Faculty Profile for Dr. Katherine Selber

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Dr. Katherine Selber is a Professor in the School of Social Work at Texas State University joining the faculty in 1997. She holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Texas-Austin.

Dr. Selber is a founding member of the Texas State University- Veteran Advisory Council (VAC) and was the faculty sponsor for the student veteran organization, the Veteran Alliance of Texas State (VATS) from 2008-2013. Since 2008 she has provided leadership in developing Texas State’s program for serving the campus’ veterans and military connected students. Working to blend the educational and service missions for supporting student veterans, Dr. Selber has helped create innovations to build the campus services into the 14th nationally ranked program among four-year colleges for veteran-friendly practices by Military Times Edge magazine in 2013.As well the campus has earned the Gold Recognition for Veterans Education Excellence from the Texas Veterans Commission 2022-2023.

As part of this nationally recognized program, Dr. Selber has supervised Masters of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work students in a special unit that serves the student veterans on campus and in the community providing over 20,000 hours of service delivery since 2010. These interns perform outreach, case management, program development, and research functions that benefit veterans while training to be the next generation of veteran service providers. She also teaches a course for Masters of Social Work students both on campus and online entitled Helping Troops and Veterans Transition Back to Families and Community and has trained over 300 students interested in working with veterans in the community. Graduates of this unique internship and classroom training model are now employed in veteran serving organizations such as: Wounded Warrior Project; Operation Homefront; Samaritan Center’s Hope for Heroes; and various Veterans Administration clinics and hospital sites across the country.

She has also been the recipient of grants from state and federal entities including her current work as Co-Principal Investigator of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Heath Resources Services Administration (HRSA) 2012-2015 grant for providing training stipends to MSW students, many of them veterans and military family members, to work with veterans upon graduation. Most recently she was a Co writer of the Veteran Upward Bound, Dept. of Education grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education for 2022-2027. She has also been funded by foundations such as the Chase foundation and the Del Kolbe Foundation. She has published many articles and chapters and presented at over 100 conferences and workshops on issues related to veterans.

Dr. Selber has received recognitions for her support of many deployed units engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and New Dawn. In addition, the U.S. President’s Council on Service & Civic Participation awarded her the President’s Volunteer Service Award for 2006-2008 in recognition of her military support activities. For her work with student veterans she was named the Texas State Faculty Advisor of the Year in 2010, recognized with the campus Diversity Award in 2010, and in 2012 and again in 2016 she was given the Friends of Veterans award. In 2018-2019 she was appointed the Texas State University System Chancelor's Research Fellow. Since 2020 she has served on the City of Austin Mayor's Veterans Task Force. She is also a military family member and understands the issues inherent in multiple deployments on our veterans and their families..

Teaching Interests

veterans in transition
leadership in non-profit organizations
on-line teaching

Research Interests

veterans on university campuses
capacity building and leadership in veteran service organizations
veterans in transition