Six Champlain College Professors Among the 'Best 300'

BURLINGTON, VT (04/03/2012)(readMedia)-- A new guidebook released today recognizes Champlain College for having six of the country's best undergraduate teachers.

The affirmation of quality teaching comes from The Princeton Review and its new book, "The Best 300 Professors." For the project, The Princeton Review teamed up with RateMyProfessors.com – the highest-trafficked college professor ratings site in the U.S. - to develop a roster of top teachers that features professors in more than 60 academic fields and from 122 colleges and universities.

According to the book's editors, professors were chosen based on qualitative and quantitative data from survey findings and ratings collected by both The Princeton Review and RateMyProfessors.com. After forming a base list of 1,000 professors, The Princeton Review obtained further input from school administrators and students to assist editors in making the final choices of which professors to profile in the book.

"We developed this project as a tribute to the extraordinary dedication of America's undergraduate college professors and the vitally important role they play in our culture, and our democracy," said Robert Franek, senior vice president and publisher of Princeton Review's "The Best 376 Colleges."

Champlain College professors featured in the new Princeton Review Book, "The Best 300 Professors," are: J.C. Ellefson, English (Creative Writing); Jonathan Rajewski, Digital Forensics; John P. Rogate, Computer Science; Eric Ronis, Communication; Alan Stracke, Sociology; and Janice Gohm Webster, English. Each received a short narrative profile, highlighting their teaching style with comments from past students and their philosophy behind teaching.

"We are honored and proud that these professors are receiving national recognition – it is well deserved and emblematic of the kind of work happening in all of our classrooms at Champlain," said Robin Abramson, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Champlain.

Champlain College is the only higher educational institution in Vermont to be included in the book. Prof. Rajewski, co-director of the Leahy Center for Digital Forensics at Champlain, is the only professor listed under the Digital Forensics category.

"All of these recognitions speak to the passion that Champlain faculty bring to the classroom. It is a privilege to call these dedicated teachers my colleagues," said Champlain President David F. Finney.

Here's what the Champlain professors had to say about the news:

• Eric Ronis: "It's great that classroom teaching itself is being recognized as so significant in Higher Ed that the Princeton Review is now acknowledging it. Of course, effective classroom teaching is something Champlain College has stressed for a long time."http://www.champlain.edu/directory/ronis-eric.html
• Alan Stracke: "Personally, I feel inward joy and balance. Professionally, I am honored to be in the company of such true teachers. Most importantly, the stars here are the students. They inspire us." http://www.champlain.edu/directory/stracke-alan.html
• John Rogate: "I was totally surprised by this honor when I learned about it. I have some small inkling as to how their decision was made, but all I did was do what I do best...teach." http://www.champlain.edu/directory/rogate-john.html
• J.C. Ellefson: "Now I can believe there's life somewhere in the constellation Vulpecula." http://www.champlain.edu/directory/ellefson-j.html
• Janice Gohm Webster: "It is always nice to be recognized as one of "the best" at what one loves doing, and it is particularly nice to be recognized alongside a group of such stellar colleagues." http://www.champlain.edu/directory/gohm-webster-janice.html
• Jonathan Rajewski: "I'm honored to be recognized as one of the top 300 professors in the nation. I was surprised when I learned the news and remain humbled by the entire experience." http://www.champlain.edu/directory/rajewski-jonathan.html

The faculty at Champlain continues to set the benchmark for excellence in teaching. Champlain College Professor Gary Scudder was named 2010 Vermont Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Last fall, Champlain College was included in the Princeton Review's guidebook, "The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition," and was ranked 17th overall in the "Best Classroom Experience" category. Champlain is ranked 13th in the top tier of 2012 Regional Colleges by the U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best College."

"The Best 300 Professors" also includes profiles of 122 colleges at which one or more of the book's top-notch professors teach. The school profile give students considering attending the college additional information on admission, tuition, SAT/ACT scores of admitted students and other useful data.

Since 1878, Champlain College has provided career-focused education to students from its hilltop campus in Burlington, Vt. Champlain's distinctive educational approach embodies the notion that true learning only occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain offers traditional undergraduate and online undergraduate courses, along with online certificate and degree programs and eight master's degree programs. For more information on Champlain College,www.champlain.edu

A complete list of the professors in the book is accessible at:http://www.princetonreview.com/best-professors/.