Welcome, new H&S faculty members

The Humanities & Sciences Division welcomed two new tenure-track faculty members at the start of Spring Semester.

Nick Balle is a tenure-track Social Work instructor (seen here with his Goldendoodle, Ellie).

For the past three years, Nick has served as an adjunct instructor for Social Work and FYE courses at CState, while employed full-time as a School Social Worker for Cincinnati Public Schools.

Nick and his fiancé recently bought a home built in 1905, so he says when he's not teaching, "there's always a house project to work on."

Nick developed a passion for cooking, baking, and bartending during more than 10 years spent working in restaurants, and he enjoys trying to build and refine his skills in those areas, too.

Nick grew up in Marysville, Ohio, outside of Columbus. He has been a resident of Cincinnati since 2018 and still enjoys exploring the city and surrounding areas to find interesting historical landmarks, outdoor activities, and unique restaurants and coffee shops.  

Carla Rhoades is a new tenure-track instructor in Early Childhood Education. She has worked as a Cincinnati State adjunct faculty member for the past six years and has 14 years of adjunct teaching experience at other local colleges.

Carla brings to the ECE program over 23 years of experience in the preschool classroom, as well as many other experiences and positions in the early childhood education field.

Carla said, “I am honored to have been part of the lives of so many young children and their families.”

Carla has a Bachelor of Arts in Child Development from Berea College in Kentucky. She earned her Master's degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Dayton.

In 2013, Carla began working towards a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati while working a full-time job as an administrator in a lab preschool program. After receiving the fellowship "Leaders for Tomorrow’s Children: Preparing Leadership Personnel in Early Childhood Education" in 2016 she left her job of almost 15 years and moved to full-time student status.

Unfortunately, the pandemic has delayed completion of Carla's dissertation for over a year because of lack of access to preschool programs to collect data.

In her time away from work, Carla enjoys glamping (camping in an RV), hiking, biking, running, playing disc golf, listening to podcasts, and reading.

She says a bucket-list goal is to hike the Camino de Santiago, a network of routes that stretches across Europe.