Kate joined Lane’s English (now writing) department in Fall 2000. Growing up in a working-class home, she witnessed the power and opportunity of education when her mother attended college and obtained a college degree while Kate was in grade school. One of her mother’s first positions was as the job counselor at the local jail, where she focused her efforts not only on work placement for offenders but also on helping them earn their GEDs.
After coming to Lane, Kate had the opportunity to work with and learn from colleagues in a variety of capacities: as a member of the composition committee, as a chair of the assessment team, as part of SAGA (Success and Goal Attainment Committee), and now as chair of the academic program review oversight committee (APROC)–all employee groups focused on examining data and building better systems to support students and help them be successful. Informed by this work, she was one of the first people at Lane to explore and suggest Guided Pathways as a mechanism to create beneficial systems for students to explore and plan their journey, receive support during that journey, and create the life they want to live after the completion of their education. In lieu of a recent photo, Kate shared her favorite book on teaching, pictured left.