For Schoenbeck, Retirement Is New Form of Service

Dr. Carl Schoenbeck doesn’t see it as retirement so much as following in the footsteps of other faculty who went before him, officially retiring but continuing to serve at CSP in new ways.

“My wife [Barbara, professor of Education] did it first so I let her figure out if there were any problems,” Schoenbeck quipped.

Starting as adjunct faculty in the Education department, Schoenbeck joined Concordia as full-time faculty in 1981 and worked his way up the University ranks.

He was named chair of the Education department in 1989, and was named vice president of Academic Affairs in 1995, a post he held until his retirement in 2006. Before joining Concordia, Schoenbeck was principal and teacher at King of Kings Lutheran School in Roseville, Minn.

During his term in Academic Affairs, Schoenbeck oversaw many changes to the structure of the University, helping to guide the campus community through the change from quarters to semesters, from college to university, changes to general education curriculum requirements, and helping prepare the early infrastructure for introducing new technology and laptops to the campus.

“We did so many changes,” said Schoenbeck, reflecting on his accomplishments at Concordia. “It was very hard, but it’s like the traditional Minnesota blizzard, and everybody in the neighborhood gets out their shovel and says, ‘We gotta do this,’” he said. “We were creating precedent.”

Even after 26 years at Concordia, Schoenbeck’s work with the University isn’t done. He now serves as director of Planning and Research, leading the University’s accreditation process and its on-going strategic planning.

It was a logical merging, he said. Accreditation is complying with standards, and strategic planning is focused on how to improve on those requirements. Having been through numerous processes for accreditations already, Schoenbeck is able to use his experience to focus on this specific project.

Concordia is “at the forefront of being able to manage change,” Schoenbeck observed from his unique vantage point of years of service and experience.

As for retirement, Schoenbeck said he plans to “Travel for travel’s sake, spend time with the grandkids, and read. I love to read.”

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