Kathleen Gillon

Kathleen GillonAssistant Professor, Higher Education
kathleen.gillon@maine.edu
207.581.2734

335A Merrill Hall
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469

Bio: Kathleen E. Gillon is assistant professor of higher education at the University of Maine. Her research and teaching interests focus broadly on access and equity in higher education. She is especially interested in the role of geography in the facilitation of college-going for marginalized student populations. Her current research qualitatively explores the intersection of gender, geography and community capital and its influence on post-secondary educational opportunity for rural college students. Dr. Gillon has been published in a variety of scholarly and practitioner focused publications, including the Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Critical Scholarship in Higher Education and Student Affairs, and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. She is currently co-editing an issue of New Directions for Student Services that focuses on race, culture, and ethnicity in fraternity/sorority life.

Dr. Gillon is also an active member of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), American Educational Research Association (AERA), and ACPA (College Student Educators International) where she has served on the directorate boards for the Commission for Admissions, Orientation and First Year Experience and the Coalition for Women’s Identities. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Gillon worked at Stony Brook University in New York in a variety of areas related to student success, including academic advising, first-year experience, new student orientation and family programs, and honors programs.

Education
Ph.D., 2015, Iowa State University
M.Ed., 2003, Vanderbilt University
B.A., 2001, Christian Brothers University

Courses taught at UMaine

  • HED 561: Developmental Theory in Higher Education
  • HED 580: History of Higher Education in the US
  • HED 598: Social Justice Theory & Practice in Higher Education
  • HED 598: Access and Opportunity in Higher Education
  • HED 610: Capstone Seminar in Student Affairs
  • HED 690: Internship in Higher Education

Sample publications

  • Gillon, K.E. (2022). Rural Women, Higher Education, and the Mixed Legacies of Early 20th Century Domestic Science Initiatives. Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 15:3, 293-307.
  • Mitchell, J. J., Gillon, K. E., Reason, R. D., & Ryder, A. J. (2016). Improving student outcomes through peer-to-peer discussion. Journal of College Student Development, 57(3), 316-320.
  • Ryder, A. J., Reason, R. D., Mitchell, J. J., Gillon, K. E., & Hemer, K. M. (2015). Climate for learning and students’ openness to diversity and challenge: A critical role for faculty. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039766
  • Gillon, K.E., & Stapleton, L.D. (2015). “My story ain’t got nothing to do with you” or does it? Black female faculty’s critical considerations of mentoring White female students. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs 1(1), 35-49.
  • Gillon, K.E., Beatty, C.C, & Salinas, C. (Fall 2014). Seeing through color blindness. Perspectives: Association of Fraternity / Sorority Advisors (AFA), Fort Collins, CO.
  • Gillon, K.E., Beatty, C.C., & Patton Davis, L. (2012). A critical examination of student affairs research: 75 years of progress? In K.M. Boyle, J.W. Lowery & J.A. Mueller (Eds.), Reflections on the 75th anniversary of The Student Personnel Point of View (pp. 67-71). Washington, D.C.: ACPA-College Student Educators International.

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