Julie Clockston, DSW, has spent most of her life and career teaching and improving lives one-on-one, up close. Now, as Metropolitan State University of Denver’s new Presidential Faculty Fellow, she is taking in the 10,000-foot, bird’s-eye view.
And she’s thrilled about it.
“It’s pretty amazing,” the assistant professor of Social Work said. “I am in a whirlwind of a learning mode.”
As the fifth Presidential Faculty Fellow, Clockston will spend a year working full time with President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., and her senior leadership team. The fellowship offers professional development and a chance to learn firsthand the high-level operations, leadership and decision-making that keep the University humming along.
A double alumna, Clockston earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work at MSU Denver. She stayed connected to her alma mater by serving as an off-site field supervisor for student interns.
The Colorado native discovered her calling early as a student at Denver’s Steadman Elementary School. The school was “one of the first to integrate people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities into the mainstream,” she said.
“I had an opportunity to be a buddy to a student in that program, and it was something I became passionate about,” she said.
Assistant Professor and DEI Co-Coordinator Julie Clockston will be the 2025 Presidential Faculty Fellow. The fellowship is a 12-month program that provides one faculty member the opportunity to gain a “behind the scenes” view of the administration of the University at the highest levels. Photo by Josh Geurink
By age 21, she was a therapeutic foster parent to children with special needs. From there, she went on to spend three decades working with adults with cognitive disabilities, often having to juggle two jobs to make ends meet.
Programs for those she cared for are “gravely underfunded,” Clockston said. “It’s my hope that we are pushing the needle forward in many respects.”
She is not just talking about better public investment. If there were one message she would like to deliver about the people she has cared for, it is that “they are worthy.”
That certainty is born of decades of very personal work. Now, she’s enjoying observing and learning from the perspective of a Faculty Fellow. Although she must step away briefly on personal leave, Clockston plans to return as the Presidential Faculty Fellow in April. She relishes the opportunity “to connect with colleagues in the broader University, be a conduit of information between the areas and be able to be a voice for the faculty,” she said.
So far, she is impressed with what she sees. “It’s exciting to hear what amazing work people are doing,” she said. “It’s like a well-oiled machine the way they come together and work.”
