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Commitment earns prof honors
 Media Credit: Adam Masloski Professor of the Year, Robin Hasslen, goes over some work with graduate assistant Yuki Iwakawa. Hasslen is the Child and Family Studies department chair and a professor at SCSU.
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Sixteen years ago she was a graduate student at SCSU. Now, she is the Minnesota Professor of the Year.
Robin Hasslen, Child and Family Studies department chair and professor, received the prestigious award from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., at a luncheon Nov. 21. The award is co-sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Over the 14 years that she has taught at SCSU she has made a significant difference in her students’ lives.
“Her door is always open to all students and she always has a smile for us. Her faith in me has been unflagging. I am certainly a more confident person because of Robin’s support,” said former student Sharon Markwardt.
Another former student, Erin Dohrmann, said, “Robin made a constant effort to know not only her students academic strengths and needs, but also their personal goals and limitations.”
Hasslen received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Wilson College in 1967, after which she moved to Kentucky and began her effort to change the world.
She met her husband while she was looking for someone to haul sheet rock up a mountain. She was building her house on the mountain top and six months later they were married. They have been together for 35 years and have an adopted son and a daughter who is also a teacher at SCSU in the mass communications department.
During the years after her graduation from Wilson College, Hasslen worked for the Volunteer International Service Association, provided daycare, worked for welfare rights and was a part of the Head Start program here in St. Cloud.
Some of her free time is spent as a Hospice volunteer in the hospital emergency room.
While in her mid 40s Hasslen decided that she needed something more challenging in her life.
Hasslen decided to go back to school with plans of teaching afterward. In 1987 she received her master’s degree from SCSU in early childhood special education and has been a part of the school ever since.
Hasslen is excited about what she does every day.
“I wake up at 4 a.m. and I’m here by 6 a.m.,” she said. “I can’t wait to come. I look forward to work everyday.”
Over the years, Hasslen has progressed from the ordinary into what she is today. Her teaching style has reflected this progression.
“When I first started teaching I stood in front of the class and lectured for 50 minutes. Now I let the students take more control and try to have the class learn through discussion,” she said.
Hasslen also makes a constant effort to extend learning out of the classroom and into everyday situations.
“Robin’s desire and commitment to extend the learning process beyond the classroom was evident as she matched students in her university classes with primary aged children in a book buddy program,” said Judy Rotto, Talahi School primary teacher.
Hasslen attributes her teaching skills mostly to her teachers in the past.
“We all teach partly based on experiences we’ve had in school,” she said. “I’ve been fortunate to have some great teachers that I learned the human touch from along with respect for others.”
Hasslen loves using these skills in her work here at SCSU.
“This is a positive, upbeat place to work. We have good stuff going on here,” she said.
This quality, along with many others, are what set Hasslen apart from other teachers and have made her this year’s Teacher of the Year.
She said she always tries to make herself available to her students by telling them, “My door is always open.”
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