- Associate Professor
- Human Development and Family Science
- Phone: 401.874.5487
- Email: kbranch@uri.edu
- Office Location: Quinn Hall, Rm 218
Biography
Katherine “Katie” Branch, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Rhode Island. Prior to joining the faculty at URI in 1997, Dr. Branch was a student affairs practitioner at The Ohio State University, University of Maine and Indiana University. Her experiences were primarily in residential life, multicultural affairs, international student services, orientation, financial aid and women’s services.
Dr. Branch was deemed an Emerging Scholar by the professional association ACPA-College Student Educators International, served an elected term on the Commission for Professional Preparation, and provided leadership for the 2005 Next Generation Conference; she currently serves on the Journal of College Student Development editorial board. She was recognized as an ACPA Diamond Honoree in 2018 and was a recipient of the Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional award in 2019. She also is a member of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood. Locally, she is a former co-chair of URI’s Diversity Week, received a Pillar of Leadership Education Award and was Graduate Director of the College Student Personnel master’s program from 2007-2016.
Research
Dr. Branch’s teaching and research interests center on human development from emerging to middle adulthood; sociocultural college student diversity; environmental and other systemic influences on adult development, especially in collegiate settings; and college student engagement and success. She has expertise in qualitative inquiry and its associated research methods, including the use of photographic images as participant-generated visual data.
Education
- Ph.D., Higher Education & Student Affairs (minor in Sociology), Indiana University
- M.A., Higher Education & Student Affairs, The Ohio State University
- B.A., Journalism (minor in Photography), The Ohio State University
Selected Publications
Branch, K., Hart-Steffes, J., & Wilson, C. M. (Eds.) (2019). Applying student development theories holistically: Exemplar programming in higher education. New York, NY: Routledge.
Kortecast, C., McCann, K., Branch, K., Kelly, B. T., Latz, A., & Linder, C. (2019). Enhancing ways of knowing: The case for utilizing participant-generated visual methods in higher education research. The Review of Higher Education, 42(2), 485-510.
Branch, K. (2018). Less drinking or professional sinking? In F. K. Stage & S. M. Hubbard (Eds.), Linking theory to practice: Case studies for working with college students (4th ed.), pp. 65-68. New York, NY: Routledge.
Branch, K. & Latz, A. O. (2018). Utilizing photo elicitation to explore belonging and space in campus environments. In B. T. Kelly & C. A. Kortegast (Eds.), Engaging images for research, pedagogy, and practice: Using visual methods to understand and promote college student development, pp. 29-42. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Branch, K. (2012). Continuity and adaptation: Student services across institutional types. In K. M. Boyle, J. W. Lowery, & J. A. Mueller (Eds.), Reflections on the 75th anniversary of The Student Personnel Point of View (pp. 41-45).Washington, DC: American College Personnel Association-College Student Educators International.
Boyd-Colvin, M. & Branch, K. (2012). American West meets assessment woes. In F. K. Stage & S. M. Hubbard (Eds.), Linking theory to practice: Case studies for working with college students (3rd ed.), pp. 76-80.
Branch Douglas, K. (1998). Impressions: African American first-year students’ perceptions of a predominantly white university. The Journal of Negro Education, 6, 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.