Dr. Olcay Yavuz is an Assistant Professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy
Studies Department. His focus is on the framework for building high-quality professional learning
systems, designing comprehensive student services, program evaluation and educational leadership
for school improvement.
Dr. Yavuz earned his doctorate in Teacher Leadership from Rutgers State University. He
also received his Master of School Counseling from New York Institute of Technology and
obtained his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Science Education. Prior to coming to
SCSU, He spent the first twelve years of his professional career as an educational leader,
supervisor, counselor and math teacher in K-12 public schools. Dr. Yavuz holds K-12 Supervisor
Standard Certificate, Director of K-12 School Counseling Services Standard Certificate, as well as
K-12 Standard Mathematics Teaching and Professional School Counseling Certifications.
Prior to joining the faculty at Southern, Dr. Yavuz taught graduate level courses at New
York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. He also
worked at Rutgers State University as a project manager of “College and Career Readiness for All
Initiative”. Through his scholarship, Dr. Yavuz has been training educational leaders, policy
makers, teachers, counselors and other key stakeholders to design, lead and evaluate research
supported college and career readiness programs. Currently, he is working on designing the Global
Research Center for College, Career and Life Readiness at Southern to support high-poverty urban
schools in the United States and around the world.
Dr. Yavuz perceives the low academic achievement and lack of college readiness of
underprivileged, minority and/or low-income urban students to be a social justice issue of the 21st
century. Regardless of a student’s socio economic status, race, ethnicity, gender, language
background, or disability status, Dr. Yavuz’s comprehensive student support services model aims
to improve every student’s academic achievement, college and career readiness as well as
personal-social and emotional development. Dr. Yavuz has presented his research studies and
comprehensive college and career readiness model at numerous international, national, state and
district conferences including AERA, NERA, ACES, ASCA, College Board, NJCSA, AMTNJ,
NJSBE, NJSCA, NYSSCA and NJACAC.