In a multi-decade career strewn with awards, accomplishments, and recognitions from institutions across the United States, Scott Glick was asked what he is most proud of during his time at Colorado State University’s Department of Construction Management.
The answer? “My effort to help students be successful in their careers,” Glick said.
Spoken like a true educator. Glick glances over his personal triumphs, as numerous as they are, and keeps his focus on each student’s success – a quality seen and felt by all who interacted with Glick during his tenure at CSU.
Student-centric
Glick spent 20 years in construction management classrooms – three as a graduate teaching assistant and 17 as faculty. In his time, Glick taught nine different courses with over 1,300 student contact hours. This variety in course material allowed Glick to see the full academic development of students.
As an educator and mentor, the chance to observe pupils honing their skills is a rewarding opportunity. Glick enjoyed students’ ‘Aha!’ moments and supported students to achieve a better understanding of class work and material.
“I really enjoyed it when a student who was struggling with a concept got to a point where they understood it,” Glick said. “The light bulb came on.”
Recognizing education is not a ”one size fits all” situation, Glick made it a point to work extra with students who came from backgrounds or life experiences that created challenges for them to successfully continue in the program. Glick considers the successful graduation of these students to be the highlights of his career.
Additionally, Glick guided students to find skillsets they didn’t know they possessed. By putting students into groups, individuals would be tasked with different aspects of projects and occasionally new talents would emerge from these situations, prompting higher confidence and sometimes even opening doors to new employment opportunities.
Extraordinary extracurriculars
Glick was also an integral part of the department’s competition teams and another team-based activity: building a float for the historic annual Homecoming parade.
As a competition team coach, Glick led the National Association of Home Builders student competition team in addition to the Sustainability team that competed at the annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) national competition in Reno, Nevada. This gave Glick the opportunity to mentor students in a dynamic environment where their practical applications of skills are judged by industry professionals.
When not coaching at ASC competitions, Glick was still highly involved in the ASC, serving as treasurer for a term.
“Scott spearheaded the implementation of numerous invaluable policies and procedures that still positively impact the Regions 6 & 7 student competition today,” said Lori Brown, former ASC president and ASC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
Glick had a heavy hand in the success of one of the department’s gleaming accomplishments – the dominance of the CM parade float. While the parade and its float competition were discontinued in 2020, the department closed out the era with 14 consecutive wins – the most recent 10 of which saw Glick at the helm.
“Working with students to design, build, and deconstruct, the float was another chance to help them develop leadership skills and creativity,” said Glick. “Building something that brought enjoyment to the community and helped strengthen the connection between CSU and the residents of Larimer County.”
Two CM Cares service-learning projects were also successful due to Glick’s involvement.
Service to the institutions
Glick’s passion for student success overflowed into his committee roles with the department, college, and University.
In the department, Glick was a member of six committees. He chaired the appeal committee, tenure and promotion committee, and non-tenure track faculty committee and served as an active participant in the curriculum committee, department assessment committee, and graduate committee.
“Scott is one of the most hard-working faculty I have ever seen,” said Mehmet Ozbek, professor, and Joseph Phelps Endowed Chair. “He genuinely cared about our department as well as construction education in general.”
At the college level, Glick served on the tenure and promotion committee, the non-tenure track faculty advisory committee, and the commencement committee. He served as the College of Health and Human Sciences banner marshal at many undergraduate ceremonies and coordinated memorable photo opportunities for students in their graduation gowns and hard hats after the ceremony. Additionally, Glick volunteered his time at the University level by serving on the faculty council where he held positions on the executive committee and the committee on The Institute for Learning and Teaching.
Glick was also active in multiple Larimer County organizations, aided in the development of family homes in the area, and participated in regional real estate conferences.
“Scott left an indelible mark on all the students, faculty, and staff that worked with him during his tenure at Colorado State University,” said Paul Goodrum, professor, and construction management department head.
“Scott was the epitome of dedication to teaching and service to others, inspiring countless students to do better and achieve their career goals. We wish him nothing but the best!”
The Department of Construction Management is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
