Upon Retirement: Carol Doyle Reflects on 28 Years as a Counselor Educator

Associate Professor and Ecotherapies Certificate Program Director Carol DoyleAssociate Professor and Ecotherapies Certificate Program Director Carol Doyle is retiring from Lewis & Clark. In the following Q&A, Doyle reflects on 28 years of mentoring counseling psychology students, watching sunsets at the grad school, and learning something new every day.

What was your path to Lewis & Clark?

In the spring of 1996, I was completing my doctorate in Counselor Education at the University of Nevada, Reno, and working full time in the University Assessment Office. One day, while waiting for lunch with a friend, I picked up a Chronicle of Higher Education and looked in their positions wanted section. There was a very small, two line advertisement for someone to teach research and assessment in the Counseling Psychology department at Lewis & Clark. I wasn’t looking to start the search process, (had never heard of Lewis & Clark), and had told many friends that I would move anywhere except Oregon because it rained too much. The job description fit my skills and interests so directly that I decided to apply for the position. I went for my interview later that spring, and was hired on a one-year renewable contract—and here I am getting ready to retire 28 years later.

What was your favorite course(s) to teach?

I have taught a research methods and/or statistics class almost every Wednesday evening (during the fall and spring semesters) for the last 28 years and have not yet tired of teaching. One reason is that while the foundations of research methods and statistics remain the same, perhaps surprisingly new methods of designing research and collecting data are always being developed. Additionally, there are always new topics that are being researched.

If I had to name a single class as my favorite, it would have to be the Advanced Methods class, which I developed about 10 years ago. In this class I was able to go beyond the basics of research and teach students about an entirely different perspective for conducting research called transformative research. This class also was required for those interested in completing their master’s theses, so I also had the joy of working with the students as they moved from ‘just an idea’ to exploring and reviewing the literature and then to developing a research question to study.

What did you enjoy most about your work?

There are two things I enjoy most about my work. First, and probably foremost is the connections and relationships I have made with students and colleagues over the years. With colleagues, just getting to know them and hearing about their life experiences, their views of the world, their research passions and interests brings me joy. With students, the same is true, with the added enjoyment of being able to mentor them as they traverse the program and begin their profession.

Secondly, is the fact that by being at Lewis & Clark, I was able to learn something new almost every day. Whether in the hallway, a meeting, or the classroom, conversations with both students and colleagues were constant sources of new knowledge and understanding for me. My colleagues taught me new ways to look at the world and gave me new insights about the impact of racism, sexism, and social location on the everyday lives of all of us. These conversations allowed me to see my blind spots and helped me grow in my understanding of counseling, social justice, and how to walk the walk of social justice and equity in the world.

Teaching and interacting with students in the classroom allowed me to learn something new academically every day. For example, in my research classes, I had students develop hypothetical research projects every semester. I was always fascinated by the topics they were interested in and the ways they chose to design their research. Not only did I learn something new, it also kept me up on the hottest topics in the counseling field.

What changed the most during your time at Lewis & Clark? What remained constant?

Aside from the grad school’s move to south campus and changing the school’s name to the Graduate School of Education and Counseling, what has changed the most during my time here is the size and impact of the Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology department. When I started working in the Counseling Psychology Department, there were two programs (Community Counseling and School Psychology) with approximately eight faculty. Now there are 20 faculty in five programs within the department, Professional Mental Health, Professional Mental Health, School Psychology, Professional Mental Health- Specialization in Addictions, Marriage Couple and Family Therapy, and Art Therapy. Additionally, we now have the Community Counseling Center, which is a training clinic which allows our students to work directly with clients and receive live supervision of those sessions. An additional change over the years, is that every single program in the department has received accreditation from their respective professional organizations

What has remained constant is the caliber of students and my incredible colleagues (old and new). I learn from them every day.

What’s something people might not know about you?

I’m pretty much an open book, so this is a hard question to answer. But people may not know that I became chair of the Counseling Psychology department in my third year at Lewis & Clark, and was the very first assessment coordinator for the graduate school.

More recently, I have co-led mindfulness meditation groups for undergraduates as part of the Awakened Awareness program through the Office of Spiritual Life.

On a more personal level, I have always loved to play and watch sports—go Giants! I played volleyball in college (before there were scholarships), played softball until I was 50, and last year I began to play and love pickleball.

What is your favorite place on campus?

The quad/green space at the grad school. Every day, I get to look out my office window and see different types of wildlife, whether it is deer or rabbits running across the quad, dogs and their owners playing catch and fetch, or undergrads climbing in the trees or setting up a slip n’ slide on the grass. Or it might be graduate students and professors doing some class activity on the grass. For myself, each fall, on the day closest to the fall equinox, I have my class go out to the quad and watch the sunset. It is a moment of connection to nature and reflection that students enjoy.

What are you most proud of?

There are so many things I am proud of including mentoring new faculty and students throughout my time here at Lewis & Clark as well as the connections I made with faculty, administrators, staff, and students across all three campuses.

However, If I had to pick the one thing I am most proud of (and also a favorite thing about my work), it would be helping students complete their theses and dissertations. Since 2000, I have helped 35 students complete their theses either as chair or member of their thesis committees, and also sat on six dissertation committees. Watching and helping students as they go from a research idea through the development of their proposals through the data collection, analysis process to finally completing their thesis/dissertation makes me proud.

What’s next for you?

Next year I will continue as the program coordinator for the Ecotherapies Certificate, teaching a class for that certificate and (hopefully as it’s not official yet) developing the curriculum for a certificate for Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology students.

Other than that, you can find me on the pickleball court here at Lewis & Clark.