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Scenes from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Katie Branch

Graduate Degrees:
Ph.D., Higher Education & Student Affairs, Indiana University, 1997
M.A., Higher Education & Student Affairs, The Ohio State University, 1987

Teaching and Research Interests:
Dr. Branch's teaching and research interests center on adult development and learning in relationship to diverse students in collegiate settings, environmental theory and assessment in higher education, and college student retention and educational attainment. She has particular expertise in qualitative inquiry, including using photography as a visual research method.

Courses Taught Currently:

  • HDF 553, Higher Education Practicum
  • HDF 567, Principles and Practices of College Student Personnel
  • HDF 568, College Student Development and Learning
  • HDF 574, Environmental Theory and Assessment in Higher Education
  • HDF 580, Professional Seminar (section for HDF 595/Action Research and HDF/599 Thesis CSP capstone students)

 

Selected  Publications & Presentations:

Branch, K., Perrelli, K., & True, E. (2006, November). Back to basics: Using student development theories to enhance professional practice. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Region 1 Conference, Portland, ME.

Branch, K., Roy-Butler, C., & Stewart, C. (2006, November). Crossing the great divide: Enhancing student development through understanding faculty culture. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Region 1 Conference, Portland, ME.

Branch, K. (2004, April). Lasting impressions?: How initial environmental perceptions impacted African American students. Emerging Scholar presentation at the American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA.

Branch, K. (2003). Visual methods. In F. K. Stage & K. Manning (Eds.), Research in the college context (pp. 115-128). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.

Branch, K., Taylor, A., & Douglas, J. (2003). Identifying the merits of sophomore involvement in new student orientation. Journal of College Orientation and Transition, 11, 18-26.

Branch Douglas, K. (1998). [Review of the book The senior year experience: Facilitating integration, reflection, closure, and transition by J.N. Gardner, G. Van der Veer, & Associates]. Journal of College Student Development, 39, 529-532.

Branch Douglas, K. (1998). Impressions: African American first-year students’ perceptions of a predominantly white university. The Journal of Negro Education, 67, 416-431.

Kuh, G. D., Branch Douglas, K., Lund, J. P., & Ramin-Gyurnek, J. (1994). Student learning outside the classroom: Transcending artificial boundaries (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 8.). Washington, DC: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.

 

Selected Service & Recognition:

  • Member, American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA)
    ~Provided leadership for Next Generation Conference, ACPA Convention Nashville 2005 Planning Team
    ~Served elected term on Commission for Professional Preparation, 2000-2003
  • Member , National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
  • Member, Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)
    ~Mentor, Lumina Dissertation Fellowship Program, 2005-2006
  • Invited Participant, Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) in Higher Education Learning Outcomes Think Tank, 2008
  • Manuscript reviewer, Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, & Practice, since 1998
  • URI Pillar of Leadership Education Award, 2009
  • URI College Student Personnel Graduate Program Director, since 2007
  • URI Teaching with Technology Fellow, 2000
  • URI Diversity Week 2000 Co-Chair; Multicultural Center Faculty Associate, 1998-2000

Pre-Professional & Professional CSP Experience

In addition to her work now as a full-time faculty member, Dr. Branch has experience in the following functional areas of higher education:

  • academic advising
  • commuter and off-campus living
  • financial aid
  • housing and residential life
  • international student services
  • multicultural affairs
  • orientation and the first-year experience
  • women’s services