Valerie Eastman, Ph.D.

Dr. Eastman holds a doctoral degree in industrial-organizational psychology and teaches courses in that specialization area, as well as introduction to psychology, psychology of sustainability, psychological tests and measurements, and psychology and the law. She also serves as departmental supervisor for all undergraduate internships, which allows for extensive contacts with community-based internship site mentors and students.

Service to the Department of Behavioral Sciences is provided through Dr. Eastman’s role as supervisor of assessment. In this capacity, she compiles appropriate data and prepares annual evaluations of her department’s effectiveness in terms of achieving stated goals and objectives. As co-investigator on the department’s National Science Foundation grant, Dr. Eastman’s expertise in assessment is highly valued. Specifically, she has collaborated with her colleagues in the evaluation of her department’s undergraduate research experience, The Scientific Core.

Much of Dr. Eastman’s scholarship also involves the assessment of student activities. She has investigated the enhancement of high school students’ interest in psychology through the use of a “Psychology Day”, web-based internship supervision, and in collaboration with Dr. Regina Waters, Communication Department, student use of on-line advising resources and its impact on students’ relationships with their advisors. Dr. Eastman’s published works examined human factors and training in industry, such as user perceptions of office equipment and the impact of music and imagery on learning and attitudes in industry training classes. She has studied job stress at nuclear power plants, and has conducted research, in collaboration with Dr. Mary Utley, that examines pregnancy and employment discrimination, particularly during the application process. Other scholarly interests include psychology education and sustainability.

Dr. Eastman is the director of Drury’s 3-2 Occupational Therapy program, which leads to the bachelor of arts degree from Drury University and the master of science in occupational therapy degree from Washington University in St. Louis.  As a consequence, she advises many students who wish to pursue a career in OT.

Dr. Eastman also serves as a member of Habitat for Humanity of Springfield’s family selection committee, is the faculty sponsor for that organization’s campus chapter, and is a co-sponsor of Psi Chi, the international psychology honor society.  In her spare time, Dr. Eastman enjoys reading fiction and traveling with her family. She is especially fond of riding roller coasters.

Drury University faculty member since 1991
Professor since 2011