Golkowski named Associate Dean for Education and Student Success

Electrical engineering professor Mark Golkowski has been named the new Associate Dean for Education and Student Success at the College of Engineering, Design and Computing. Since joining the college in 2010, Golkowski has demonstrated a passion for developing and implementing best practices in engineering education and leveraging CU Denver’s unique strengths to give students the best possible opportunities.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to make a positive impact on educational outcomes collegewide at this unique and challenging point in time for CU Denver and for higher education in general,” said Golkowski. 

The associate dean for education and student success will provide vision and leadership to advance the college to a recognized innovator in engineering education through curriculum and pedagogy, student success services, and support for faculty education initiatives.

“One of the defining themes of the college strategic vision is to cultivate engineers for the future who have the skillset to impact the community, the state, and even the world,” said Golkowski. “I see this position as responsible for casting a broad inclusive net for those future engineers and making sure none of the ones who are motivated to succeed slip through the cracks.”

This position also is responsible for operationalizing and tracking education and student-success related aspects of the college strategic vision, including integrating education with research and engagement and collaborating to establish computing and design throughout college curricula.

Golkowski recently led the faculty committee that redesigned the core undergraduate electrical engineering curriculum, following a national survey of emerging practices. From updating current course material to developing new courses, the curriculum now responds to emerging industry needs and positions our graduates to be immediately impactful.

As he prepares to transition into his new role, Golkowski has three broad goals. The first is to strengthen relationships between the college and the local community, focusing not only on enrolled individuals but on the broader society. From addressing inequities in STEM to eliminating real and perceived barriers to an engineering education, he is committed to meaningfully engaging local teachers, high school students, and community colleges. A specific task will be pursuing educational outreach funding opportunities from the National Science Foundation. 

“I see such efforts as critical to recruiting and increasing the quality of our students,” he said. 

The second goal focuses on the success of current students and ensuring the college is meeting the needs of its diverse student body.

“Student success requires a culture of support,” said Golkowski. “The pandemic has forced faculty to breach the chasm and teach in ways we previously didn’t believe we could or simply didn’t want to embrace. Since the band-aid has already been ripped off, we have a unique opportunity to customize our delivery of both curricula and advising going forward to make sure our diverse student body is best served.”

The third goal is to ensure that students are prepared for lifetime success. Industry and businesses are key partners in keeping curricula relevant, but delivering the optimal skillset must be accomplished by the faculty and the instructors. 

“I want our students to not only land the job they want after graduation, but to be able to accelerate their careers and continue to grow professionally,” he said. “I see my role as a motivator and facilitator of continual improvement.”

In 2017 Golkowski served as interim chair of electrical engineering, leading the department through its ABET audit and reaccreditation; he continues to be engaged in various accreditation activities. He has received an NSF CAREER award, the CU Denver Outstanding Faculty in Teaching award, and the CU Denver Outstanding Faculty in Research award, as well as the Graduate School Dean’s Mentoring Award. He is one of the very few CU Denver faculty members – and maybe the only one – to receive all three campus-level awards.

“Mark has a track record of innovation, collaboration, and excellence in all he does,” said Martin Dunn, dean. “He has exciting thoughts about the post-pandemic future of engineering education and our unique opportunity to lead through the creative development and deployment of educational technology.”