Cover Letter
Colorado Mountain College is not just my employer, it is my family, my purpose, and my community. Attempting to articulate how much CMC means is a virtually impossible task. I am so proud to be a member of Colorado Mountain College, and have proven time and time again that I am willing to do anything to help CMC reach new heights and grow to serve our students and community.
When I started at CMC, fresh out of graduate school and a doe-eyed, idealistic mental health counselor in training with no teaching experience. Colorado Mountain College-Breckenridge was housed in a single building downtown (now our Library and Community Center) and I was brought on the day before classes started when a faculty member couldn’t teach Psychology 101. My ADI at the time advised, “to just be myself”, a theme that would continue in my journey at CMC. I said “yes” to CMC that day, and have made it a mission to say yes in so many ways at CMC. Yes to fighting for students. Yes to doing what is best for our college. Yes to our community’s needs. Yes to committees, boards, and new classes. Yes to CMC.
It took a matter of minutes for me to fall in love with the culture of Colorado Mountain College. I was home. This is where I belonged, a feeling that was foreign to me until finding CMC. The Summit Campus survives because of our shared mantra, “Teamwork Makes The Dream Work!” A theme that will reverberate throughout this portfolio. Whether it be on hiring committees, mentorship, course design and collaboration, I have protected this team-driven concept.
As I grew within our community and as a person, so did CMC. Now with a beautiful stand alone building with several departments I have relished the opportunity to grow with the college and help connect our community to the school. Now, as a 43 year-old father, I see the college in a whole new light. I see the need, value, and importance of a college that is taught by us (the community members), for us. Playing an integral role in that growth has provided me with great purpose.
One of the most exciting aspects of my career at CMC is aiding in the implementation of the four year Human Services Bachelor’s Degree. I am actively involved in Summit County, and entrenched in the mental health world. Being active in the mental health community locally and nationally has given me insight into what we need to survive. Then, bringing this insight to CMC to help prepare our students for this world has rejuvenated my passion for teaching, and getting to see our students go directly into our communities to serve our mental health needs is truly a blessing. For years, students stayed for a few semesters before they “graduated” onto CU-Boulder or CSU, now I get to aid in their entire academic journey and then get the reward of seeing them work within our community, WOW!
To be honest, this portfolio promotion (like my last one in 2014), is really intimidating and scary. I lack confidence in myself and “boasting” about Drew is not easy. However, sticking with a Teamwork Makes the Dream Work attitude has made this a joyful process for me. Leaning into my colleagues, mentors, students, administrators and CMC family was easy for me, and the support was exceptional, as always.
I take tremendous pride in Colorado Mountain College and am always recruiting students to take classes and encouraging them to “just come check it out, it is for you”. Once a student sets foot on campus my goal is simple: empower them to see that they do in fact belong in a classroom and can thrive. I show up to “work” everyday with gratitude, joy, and excitement knowing that the two most important bosses I have, sorry admin, are our students and communities.
It is an absolute pleasure to showcase this portfolio with you all and reflect on my 17 years as a member of the Colorado Mountain College family. Thank you for allowing me an opportunity for promotion and to demonstrate what this college means to me, I feel like I have gone above and beyond to serve students, the discipline of HMS, the Summit Campus, the college, and my community to warrant a promotion to the rank of Professor. I truly am grateful for CMC and am appreciate this opportunity.