Carson
Bartels
By: Tammy Schmitz
Carson Bartels is hanging up his printing apron, making this his
final semester of teaching at UNI. Culminating 27 years of teaching
as an adjunct instructor, he taught eight different course titles
with printing related courses being the most prevalent. 
After highschool, he joined the Marine Corps and served as a radio
operator during the Vietnam war. In 1975 he started at UNI as an
Instructional Assistant and became an Adjunct Instru-ctor of Graphic
Communications in 1980.
From 1988-2005, Carson was Coordinator of Print Services for the
Waterloo Community School District. As a full-service print production
facility they handled all of the printing needs for administrators,
teachers and students of a 12,000 student school system. Operating
four offset lithography presses, two high-speed copiers and all
the peripheral design/layout and binding/finishing equipment they
averaged over 25 million printed impressions each year.
Carson became a teacher because he enjoyed the interaction with
young people who were interested in learning the procedures and
techniques of graphic communications. He has a knack for putting
students at ease so they can learn. He relates well to them and
can reach them through the way he breaks down complex ideas and
techniques and makes them real and meaningful so that learning comes
out as an end result. He says, “Teaching was the fun part
of my career.”
The most rewarding aspect of teaching for Carson has been following
UNI students as they progress through the major and seeing them
mature as people and as future graphic communicators. “College
should be so much more than classroom time. Seeing my students as
people with lives and dreams in addition to their studies, has kept
me focused and current.” |
He receives emails, letters and phone calls from former students.
They keep him informed about their job changes, ask for career advice
or a recommendation, or just to say hi. He still keeps in touch
with students who have graduated as far back as 15 to 20 years ago.
He says, “To have a student come back, sometimes years afterward,
and thank you for what you did or how well you taught them is the
truest reward of being a teacher.”
Carson doesn’t see being retired as slowing him down. He
likes to stay active riding his bike, running, scuba diving (he’s
made over 200 dives), back-country hiking in our National Parks
and traveling. He shares all of these activities with his wife of
35 years, Deb, who is also a graduate of UNI and works for UNI in
the Financial Aid Department. |
"I
have had many, many memorable moments as a teacher and all of them
have involved former students sharing with me their exhilaration
in getting a job or promotion and their deeply felt thanks to me
for my training, teaching, mentoring, listening and guiding them
when they took my courses. Just the simple fact that they place
some measure of their success in life on something I was able to
do for them means everything as a teacher and human being. It means
that I touched someone else’s life in a positive, permanent
way. What greater good can we do as a person?"
--Carson Bartels
|
Carson and Deb have a son and daughter
that are UNI graduates and both of their spouses are also UNI graduates.
Their son works for John Deere corporate headquarters in Moline
and their daughter is a Veterinarian at an Emergency Clinic in Cedar
Rapids.
Carson Bartels is everyone’s favorite teacher, in fact there
is even a Facebook group made in his honor “We ♥ Carson”.
As an added bonus, he bakes cookies for test day. You can’t
get any better than that. He will definately be missed.
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