Story by Melissa Pickett
Carole Makela, a professor in the School of Education, is the first recipient of the newly established Faculty Council Harry Rosenberg Distinguished Service Award, an award that recognizes outstanding individual service to Colorado State University’s Faculty Council.
“Selecting Carole Makela to be the first recipient [of the award] was easy,” says C.W. Miller, associate department head and undergraduate major director for the Department of Biomedical Sciences, and one of several Faculty Council members who nominated Makela for the award. “Her competent leadership of the University Curriculum Committee for many years has steadfastly guided curricular development at Colorado State University, and her groundwork will continue to guide the curriculum for years to come. She has set a standard of performance which will be difficult to match.”
About the award
Sue Davis Pendell, a communication studies faculty member who served as the fourth Faculty Council Chair, created the Faculty Council Harry Rosenberg Distinguished Service Award as an endowment to honor Harry Rosenberg, a Department of History faculty member and the first elected Faculty Council Chair.
The award is intended to recognize exemplary individual contributions to and engagements with CSU’s Faculty Council by a regular faculty member who has been a voting member of the Faculty Council for at least three years, while demonstrating outstanding service/commitment to the principles championed by the Faculty Council and its committees.
In recognition of her distinguished service, Makela was presented with a plaque and an honorarium during the 2016 Spring Faculty Council meeting.
Makela’s impact on the school
Makela has twice been elected by her colleagues to represent the School of Education as a member of the Faculty Council. George Kamberelis, professor and School of Education director, encapsulates Makela’s contributions to the School of Education in the following statement: “Nearly everyone who knows Carole Makela is well aware that she has made extraordinary service contributions to the School of Education, the College of Health and Human Sciences (and its earlier iterations), Colorado State University and the field of Family and Consumer Sciences for many decades. Many fewer people know that she is an exceptionally prolific scholar who has published in a variety of fields and a world-class mentor of graduate students. She received her Ph.D. in research methods and statistics.”
Kamberelis’ statement continues: “Carole has published both cutting-edge research and ‘thought experiments’ in the fields of family and consumer sciences, research methods in education and several other health and human science fields. Most recently, she has focused her energies — with great success — on helping doctoral students publish their dissertation research. In this regard, she has advised hundreds of doctoral students, scaffolding their development as they have completed their degrees and launched their careers. Carole is an equally outstanding mentor of both our strongest students and our students who struggle to accomplish their goals for whatever reasons. The skills and sensibilities required to do this are indeed rare.”
Her impact on CSU
Makela’s distinguished service to the Faculty Council began in the late 1970s, when her guidance helped the university convert from the quarter system to the semester system. “Carole is a proud example of what CSU’s Principles of Community aspire for all affiliated with CSU — inclusion, integrity, respect, service and social justice,” writes Barbara Wallner, associate professor with the Horticulture and Landscape Architecture department. “Carole’s work with curriculum, on all levels, and especially as chair of the University Curriculum Committee over several years, at the Faculty Council level, and Board of Governors, meets these principles, as does Carole’s work with graduate students, teaching, research and outreach.”
Another nominator who served on the UCC alongside Makela for 10 years writes, “To have chaired the UCC for so many years, and to have done this so effectively, means that Carole has served the Faculty Council more than any faculty member has to date, and probably more than any faculty member will in the foreseeable future.”
Without doubt, Makela’s impact has been Universitywide. The list of Faculty Council committees on which she has served over the years is long, and includes the following:
-University Curriculum Committee, as a member and as the Chair
-Board of Governors representative
-Faculty Governance Committee
-Committee on Scholarship, Graduate Education and Research
-Faculty Benefits Committee
-Faculty Improvement Committee
As a member of the University Curriculum Committee, Makela has been involved in course redesign, curricular mapping, student success, graduate certificates, academic integrity, the conversion of the General Catalog from print to web and much more. As a faculty representative to the Board of Governors, Makela was well-respected for her knowledge of issues of concern to the faculty, especially those related to curriculum and programs.
Makela’s eye for detail and meticulous preparation are well-known, as is her dedication to improving programs at CSU. According to Miller, Makela’s “expert oversight of curricular and programmatic developments at CSU are legendary.” She participates in hundreds of curriculum proposal reviews annually, and works with the committee to resolve any issues that arise from the proposals. As both a leader and a curriculum policies and procedures expert, Makela brings a unique combination of knowledge, understanding and guidance to CSU’s endeavor for excellence in teaching and education.
Looking to the future
After decades of instruction, service and mentoring, Makela shows no signs of taking it easy. She continues to advise a variety of both master’s and doctoral candidates, while teaching courses in family and consumer sciences, and research methodologies. For CSU at large, she continues serving as the UCC chair, where, according to a nominator, Makela fosters “an environment of respect and collegiality among the committee members.”
Many faculty, staff, and students have benefited from her wisdom and guidance, and will continue to do so during Makela’s tenure at the University.
