Two New Deans Appointed at Champlain College

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Laurel Bongiorno, Dean of EHS Division

BURLINGTON, VT (08/22/2013)(readMedia)-- Champlain College Provost Robin Abramson has announced the selection of new deans in the College's Division of Communications & Creative Media (CCM) and Division of Education & Human Studies (EHS).

Paula Willoquet-Maricondi began as new dean of CCM on July 1. Willoquet-Maricondi has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Film Studies from Indiana University. Prior to coming to Champlain, she was a professor of Media Arts at Marist College and held dual administrative appointments as Interim Assistant Dean of the School of Communication and the Arts and Chair of the Media Arts Department.

Willoquet-Maricondi has taught courses in film studies, communication, literature, interdisciplinary studies, ESL and French. She is an accomplished scholar, with three edited collections in prestigious presses and numerous peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations.

She replaces CCM founding dean Jeff Rutenbeck, who is now Dean of the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C.

Laurel Bongiorno, Champlain's new EHS dean, has been a full-time faculty member at Champlain since 1999. She took over her new position on July 1.

Bongiorno earned her Ph.D. in Education, specializing in Early Childhood Education at Walden University in 2012. She has been an active member of the Champlain community, serving as Faculty Senate president from 2005-2009, as well as serving on the Senate Executive and Curriculum committees.

Bongiorno has worked closely with students, both in and out of the classroom. She has been the advisor for Champlain's Children Club since 2000. In 2012, Bongiorno was awarded Champlain College's highest teaching honor, the Edward Phelps Lyman Professorship. For the last two years, she has been the program director and driving force behind the Masters of Education in Early Childhood Education program at Champlain College.

She replaces Sue Rowley, who served as dean of EHS until Spring 2012 and taught at Champlain for 22 years. She retired and is now living in Pembroke, Maine.

About Champlain College:

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. Champlain offers study abroad programs at its campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 377 Colleges: 2013 Edition. Champlain was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges and is ranked in the top tier of 2013 Regional Colleges in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu