Mark Guiberson, BA '97, MA 99

Stop in on the second floor of Gunther Hall at the University of Northern Colorado and you are likely to find Professor Mark Guiberson hard at work- preparing for a class, meeting with a student, or pouring over data from a project he is working on. Mark first began his journey in the field of speech-language pathology at CU as a Communication Disorders major in 1992.

When asked about how he first became interested in the profession, Mark attributed his early love for the field to a service learning component of a Spanish class he completed at CU. During this time, Mark had the opportunity to work with high-school aged English Language Learners, and realized there was a need to help children from diverse backgrounds in the educational process. He followed this experience with a course in ELL teaching strategies, and learned about second language development and the educational needs of this population.

These early experiences set the stage for Mark’s future work with children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Mark graduated from CU with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders in 1997, and a Master’s degree in speech-language pathology in 1999. When asked about knowledge and skills that he gained at CU that have influenced his life, Mark first credits his mentor, Dr. Betty Jancoseck, and the opportunity she provided him to be involved in a longitudinal study of Spanish speaking children. “This planted the inquiry seed for me, and made me a consumer of research” Mark reflects. Mark also discussed his training in the CLC, and the importance it played on his development as a professional. This experience, which included training in INREAL and SOUL strategies “.. had a huge impact on my way of being with children and families.” Mark also received mentoring from Susan Moore and Clara Perez Mendez through the El Group program for Spanish speaking families, this experience was formative and provided Mark with strategies to enhance his effectiveness when working with Spanish speaking families. Mark has been busy since his departure from CU.

In 2002, Mark returned to school to pursue a Ph.D., enrolling in the Interdisciplinary doctoral program in Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State University, with a focus on child development. Mark graduated with his Ph.D. in 2006, and accepted a position as an assistant professor in the Audiology and Speech Language Sciences program at the University of Northern Colorado this fall. When asked about his desire to return to school to pursue a Ph.D., Mark noted “I wanted to learn more. I didn’t have the intention to become a professor, but I began teaching almost immediately when I began my Ph.D. program, and really liked it. Teaching felt natural for me.” His academic advisor, Karen Barrett, also encouraged him to pursue an academic position.

As an assistant professor at UNC, Mark is responsible for teaching, research and service to the community. He is currently investigating the validity of parent reports in language assessment for Spanish speaking children. Mark’s work was recently accepted for publication in International Journal of Speech Language Pathology, to be published later this year. When discussing his current responsibilities with Mark , he reflected upon aspects of his new position that he finds particularly rewarding. “I enjoy teaching critical thinking skills and helping graduate students acquire new ways to approach problems”, Mark commented. Mark also stated that he really enjoys teaching, particularly his course in language development “because language development is so fascinating, especially the influence that culture has on early language development.” “When I’m teaching” Mark reflects, “I’m not just dumping my knowledge on to the student. I am also learning from the experience, it’s a reciprocal relationship”. It's clear that Mark doesn’t have much personal time these days, but when he is not working he enjoys swimming, power yoga, biking, camping and traveling with his partner, Jamie. Look to our website for summaries of Mark’s research in the future! Mark can currently be contacted at: mark.guiberson@unco.edu.