I am an independent consultant on research design and evaluation. I also teach research methods courses and serve on dissertation committees in Creighton University’s Interdisciplinary Doctorate of Education Program in Leadership. In these roles, I help people identify goals, the paths toward attaining them, and how to assess, modify, and continue efforts until those goals are reached.
I formerly served as Senior Research Scientist for EPI International, an international organization dedicated to the study of educational opportunity, where I provided leadership on several project evaluations and policy studies. Prior to EPI, I was associate project director for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Projects on Faculty Career Flexibility at the American Council on Education.
I am a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), the European Evaluation Society (EES), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), the International Society of Cultural-historical Activity Research (ISCAR), the Mixed Methods International Research Association (MMIRA), the Association of Leadership Educators (ALE), and the Accelerating Systemic Change Network (ASCN). I have also taught Research Design and Methods courses for City University of Seattle, the University of Washington’s College of Education, and Argosy University. I am on the editorial board of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education and a reviewer for the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice and the Journal of the Professoriate.
I am the recipient of the 2008 Society of Women Engineers Work Life Balance Award, which “celebrates an individual who has worked to create programs that help women engineers and other employees balance the commitments of career, life and family.” My research focuses broadly on leadership and policy in education and my dissertation focused on how worklife concerns influence the career aspirations of future faculty. I received my Ph.D. and M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington and my B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
I have presented research findings and policy recommendations nationally and internationally, and am published in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, the Journal of the Professoriate, the Journal about Women in Higher Education, the Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, the Department Chair, Academe, and Change. I have also authored or coauthored book chapters on teaching and learning and on efforts to support faculty, as well as co-edited a recent volume on culturally responsive pedagogy in STEM found here.
I am a Senior Associate for evaluation and education research projects. As a woman, and a mother of two daughters, I’ve found that education and access to it is of the utmost importance. I want to know that, in the future, my daughters might have less obstacles to overcome and more equitable access to education. Because of my views and personal feelings about access to education, I have found that my research interests align perfectly with the projects we undertake at Kate Winter Evaluation, LLC.
I am committed to the field of evaluation and to research in education that seeks to expand access, increase retention, and improve climate for students and faculty, especially those who are under-represented in their fields. The practice of evaluation that produces evidence-based evaluative judgments is paramount to the future of programs seeking to provide social justice and expand knowledge through research.
I received my Master’s Degree in program evaluation and my studies included in-depth training in research methods and design, as well as numerous forms of evaluation design and practice. I enjoy applying various evaluative strategies and theories to the programs we evaluate. I have experience in rubric development and application for use as assessment tools. My evaluation education provided me with extensive training in the theory behind various evaluation designs and the use of frameworks in selecting and designing thorough and useful evaluation plans.
Prior to coming to evaluation, I studied Maternal Child Health at Bastyr University in Washington, where I earned my B.S. degree. Prior to that I worked in veterinary medicine and as a student midwife. My educational background and diverse work experience have led me to evaluation in such a way that I am able to contribute a unique and valuable perspective to the work I do.
I am a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA).
I came to Kate Winter Evaluation, LLC after completing my Master of Social Work degree in Social Policy and Evaluation at the University of Michigan. I bring experience with evaluation in higher education and interprofessional collaboration initiatives, as well as nearly a decade of research on a range of subjects. I was drawn to KWE, because as an MSW, I view my practice through a social justice and equity lens and that same intent is evident in the KWE portfolio. I am honored to be working with this incredible team.
Prior to starting with KWE in August 2018, I was part of the evaluation team for an interprofessional collaboration grant in a primary healthcare facility located in an under-resourced community in Southwest Detroit. Additionally, I worked on a multi-site, nationwide evaluation for a large volunteer-based organization that provides respite care services to veterans.
My graduate school field work was with a city-wide scholarship program in Detroit. In consultation with the program directors, I designed a communications intervention to combat “summer melt” that generated data on barriers young people faced in accessing the scholarship to attend community college.
I am a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA).
I am an independent consultant providing research and evaluation services to public-sector and nonprofit organizations in education, labor, and international affairs. I recently completed consulting projects for the American Psychological Foundation, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and American Political Science Association. I am also a faculty affiliate of the Department of Economics and Center for the Study of Academic Labor at Colorado State University, and the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland-College Park.
Prior to establishing my consulting practice, I was director of research for the American Sociological Association and the American Association of University Professors. In earlier years I worked at community colleges in Montana and Virginia, and at universities in Germany and Kenya.
I hold a PhD in sociology from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming.
I am the father of two adult children, have two granddaughters, and live in Washington, DC.
