Riverside, Calif. (July 16, 2014) -- Dr. Jacqueline Gustafson, a native of Washington, is the new dean of California Baptist University's School of Behavioral Sciences.

Gustafson, who began her new role July 1, comes from Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., a private Christian school of 1,740 students. At that institution, she was the associate dean for academic programs in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Gustafson worked at Northwest University in various positions for 14 years. She was ready for a new opportunity, she said.

"It was excellent timing. I think God's provision was definitely in that."

Gustafson moved to Riverside with her husband, David, and 6-year-old son, Abraham.

For now, she is busy settling in at CBU and the School of Behavioral Sciences, which has more than 400 undergraduate students and more than 300 in the graduate programs.

"My goal is really just to come and learn the culture of CBU and of the School of Behavioral Sciences and then create a plan for how we can take that existing culture and grow from that," Gustafson said. "I'm very much of the philosophy of wanting to grow programs out of the existing dreams and skill sets in the School of Behavioral Sciences. I hope that I can bring my skills to the table to help make that happen."

Gustafson, who also will be teaching Theories of Personality in the fall and advising graduate students on their theses, says education is her passion.

"Regardless of the specific class I'm teaching, my primary lens is that of an educator," she said. "We have the content, but I'll be thinking just as much about the types of students, how they learn, different models we can approach in the classroom, different ways we can innovate our programming."

Gustafson also brings to CBU an interest in global studies, which was her focus in her doctoral program.

"As we're studying psychology and how the human mind works and behavior is shaped, we need to do so within the context of understanding that we live in a globalized world," she said. "We have a tremendous opportunity to respond to that challenge and to help serve in the midst of that culture."