Kate Johnston

Kate Johnston serves as the director of the Center for Academic Success and Achievement (CASA). She has over two decades of experience in working with students in the classroom and in academic advising. Kate believes in educating the whole person and values the liberal arts. With her knowledge of strengths based and appreciative advising practices, she pushes students to stretch out of their comfort zone to achieve both personal and academic growth.

Kate comes to Hamline from Franklin College (Franklin, Indiana) where she served as a faculty member in the Modern Languages Department from 2010-2021. In addition to her teaching role, she was an academic advisor for first-year students and most recently served as a coordinator of the First Year Seminar at the college. This administrative work included course development, course assessment, and training for faculty colleagues. Throughout her tenure at Franklin College, she taught courses in Spanish language, literature, and culture as well as several topics-based courses in the humanities and global studies. Her research interests vary and include second language acquisition, impact(s) of study away educational experiences, curricular assessment, and first year experience retention efforts. Previous to Franklin College, Kate was a faculty member at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis. She has a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education and Spanish from Butler University, a Master of Arts for Teachers in Spanish from Indiana University, and a Máster Interuniversitario Hispano-Norteamericano en Lengua Española y Culturas Hispanas from la Universidad de Salamanca.