Dr. Kathleen Reiland

Vice President of Instruction, Cypress College

Since joining the college in 2000 as a full-time faculty member, Dr. Reiland served as the Aviation & Travel Careers Department Coordinator until 2017, when she became the Dean of Career Technical Education and Economic Development. As a faculty member, dean, and interim vice president, she has actively participated in countless committees and initiatives on campus, including the Academic Senate, Program Review Committee, Accreditation, Student Learning Outcomes, Curriculum, Workforce Development, Guided Pathways, the USC Equity Institute, the Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative, and the Enrollment and Re-Engagement Campaign, among others.

She began her journey in higher education at West Valley Community College as a first-generation college student before becoming a psychiatric technician at Atascadero State Hospital. Her formal studies culminated decades later with a Doctorate in Education from the University of Southern California. She also has a Master of Arts Degree in Literature and Writing Studies from CSU, San Marcos, where she taught English and managed the Writing Center, and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of San Francisco, where she received the Undergraduate Research Award for her airline analysis. The theme throughout her research has been advocating for social justice through illuminating the inequities among the incarcerated mentally ill, championing equity and access for “underprepared” college students, documenting the role of emancipatory discourse in achieving voting rights, promoting gender equity in CTE and STEM, and securing funding to support workforce development opportunities for the economically disadvantaged.

Dr. Reiland also serves on the Orange County Regional Consortium Oversight Committee and the OCDE Pathways Executive Committee. She was instrumental in leading Cypress as the second college to onboard Program Mapper, and she continues to lead the Program Finder project, a tool for K12 students to connect with community college programs throughout Orange and San Diego Counties. In 2019, Dr. Reiland was awarded the NOCCCD “Above and Beyond Award” for her work on the Districtwide marketing campaign that reimagined our pathway web pages and resources. She devoted most of 2020-2021 to collaborating with the Curriculum and Distance Education teams in developing contingency plans and submitting the Emergency Distance Education Applications to the Community College Chancellor’s Office, enabling us to offer remote instruction throughout the pandemic.

Kathleen is the proud mother of two and grandmother to Reverie, and remains committed to ensuring that the power of education will continue to be the change we wish to see in the world.