Don Good

My undergraduate college was a mid-sized state university. Though I'd grown up in church and I had always been "religious," no one would have described me as a person of real faith. But what happened in college was critical to my spiritual development. I do not have a dramatic testimony. I had no drug or alcohol problems. I never lived a life of crime. I never had always been a “good” boy. I was literally, and metaphorically, a Boy Scout. How could such an upstanding young man ever see his own sinful nature and the need for more of a relationship with God? Furthermore, how could that same young man become a person of faith at a secular university, the very type of institution so frequently portrayed as being anti-God? Therein lies the miracle. Through some newly-made friends, I soon discovered a group of dedicated Christian students. Through them, and a Christian campus organization, I began to realize that, while I may indeed be a good person, I was not a true Christian. It wasn’t enough to be just a good person, I could never be good enough to save myself. When I finally comprehended this void in my life, I asked God to fill it. I made a deliberate choice to accept God’s gift of salvation and his desire for a deeper relationship. I became very involved in the Christian campus group and, through it, gifts of teaching and administration became apparent to me. These outwardly undramatic events set the direction of my life. Not long after graduating from college, I felt a call to help students experience the same type of spiritual change and growth. Eventually, it occurred to me that, since God had given me those gifts of teaching and administration, I might actually become a faculty member of a college community where I could help guide and support students through their on development in ways similar to what I had experienced. Now, after earning subsequent graduate degrees and having worked in higher education since the 1980s, my motivation has not changed. I do what I do because I want to help make a positive and profound difference in the lives of students.

My Life

My undergrad alma mater

Western Carolina University

My worst subject in school

English

In college I drove

1971 Dodge Demon

Favorite coffee

Just...coffee. I'm not smart enough to order at a place like *bucks.

Nobody knows I

I learned to juggle and ride a unicycle my freshman year in college. As my GPA attests, that's about the only thing I learned.

My latest accomplishment

The accompanying selfie.

Current Research

Enrollment management, student development, and small college issues. I also assist with data analysis with research in lots of other areas.