Faculty Directory
Heather Rowan-Kenyon
Department Chair, Educational Leadership & Higher Education
Professor
Heather Rowan-Kenyon
Ph.D.
Contact
Campion Hall Room 227
Telephone: 617-552-4797
Email: heather.rowan-kenyon.1@bc.edu
ORCID
Education
- Ph.D., University of Maryland, Education Policy and Leadership
- M.A., Bowling Green State University, College Student Personnel
- B.S., University of Scranton, Secondary Education Social Studies
Courses
Assessment in Student Affairs
Seminar in Research in Higher Education
Executive Doctoral Seminar II
Doctoral Proseminar in Ed.D. in Higher Education
Research Interests
College access and student success, persistence in college for low-income students.
Expertise
- Higher Education
Department
Biography
听
Heather Rowan-Kenyon is a professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. Dr. Rowan-Kenyon鈥檚 research focuses on college student access, learning, and success.
Her book with Ana Mart铆nez Alem谩n and Mandy Savitz-Romer, Technology and Engagement: Making Technology Work for First-Generation College Students (Rutgers University Press, 2018) was awarded the 2018 Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Outstanding Book Award. Rowan-Kenyon publishes in the top journals in her field including the Journal of Higher Education; the Review of Higher Education; Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research; and the Journal of College Student Development. She was an associate editor of the Review of Higher Education and serves on editorial boards for several journals, including the Journal of Higher Education. She is the chair of the ASHE Publications Committee.
Publications
Books
Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., Mart铆nez Alem谩n, A. M, & Savitz-Romer, M. (2018).听 Technology and engagement: Making technology work for first generation college students. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.听
- Recipient of the ASHE 2018 Outstanding Book Award
Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., & Mart铆nez-Alem谩n, A.M. with Gin, K.* Blakeley, B.*, Gismondi, A., Lewis, J.*, McCready, A.*, & Zepp, D.*, Knight, S.* (2016).听 Social Media in higher education. ASHE Higher Education Report: Volume 42, Number 5.听 San Francisco: John Wiley.听
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Savitz-Romer, M., Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., Nicola, T., Carroll, S., Kasari, R.* (in press). Boundary spanning in state education agencies: How state officials support school counseling. Education Policy Analysis Archives.听
McCready, A., Martinez Aleman, A., Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., & Abbey, S.* (2025). Effects of on-campus and online racism on perceptions of residence hall climate.听 Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2025.2472332听
Martinez, A. M., McCready, A., & Rowan-Kenyon, H. T. (2024). How social media affect college students: Examining the past, envisioning the future. Journal of College Student Development, 65(2), 169-182. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2024.a923527听
Savitz-Romer, M., Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., Nicola, T.*, & Carroll, S.* (2024). A Landscape Analysis of State-Level School Counseling Policy: Perspectives from State Officials.听 Educational Policy, 38(2), 421-447.听 https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048231163803.
Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., Carroll, S.*, Nicola, T.P.*, & Savitz-Romer, M. (2022). School Counselors and College Counseling During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Review of Higher Education 46(2), 181-208.听 doi:10.1353/rhe.2022.0020.
Alexander, E.*, Savitz-Romer, M., Nicola, T.*, Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., & Carroll, S.* (2022). 鈥淲e are the heartbeat of the school鈥�: How school counselors supported student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professional School Counseling, 26(1b) 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X221105557
Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., McCready, A.M., Mart铆nez Alem谩n, A.M., & Barone, N.* (2022). Does experiencing racialized aggressions on social media influence perceptions about the campus racial climate? Research in Higher Education, 63, 610鈥�630. 10.1007/s11162-021-09662-8听
Savitz-Romer, M., Rowan-Kenyon, H.T., Nicola, T.*, Alexander, E.*, Carroll, S.* (2021). When the kids are not alright: School counseling in the time of COVID-19. AERA Open, 7(1), 1-16. https:/doi.org/10.1177/23328584211033600听听
*indicates student co-authors
Honors/Awards
- 2018 Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Outstanding Book Award
- Emerging Scholar Award, American College Personnel Association, 2008