ALAMOSA – Mark Manzanares, Ph.D., professor of counselor education and coordinator of Adams State Online, joins the ranks of dedicated and accomplished alumni who spent the majority of their professional career at Adams State and are recipients of the Outstanding Alumnus Award.
He will receive the Adams State 2024 Outstanding Alumnus Award at the Homecoming Banquet on September 27. For tickets or more information, contact the Alumni Relations Office at 719-587-8110 or visit adams.edu/alumni and click on the Homecoming 2024 link.
Adams State has certainly benefited from Manzanares’ innovative approach to technology. From introducing the first computer mouse to campus, building the first tech classroom and lab, to the results of his dissertation sparking the online counseling graduate degree, his motivation to exceed expectations began as a student athlete and carried through in his career.
“The moment I drove up Stadium Drive and pulled in next to Coronado Hall, Adams State felt like home and the place I wanted to be,” he said. Just before the spring 1989 commencement ceremony, Lena Samora, Ph.D., emeritus professor of psychology, sent
Manzanares to the admissions office to apply for a counselor/recruiter position. “I started that job in the fall and spent the summer working with facilities services.”
Manzanares’ decision to stay and begin his career in admissions came easy. He loves the campus atmosphere: the beginning of the fall semesters when first-year students come to campus with their families, excited to begin their college adventures. While working in admissions, his dedication to supporting Adams State and sharing his interest in technology caught the interest of then Chair of Psychology and Counselor Education, Don Basse, Ph.D. In 1996, Manzanares was lured to a faculty position.
Manzanares’ career moved from recruiting to mentoring, giving back to students as the faculty did for him. He understands how instrumental professors can be in overcoming challenges. Academics did not always come easy for Manzanares, as he credits much of his undergraduate success to the caring, dedicated professor who took an interest in him and pushed him to realize his potential. During his first year of graduate school, realizing his struggles and seeing his potential, the counselor ed faculty asked him to get tested. He was diagnosed with dyslexia. With this diagnosis and support from the faculty, he made adjustments and flourished in his academic pursuits.
Enter the Digital Age
The World Wide Web and advances in technology meant a changing landscape for academia. Fortunately for Adams State, Dr. Manzanares understood the future opportunities. “I am always looking outside the box and finding ways to figure it out.”
His vision allowed him to serve the psychology/counselor education department well. As an instructor of psychology/counselor ed and working on his doctorate, Manzanares developed and designed counselor education’s technology presence, acting as the department webmaster and technology coordinator and was the institution’s administrator of the learning management system (WebCT and BlackBoard).
After receiving his Ph.D., the innovation continued. President David Svaldi, Ph.D., emeritus president, asked him to build the Academic Instruction Technology Center (AITC), in 2007. This position charged Manzanares with supporting all faculty with instructional technology needs while building and supporting the university’s online presence.
In 2011, Manzanares returned to the counselor education department. From 2014 until 2020, he chaired the department, building the enrollment to over 750 master and doctorate students.
Many mentors influenced Manzanares’ life and career, including the late John Holmes, Ph.D., and he still has daily connections with Susan Varhely, Ph.D., emeritus professor of counselor education, who had the most influence in his teaching and supervision; and Gary Peer, Ph.D., former vice president of academic affairs, who said, “when Mark saw an open door, he always took a chance and went in.”
Manzanares was recruited as a young athlete by Coach Jeff Geiser, Ph.D., emeritus professor of EPLS, to play football. The team won the Aztec Bowl and reached the National Championship. “Having this opportunity shaped my future. Athletics brought me here, but the professors kept me here.”
Manzanares met his wife, Myra ’93, ’05, as a student; they have two daughters. “I owe my professional and personal success to Adams State. There have always been challenges but I am always willing to make it better.”
