Dr. Dickson serves as the Director for Institutional Support at Growing Inland Achievement (GIA), a regional non-profit focused on equity in post-secondary attainment. At GIA Dr. Dickson supports various post-secondary projects including: implementation of Guided Pathways for the region’s 12 community colleges with the Foundation for California Community Colleges and College Futures Foundation, research on student support via the Student Voice research with ECMC Foundation, supports the six regional College Corps programs with California Volunteers, and works on institutional transformation projects through the Intermediaries for Scale with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Prior to GIA, Thomas was the Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) where he oversaw health professions advising, undergraduate research, service-learning, tutoring and academic support services, capital internship programs, various student success and completion initiatives, and the campus First-Gen Initiative. Prior to UCR, Thomas served as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs for the University of Arizona and in several academic advising and advising leadership roles at Arizona State University. Dr. Dickson serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor for the College of Education at UCR and he previously taught in the masters and doctoral programs for higher education at University of Arizona and for Arizona State University.

Dr. Dickson completed his Doctorate in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Arizona State University in 2014. His doctoral dissertation studied the responsibilities and functions of academic advisors. He earned a B. A. in Psychology from Arizona State University and a M. Ed. in Counseling and Higher Education from Northern Arizona University.