Champlain College file photo by Stephen Mease.
Gift is a Vote of Confidence in New President, Career-Forward Education
Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College, a private, non-profit institution and recognized leader in career-forward education, has received $1 million from an anonymous donor.
The gift is a demonstration of confidence in the incoming tenth president, Alex Hernandez, and supports the college’s new strategic plan: R/Evolutionary 2030 Strategic Plan. Champlain College, known for its innovative, experiential, and interdisciplinary approach to higher education, prepares students to succeed in high-growth, high-demand careers.
Hernandez, who started his term on Monday, June 6, said, “Champlain’s radically pragmatic education is transformative for students and this gift provides important momentum as we seek to increase our impact and support a thriving Vermont.”
The R/Evolutionary Champlain 2030 strategic plan, developed by members of the greater Champlain community, focuses on three major priorities:
- Build Innovative Academic Programs: Put Champlain at the forefront of career-focused, experiential learning with new programs and investments in the academic experience, including a major expansion into the biological and life sciences.
- Be an Economic Engine for Vermont: Create diverse talent pipelines and develop innovative employer partnerships to help Vermont grow and thrive.
- Invest in the Champlain Community: Foster a welcoming, supportive, and just community while attracting students from diverse backgrounds, expanding scholarships, celebrating student success, prioritizing wellbeing, and engaging the college’s talented faculty and staff.
Champlain has a long history of responding to ever-changing workforce needs and is a net importer of talent to Vermont. Annual surveys of Champlain graduates’ career outcomes show that about 50 percent of Champlain’s graduating students remain in Vermont for their first career placement.
“The continued growth and evolution of Champlain College stems from the deep dedication of our faculty and staff,” Hernandez said, “and this contribution is a testament to their hard work, perseverance, and entrepreneurial spirit.”
About Champlain College: Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and more than 90 residential undergraduate and online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain’s distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. For the seventh year in a row, Champlain was named a “Most Innovative School” in the North by U.S. News & World Report’s “America's Best Colleges” rankings, and was listed among The Princeton Review’s “The Best 387 Colleges” in 2022. Champlain is also featured in the 2021 Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of the “best and most interesting schools” in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.
BURLINGTON, VT (June 9, 2022)—Champlain College
