Kathy joined Hope College and the Frost Research Center in 2019. Her academic appointments between 2001 and 2019 include associate provost for academic administration and accreditation at Lewis University (2015–19), professor, department chair, and dean of curriculum at Aquinas College (2006–15); and assistant professor of community sociology at Wartburg College (2001–2005). From 1982–1997 Kathy worked in non-profit organizations and local government agencies and as a consultant supporting community development and human services programs.

At Hope College, Kathy leads assessment of curricular and co-curricular student learning and is the accreditation liason officer with the Higher Learning Commission. She provides leadership and planning for the Frost Center and works with staff members and other college offices to deliver data and research to Hope College stakeholders and our community partners.

Kathy’s areas of research and publication include community development and change, the interface of changes in agriculture and community, and college-community partnerships. She conducts both qualitative and quantitative research and completed community-based research projects with undergraduate students in Iowa, Colorado and Michigan.

Education

• Ph.D., rural sociology, Iowa State University (2001)
• M.S., sociology: human services planning and administration, Minnesota State University-Mankato (1997)
• B.S., sociology: corrections and law enforcement, Minnesota State University-Mankato (1982)

Selected Awards

• Michigan Campus Compact Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award, 2012
• Outstanding AQ Woman Faculty Award, Jane Hibbard Idema Women’s Studies Center, Aquinas College, 2011
• CSA Sociological Abstracts Discovery Price: Judge’s Prize, 2006

Selected Scholarship

• “Measuring the Strength of Community Partnerships,” Annual Meeting of the Council of Independent Colleges NetVUE, St. Louis, Missouri, 2015
• “Perceptions of Social Disorganization in a Changing Urban Neighborhood,” Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Society, Denver, Colorado, 2012
• “Beyond Alternative vs. Conventional Agriculture,” Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2012
• “Homeowners, Renters, and Neighbors: Perceptions of Identity in a Changing Neighborhood,” Michigan Sociological Review 24(1), 2010
• “Student Engagement and College Success: The Case of AQ Community Fellows,” Michigan Campus Compact Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2009
• “Encroachment and Historically Agricultural Areas,” Journal of Applied Poultry Research 14(2), 2005
• “Converting Natural Capital in Forest and Grassland Communities,” with Cornelia Butler Flora, Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, Sacramento, Colorado, 2004
• “Changes in Agriculture and Community Controversy,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Future Trends in Animal Agriculture Symposium, Washington, D.C., 2003
• “Social Inclusion in a Midwest Local Food System Project,” with Clare Hinrichs, Journal of Poverty 6(1), 2002

Outside the College

Kathy spends time with family and friends at her West Olive home, listening to the blues, running, and kayaking West Michigan rivers.