Champlain Welcomes 550 Students to Class of 2013

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Orientation Day at Champlain College

• Champlain College campus photo. (photo by Stephen Mease)

BURLINGTON, VT (08/27/2009)(readMedia)-- Champlain College welcomes its second largest freshman class Friday, Aug. 28, when some 550 first-year students arrive on campus to begin moving into their residence halls, meet their new roommates, sort out class schedules and get oriented to life at their new home for the next four years.

A full weekend of orientation activities begins Friday for the Class of 2013 including workshops on "the nuts and bolts of beginning your college careering"; a lunch for friends, family and students in the courtyard, and the official "President's Welcome" from David F. Finney along with Director of Admission Ian Mortimer and representatives of the Student Government Association.

The formal Champlain College Convocation ceremony at 3 p.m. -- held at Skiff Hall this year because of construction at the Perry Hall Student Welcome Center -- includes a procession of Champlain 100-plus faculty and staff in full academic regalia led by The St. Andrew's Pipe Band of Vermont. The 2009 Champlain College Distinguished Citizen Award will be presented to community leader Jack DuBrul of Shelburne, owner of Automaster.

New Champlain students will finish off the day with either a cruise on Lake Champlain or an evening of fun at Pizza Putt in South Burlington. Over the course of the weekend, students will be able to meet their professors, take care of banking, buy books and work on the first steps of their Life Experience & Action Dimension (LEAD) program which includes a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and personality workshop.

Champlain College expects enrollment of traditional undergraduate students to settle in around 1,950, down slightly from last year, and of those, about 1,120 are residential students. Champlain offers 30 undergraduate programs, five graduate programs and offers more than 20 online continuing professional studies programs. Classes begin Monday at 8 a.m.

More Champlain College students will also spend part of their year studying abroad at Champlain's campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Some 100 undergraduate students are expected to study at one of these two sites and about 40 students are expected to participate in outside international academic programs.

Returning Champlain students will find work is progressing on the $15 million Perry Hall Student Welcome Center on South Willard Street that includes extensive historic renovations to the circa 1859 building, the construction of two contemporary office wings, extensive landscaping and new promenades connecting the Welcome Center to other parts of the campus. The Center, which will be home to Admission, Financial Aid, Advising and Student Accounts, is expected to open in August 2010. The "green" project is registered for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, with features such as an innovative geothermal heating system, day lighting and green roofing.

Earlier this month, Champlain College was recognized as one of America's "Top Up-and-Coming Schools" in U.S. News & World Report's newly released 2010 edition of "America's Best Colleges."

"Champlain has experienced tremendous transformation and innovation over the last decade, and these rankings recognize and reinforce our many successes," says David F. Finney, president of Champlain College. "The rankings also reflect the hard work of our faculty and staff as well as recognition by our peers for the cutting-edge approaches that have made us a national leader in professionally-focused education enhanced by a comprehensive and interdisciplinary core liberal arts curriculum."

This is the first year that Champlain has made the "Top Up-and-Coming Schools" list - one of only 77 colleges and universities given this designation. The category, which began last year, recognizes institutions that "have recently made striking improvements or innovations" in areas such as academic programs, faculty, students, or facilities. Champlain is ranked in the top tier of Best Baccalaureate Colleges-North Region rankings.

Champlain College, founded in 1878, offers "Education in Three Dimensions" -- a distinctive educational approach to professionally focused majors, developing life skills and leadership based on critical and creative thinking. To learn more about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu.