From the 2008 Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards:
Dee Thompson has been a consistent and positive presence in the lives of PSU students, faculty, and staff for more than 25 years.
As director of the Career Center, Ms. Thompson is an unassuming leader. Her passion is to serve students directly as a career counselor and help them achieve their career goals. Her leadership was greatly needed following Mary Cumpston's retirement. While in the role as acting director, Ms. Thompson was finally persuaded that her love of working with students might be enhanced as director, where she could be instrumental in formulating and influencing policy that would affect a larger percentage of students.
As a PSU student, Ms. Thompson developed and taught the Workshop for Returning Women Students. As a career counselor she helped many students achieve their career goals. In addition to mentoring and supervising graduate students, Ms. Thompson also taught a graduate-level career planning class.
As Career Center director, Ms. Thompson has developed relationships with regional, national and international organizations that are benefiting PSU students. Using resources in innovative ways, Ms. Thompson created new programs and resources to ensure that the center meets the needs of Portland State's diverse student population. She assisted in the transition to a state-of-the-art Internet-based database, enabling students to look and apply for jobs as their schedules permit. She helped initiate the Student Employee of the Year award, Career Information Day, the Nonprofit Career Fair, and the On- Campus Employment Job Fair.
Ms. Thompson is one of those people who will listen and advise but also roll up her sleeves to get the work done. She has served on numerous University committees, including Faculty Senate, where she has been a strong advocate for students. She can bring disparate viewpoints to consensus. A person of great personal integrity, Ms. Thompson is motivated by a deeply held value: serving PSU's students.
The Mary H. Cumpston Award for Service to Students is given annually to a University administrator who has demonstrated excellence in the area of service to students. The late Mary H. Cumpston, former Career Center director, was a beloved colleague whose enduring contributions to Portland State and to the community have enhanced the development and delivery of student services. Her gift was the ability to identify individual and University needs and to match these needs with creative and effective solutions.