Janet DeMars, Chris Blaschko, and Carolyn Dobler are the 2009 Gustavus employee award recipients. (Photo by Stacia Vogel)
Written by Matt Thomas ’00
Three members of the Gustavus Adolphus College community were honored during the Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 daily chapel service as recipients of the College’s annual outstanding employee awards.
Chris Blaschko, set-up operation coordinator for the Physical Plant, received the 2009 Augusta Carlson Schultz Award, which is presented annually to a support staff employee who exemplifies outstanding dedication and spirit of service. Blaschko is in charge of set up and tear down of numerous events at the College throughout the year, including the Nobel Conference, Christmas in Christ Chapel, and Commencement – all of which bring thousands of people to campus each year. Blaschko has worked at the College for ten years.
Janet DeMars, director of the Swanson Tennis Center, received the 2009 Eric Norelius Award, given annually to an outstanding administrative employee who has demonstrated exceptional service and dedication to the College. DeMars has served in her current position for 15 years. She has also served on the Gustavus Benefits Advisory Committee since 2003, as well as an adjunct instructor for both the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Program and the Health and Exercise Science Department.
Carolyn Dobler, professor of mathematics and computer science, earned the 2009 Faculty Service Award, given annually to a faculty member whose service has improved the College. Dobler came to Gustavus in 1992 and has since taught classes on such topics as introductory statistics, applied statistics, mathematical statistics, and probability.
She has served on a wide range of committees including the Instructional Infrastructure Advisory Committee, the Personnel Committee, and the Program Assessment and Development Committee. Because of her expertise in statistics, Dobler has been called on to do data analysis of important College surveys like the Campus Conversation Survey for the College and the Shared Governance Survey for the Faculty Senate. In addition, Dobler was selected by the administration for the Blue Ribbon Task Force for Curriculum Review and the Steering Committee for the last North Central Accreditation review. She is also currently serving on the Compensation Committee and is the faculty representative on the Budget Committee.