golden State University in Counseling/Psychology/Mind Science. In 1997 Givan was awarded a second Ph.D., this one in Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation in Education, from the Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Givan’s three dissertations reveal the breadth of his learning: Community Trust Building: Problems and Prospects among the Blackfeet Indians of Browning, Montana, (1977-1978); An Operational Theory of Wellness: A Diverse Dimensional Perspective with an Integrated/Multi-Faceted Model (1984); Learning Styles: The Key to Learning Strategies Management (1997).

Among Givan’s other educational credentials are a B.A. in Anthropology/Linguistics (1963, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill.); a Bachelor of Divinity (DB) in Theology (1966, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Mass.); and a Master of Counseling (MC) in Career Development (1989, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.). His research thesis at ASU further reinforces the point that Givan’s education is both broad and deep: Relation of Vertical/Lateral Eye Movements to Work/Vocational Interest Preferences.

Additional academic explorations by Givan include Advanced Pastoral Care Studies at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School (1972-73) and studies with the Association for Clinical-Pastoral Education (ACPE) at hospitals in Wichita, Kansas and Phoenix, Arizona.

Given this remarkable vita, it comes as no surprise that he remains interested in research, as well as teaching. One area of interest in his teaching and consulting says a great deal about him — bricolage. A portmanteau word, bricolage has specific implications in culture, in education and in information systems, as well as in art and biology. In cultural studies bricolage is used to mean the processes by which people acquire objects from across social divisions to create new cultural identities. In art, bricolage is a technique where works are constructed from various materials available or on hand. Perhaps most tellingly, in education the word bricolage designates a way to learn and solve problems by trying, testing, playing around.

Dr. Givan, who has Mentored at NCU since 2004, resides in Rolla, N.Dak. with his wife, Beth. His motto? "Working together for excellence in teaching!"

Dara Levitch, M.A.

Dara Levitch joined the Northcentral University’s School of Education team in the fall of 2004. She currently serves as the Assistant to the Chair for the School of Education. Her roles include, but are not limited to, the administrative liaison to Mentor Affairs and to the Academic Coordinators. Dara is also the Treasurer for NCU’s recently approved Alpha Delta Epsilon chapter of the Kappa Delta Pi honor society in education.

Dara completed her B.A. at Trenton State College (now, College of New Jersey) in 1978. Her major was Sociology with a minor in Psychology. She worked for a large corporation in the travel industry before moving to Prescott, Arizona in 1999. Dara began a M.Ed. in counseling program in 1999 and completed it in 2002 while employed for a non-profit organization.

Dara is currently working on her Doctor of Education degree with a specialization in Organizational Leadership. She hopes to complete her program in the Spring of 2009.

Heather McDaniel, Ed.D.

Dr. Heather McDaniel has been in the field of education for 20 years in various capacities — a middle school science teacher, curriculum resource teacher, professor of education and an educational consultant. She serves NCU in the capacity of Lead Mentor for the Instructional Leadership and Gifted and Talented Education specializations.

McDaniel was awarded her doctorate in Education, with a concentration in Child and Youth Studies, by Nova Southeastern University, where whe also earned an M.S. in Educational Leadership. She holds a B.S. in Biology from Florida Southern College and National Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Her association with NCU dates from April 2004.

McDaniel is also President and Founder of Education Strategies, a national educational consulting firm on a wide variety of “Best Practices” topics, including curriculum development, staff development, and grant writing.

A resident of Winter Haven, Florida, McDaniel is married to a middle school principal and has a young son. The family has vacation homes in Maggie Valley, N.C. and Prescott, Ariz. McDaniel's hobbies are many and varied: traveling, reading, fitness, golf, classic cars, antique guns, collecting coins and knives, playing the guitar, painting, gardening, and boating.

"I enjoy teaching online classes and try to make them as personal as possible," says McDaniel, who is known to her Learners as "Dr. Mac." She takes her inspiration from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original shape."