Dr. Matt Hickey is an outstanding teacher who engages students at a high and reflective level, and his record of sustained performance greatly impacts student learning. He believes in individualized instruction and utilizes a variety of techniques in order to engage students and intrinsically motivate them in the learning process. He maintains a lively and interactive classroom, not just lecturing to students, but rather presenting theories, concepts, and empirical material to them in a way that they can integrate into their own life experience. His love, passion, and enthusiasm for teaching are infectious. He strives not only to teach, but also to engage, motivate, and inspire his students fostering self-instruction, formulating questions rather than answers, and establishing high expectations. He is also well known for his excellent research mentoring of both undergraduate and graduate students. One student writes: "Those interested in pursuing the distinguishing qualities of a great teacher need only to spend time in the presence of the single most effective professor I've ever met. Rarely, if ever, is it possible to come across a professor as knowledgeable and yet as approachable as Dr. Hickey. Though his courses, all of which I have made a point to enroll in over the years, easily rank among the most intellectually challenging courses of my educational career, and they undoubtedly rank as the most rewarding."
Dr. Jennifer Anderson has developed an outstanding nationally recognized research program in nutrition education that utilizes a variety of theoretical models to facilitate healthful changes in human dietary patterns. Her interventions over the past decade have targeted limited resource populations, minority groups, military officers, college students, and pre-school children. She has used her creativity to carefully craft initiatives targeted at improving the health of each of these population groups. Jennifer has obtained millions of grant dollars in her career. She directs the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program in Colorado, with a large annual budget of 2-3 million dollars. She has blended this program with Extension, leveraging substantial federal-funding to beneficially impact limited resource audiences in our state. Additionally, Jennifer has obtained large, highly competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NIH, and a number of foundations to fund her research program. Importantly, she has used these grant monies to generate important original research findings aimed at improving nutrition and health status. She regularly publishes her work in the top journals in her research area, including the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. Jennifer's tireless efforts to favorably impact her community, state, nation, and her profession have clearly brought credibility and honor to our College and to Colorado State University.
Dr. Kathy Hutcheson is an outstanding advisor who truly cares about students. She is known for her warm and thoughtful manner, and her knowledge of the curriculum which she uses to guide students in their career choices as well. She is a dedicated listener with a "students first" attitude, making sure that students in a large department receive personal attention. She supports students and is committed to seeing them succeed in a challenging major. Kathy's advising evaluation comments are overwhelmingly positive. A survey of the advising evaluations over the past five years shows 100 percent of students responding that they would recommend her as an advisor to another student. Helpful, knowledgeable, informative, understanding, friendly, efficient, positive, encouraging, caring, patient, approachable, and supportive were all words chosen by students to describe Kathy's qualities. Dr. Gay Israel says, "There is no doubt that Kathy's advising skills have made a major contribution to our department and to the lives of thousands of students."
Sheri Linnell is currently in her 27th year as Director of the Adult Fitness Program, which provides a valuable service to the participants as well as to her students. Department Head Gay Israel says, "Sheri mentors student interns to provide quality service to community members including exercise and diet counseling for a wide range of individuals including those undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. She instills valuable life skills and a service oriented attitude in her students. As they graduate, they carry her philosophy of service forward into a variety of careers including cardiac testing, wellness programs, personal training, and rehabilitation program settings." Incredibly, since 1982, Sheri has interacted with over 2,000 clients through the adult fitness program, and mentored another 2,000 practicum students. Additionally, Sheri founded the Homecoming 5K race 27 years ago to reach out to the community and promote physical activity. This year's race had a record number of over 1600 participants. She provides this outstanding service and leadership quietly and efficiently while maintaining a full teaching load. One student says, "Sheri is a teacher, mentor, and advocate, with a lifelong commitment to helping others and enriching the lives of those she comes in contact with."
Becky Bell is responsible for the administration of the department and she sets the standard for the office by exhibiting a professional image for all constituents. As student enrollment grew 62 percent in five years, Becky learned a complex program to maximize sequencing and faculty availability in order to efficiently schedule classes. She also assisted with an in depth review and revision of the CM curriculum. Department Head Mostafa Khattab says, "Becky is knowledgeable, efficient, and always willing to help others. She is a team player. Her dedication, loyalty, and exceptional technical skills have served out department very well. She has earned the respect of the faculty, staff, students, our industry, and members of the CSU community. More than any individual, her wide-ranging experience, superb work ethic, and willingness to assist in multiple areas helped carry the department through numerous challenges. In additional to her strengths, Becky brings to this organization professionalism, experience, and a "can do" attitude. She is committed to getting the job done and doing it right."
Johannah Baca serves as the financial officer for both the School of Education and the School of Social Work. She holds enormous responsibility within the College, and is a trusted advisor for the Directors of each School. She has exceptional financial and organizational skills and is always positive and upbeat. Her colleagues are quick to praise her. Professor Brian Cobb says, "Johannah literally saved me months and months of time, and much anxiety and frustration with the difficulties in managing my project budgets. I consider her a key person in every one of my funded projects - just as much as faculty and staff hired directly on those projects. Johannah is one of the most organized, efficient, and productive people in the School of Education." Professor Jerry Gilley says, "When working with others, Johannah encourages interaction, involvement, and participation and provides practical examples, ideas, and insights to improve understanding. Furthermore, she has the ability to balance several diverse conversations simultaneously. When I ask her for information or data, I receive it immediately and it is accurate and timely. During my 25 year professional career, she is quite simply one of the most productive and efficient individuals that I have ever had the pleasure to work with."
Kim came to the School with extensive social work practice experience and she has used this experience to her students' advantage. She has quickly become a master teacher of social work practice. In addition to teaching five different courses, she has served as the faculty field consultant for several B.S.W. and M.S.W. interns each semester. Kim demonstrates a commitment to CSU and to students in many ways. For example, she utilized creativity to successfully translate a traditional 15 week course to a compressed week-end format for distance M.S.W. students in Colorado Springs. Deborah Valentine, Director of the School of Social Work writes, "Basic tenets of Kim's teaching philosophy include the recognition that learning is a collaborative process that demands the acquisition of critical thinking skills. She has deep respect for students and maintains high academic standards. She uses innovative teaching strategies to help prepare excellent social workers." One student wrote, "Dr. Bundy-Fazioli exhibits a sense of openness and respect for everyone that in turn makes other people feel comfortable in her presence. She has a remarkable way of connecting and relating with her students and sees herself as part of the entire group growing and learning together. She truly wants her students to succeed, not just in graduate school, but in life."
Matt Malcolm is a talented young researcher whose efforts have been focused on illuminating the efficacy of interventions to help individuals recover from the effects of stroke. He has a strong publications record in prominent research journals such as Clinical Neurophysiology and the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Malcolm currently has two major NIH projects focusing on constraint-induced therapy, in which the individual's unaffected arm is restrained, forcing him or her to use the stroke-affected limb. His Brainstim project will investigate whether magnetic brain stimulation improves treatment outcomes. The potential impact from his work in his NeuroRehabilitation Laboratory is great considering the number of people who have experienced a stroke. The work coming out of his lab is providing practitioners in OT with new rehabilitative strategies and a better understanding of mechanisms that underlie and contribute to recovery.
Maggie Ireland graduated in Fall 2007, a semester early, with a 4.0 GPA in the Sports Medicine concentration. As an outstanding student with many extracurricular and volunteer activities, she was also recognized with the Colleges' Terrell Memorial Award. Maggie has had an extremely busy few months as last summer, she was named Miss Colorado 2007, and she represented Colorado at the Miss America pageant in January. Maggie has not let tragic life events affect her negatively; rather, she has become inspired to help others because of her experiences. When Maggie was in 7th grade, her brother, Patrick, was critically injured in the Columbine High School shootings. As Miss Colorado, she brings her message of optimism to people throughout our state. Maggie believes we can find optimism even in the midst of adversity. Her message has been shaped by her experience helping those with brain and spinal cord injuries as a volunteer at Craig Hospital where her brother went through rehabilitation for a brain injury. Maggie plans to go on to earn her doctorate in physical therapy. Suzi Doland, Executive Director of the Miss Colorado Organization says, "Maggie captivated the judges in winning the title of Miss Colorado with her beauty, grace and intelligence. Most importantly however, is that she continues to positively impact the lives of everyone she meets."
Cass Beitler is responsible for all of the planning and implementation of the renovation of the old Fort Collins High School into the University Center for the Arts. As such he has worked closely with the Department of Design and Merchandising, and with Mary Littrell, Linda Carlson, and Craig Birdsong as they prepare to move the Historic Costume and Textiles Collection to this new site. While working with numerous constituents with varied and often conflicting requirements, trying to satisfy everyone's needs and still remain within a budget, as well as interfacing with the construction company and the architects, Cass has remained patient, supportive, and always available to help and provide information. He has escorted prospective donors, in hardhats, vests, and goggles, though the UCA numerous times - he recognizes and supports how important this is to all of us. Although there are rumors that only a few years ago, Cass had light brown hair, we believe that grey hair is much more distinguished! Cass's level temperament and expansive patience have made this a positive experience for all involved.
Also receiving the Friend of the College Award is Kathy Phifer, our long time liaison in Communications and Creative Services. In fact, Kathy's relationship with our College is almost as old as the College itself, dating back almost 20 years! Kathy is a trusted friend, whose advice has guided us through the development of numerous graphic identities over the years, always ensuring that we are represented well in our publications. Over the past two years, she has led the development of our latest College brand as the University introduced new graphic standards. This was no small task - as the creation of our new look resulted from multiple designs and focus group meetings with our marketing committee, students, and cabinet. The process continues as Kathy leads our departments and schools in developing their own look within the College brand. We can always count on Kathy to suggest creative solutions to any challenges we encounter. In spite of the large volume of publications for our many units, centers, and institutes, she always delivers an outstanding product and works overtime to meet deadlines. Moreover, Kathy's excellent sense of humor, often self-deprecating, makes her a delight to work with - such as when she said, "Some days I wish I worked at Taco Bell, where you get to eat your mistakes, instead of them eating you!" Kathy is positive and proactive in her interactions. She is flexible, and she is always reliable - doing anything she can to ensure the success of a project. Kathy, we thank you for your extraordinary leadership in enhancing the image of our College. You make us look good!
Dr. James Drendel has a passion for the well being of all children and he believes that children are best cared for by their communities. This translates to practice. Community members are involved in the care and safety of children through restorative justice practices, family conferencing, and community action groups - all innovative and best practices. Because in Jim's mind, children always come first, he believes that child welfare practice must be informed by high quality research. He provided leadership for collaboration between 10 other Colorado Counties and the Social Work Research Center to found ARCH, or Applied Research in CHild Welfare. For the past three years, this national model of practice-research collaboration has provided child serving agencies with information on kinship care, best treatment for juvenile sex offenders, core interventions, and other topics. Jim has been a long and loyal friend of the School of Social Work and the College of Applied Human Sciences. He has taught the child welfare course, provided supervision for undergraduate and graduate students, served on advisory committees and search committees, and is currently a community representative on a task force to explore the feasibility of starting a Ph.D. Program in Social Work.
Dawn Carlson, referred to affectionately by the MSW students as "Mama Dawn," has guided hundreds of graduate students through the maze of CSU and Graduate School requirements. She has developed relationships with each student from admissions through graduation. Everyone at the School of Social Work will miss the ways she nurtures our graduate students. Retirement for Dawn will be anything but dull, as she has many plans, the first of which she says is to organize at least 10,000 pictures from the last 20 years! I hope she gets to that project soon, because she will also be busy taking care of her grandchildren half time - four little girls - two brand new twins and their big sisters. She says, "It'll make me old before my time, or keep me young - I'm not sure which!" Dawn's husband is retiring as well, so they hope to have some fun traveling. Dawn says, "I also hope the energy for working on house cleaning projects will return!"
Dr. Brian Cobb is a successful grant writer and researcher with a long and distinguished record of acquiring large scale federal research dollars. Brian has been building CSU's reputation through his work with a variety of federal agencies that sponsor education research, including the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. He is an internationally known researcher in the areas of program evaluation and meta-analysis. One of his colleagues writes, "Brian is clearly one of the most well recognized, respected, and prolific scholars in the area of career and technical education, high school reform, and the transition of youth with disabilities from school to adult life. Through a combination of research studies, training grants and demonstration projects, he has influenced public policy, practice and personnel development in the state of Colorado and in the nation as a whole." Brian has served as Director of Graduate Programs in the School of Education, as Associate Dean for Research in the College, and as the co-founder of the Research and Development Center for the Advancement of Student Learning. As the co-director of the R&D Center for ten years, Brian created a vital link between the University and Poudre School District. Throughout his career, he has had a great love for mentoring students. One student says, "I look to Brian as an example of the kind of professor I will strive to be." Brian's service includes traveling to Washington D.C. to review grants for federal agencies, something he estimates he has done over 50 times in his career. He also played a key role as Co-Chair of the International Campbell Collaboration. Brian's short term goal for his retirement is to bring his bowling average up above his weight. He plans to spend more time with his children and grandchildren, and in September when we are toiling here at CSU, he will be on a cycling trip in France.
Nancy's expertise addresses a variety of important issues in our college. She has contributed in the area of household air quality and has worked closely with the Housing Extension Specialist in educating the public about the hazards of household radon. Additional contributions haves been related to welfare reform, economic pressures for women, housing options for the elderly, and family financial planning. In the latter area, Nancy has developed an on-line course offered through Continuing Education that annually draws several hundred students. In addition, she has served the county and state as an Expert Witness in the courts related to household economic loss, financial needs, and employment earning potential as related to personal injury. Included in Nancy's tenure at CSU are appointments in the Dean's Office as Assistant to the Development Officer and in the Provost's Office as Interim Director of Student Outcomes Assessment and as the Director of Accountability Programs. Nancy has provided considerable service to the University having served at the university level on the Grievance Review Committee, Faculty Council, Faculty Benefits Committee and the Faculty Women's Caucus. Nancy officially retired in December 2007 and in recognition of her service to CSU, she has been awarded the status of Professor Emeritus.
