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Thank you, Alumni
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Last fall we launched the2K 4 2M Champlain College Alumni Challenge. It was the largest participation challenge in Champlain history. We asked 2,000 alumni to make a gift of any size before June 30th. If we did this together, Champlain would receive a $2 million gift. When we first set out, this seemed like a lofty goal.
Most of all, you committed to supporting the growth of Champlain.
Your excitement and passion for Champlain fueled a challenge that, less than a year ago, seemed nearly impossible. Thank you to all who participated and supported us along the way, we did it together. We are still counting gifts, and will share the final numbers with you in the coming weeks. In the meantime, thank you!
We could not have done this without your Alumni pride.
Thank you for sharing your heartfelt messages along the way:
"When I think about my memories at Champlain it feels like I am in a little brick house sipping a cup of hot cocoa by a warm fire while the snow gently falls outside... the memories are warm and clear and I am grateful for it."
- Katie McDonald '06
"I loved my time at Champlain and truly believe it offered me the best education possible. It gave me the skills and knowledge I needed to get a job straight out of college and has led to my present day success. I believe in the future of Champlain and all it can and will be able to offer current and future students."
- Nicole Magoon '10
"Dollar for dollar, it was the most practical and career-focused post-secondary school that I ever attended. And I attended a bunch of them."
- Jim Willard, '98
"I made my gift because Champlain--the people, the classes, the place itself--changed my life by giving me the tools and knowledge I needed to strive towards being my best self. My professors helped me identify my strengths and they believed in my abilities, teaching me to believe in myself. Burlington opened my eyes to a holistic, healthy and joy-saturated way of living. My friends held my hand as I jumped off the cliffs at red rocks and into adulthood. I left that beautiful campus with confidence, marketable skills, a greater sense of self and a whole lot of Camp Champ pride."
- Allison Arbuthnot Sanders '07
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Champlain College Alumni Help NPI Achieve Service Excellence
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"Our first hire was a Champlain College graduate," recalls NPI (Network Performance Inc.) President John Burton. "He majored in chip production, but ended up interested in servicing computer networks." NPI, a South Burlington based managed IT services  firm, looks for employees with training and experience in networking, operating systems and security. Because they provide monitoring and proactive maintenance of networking infrastructure, they say it is vital that they hire exceptionally competent techs. Over the past 25 years NPI has hired more than six Champlain College graduates and, in the past month have hired two more. "I am continually amazed at the caliber of the applicants I see from Champlain," says NPI Vice President Eric Hart. "They consistently have an impressive balance of theoretical and practical knowledge."
Spencer Goddard '13 has interned at NPI for two years. He had several options when choosing where to intern and selected NPI because it was a good fit for his major and the position sounded appealing, he says. Spencer was also impressed with his initial interview with Burton and Hart and noted "they are very knowledgeable in the industry and were willing to create an internship position that was interesting. I felt like what I was doing was actually something useful."
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Spencer Goddard '13
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Jim Hoag, Associate Professor at Champlain, agrees: "The teaching and learning environment emphasizes lab-based activities to couple practical skills and knowledge with theory and concepts. The opportunity to intern at NPI gives students exposure to systems in use as well as the balance between customer needs, costs, implementation and scheduling issues and management concerns."
Spencer's internship spanned two summers during which he worked full time and one day a week during the school year. He begins working full-time at NPI full time on June 1 and reports that he is "excited to be able to take everything I've learned and practiced over the past 6 years and use it in the real world."
Michelle Loveday '10 took a different route to become an NPI employee. She
graduated with a degree in Digital Forensics and accepted a part time IT Specialist position at a local firm. Unfortunately, she realized there were few opportunities for her to grow professionally in that company. While looking for another job, Michelle went back to Champlain's career center.
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Michelle Loveday '10
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"I wish I had taken more advantage of the center because as an alumni their services are always available," she said. Career Advisor Mark Zammuto pointed her toward NPI and a career where she has more regular interaction with clients. Hannah Campbell, Alumni Relations Director at Champlain, notes that "one of our primary objectives is to continually be a resource for our alumni; relationships with companies like NPI really elevate the college." NPI offers Michelle a totally different work experience: "Here I am actively looking for problems," she said. "As part of a team it is pretty neat to watch everyone coordinate how best to handle issues that arise."
Article written by Dawn McGinnis, Outside Sales Coordinator at NPI.
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Thursday, August 1, 2013
6- 8 p.m.
Join your fellow alumni for an evening of live music with local folk musician Mike Colbourn! We will will treat you to a glass of Vineyard wine or a beer from Fiddlehead Brewery and brick oven pizza slices from Folino's. In the event of rain, the concert will be held in the Vineyard loft.
We hope you can join us for this event! Families are welcome.
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This issue features in-depth reporting on the expanding arts programs at Champlain, along with a message from President Finney about his retirement in 2014, Alumni profiles, an interview with photographer Jean Luc Dushime '10 and the latest Alumni Class Notes/Career Moves.
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Have you joined your local
Alumni Chapter?
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Be sure to follow our updates on social media for Alumni job postings & upcoming events:
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