Dr. Sandra Hamar, Ed.D. is a tenured, Associate Professor at Columbia College. She has a Doctorate in Higher Education; Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Effective Schools from Grand Canyon University and a Masters of Arts in Teaching with an emphasis in Science Instruction from the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
Dr. Hamar is a life-long educator with a broad career in P-12 public school districts, primarily as a literacy specialist. She moved to higher education in 2005 and joined Columbia College in 2017. Dr. Hamar started enjoying administrative responsibilities at Columbia College in 2020 by becoming the Chair of the Education Department.
A large part of her coursework is taught within Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships. She began her PDS work as director of a well-established program in the Kansas City area and has grown the PDS program between Columbia College and the Columbia Public School District. Hamar has conducted research in Effective Teacher Preparation. Collaborative in nature, Dr. Hamar hold membership on boards and committees focused on serving locally, nationally and internationally.
Dr. Hamar is also passionate about Education Abroad. Each year she leads a team of future teachers to Falmouth, Jamaica to teach in a local school. Hamar studies the shift in preservice teachers’ identity and self-efficacy after their experience, noting the life changing impacts even a short-term study abroad experience can have on future educators.