By Julia Kramer · News Editor
Freshmen are not the only new faces around campus, as nine new professors, including alumnus Joshua Snyder, the new dean of the Hopeman School, have joined the college’s faculty this academic year.
Beginning in August of 2025, the hiring process was intensive and rigorous.
“It’s a long process,” Peter Frank, the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Grove City College, said. “We really want to hire folks who are a good mission fit with Grove City College and our Christian mission.”
Unlike other companies or organizations that can hire throughout the year, colleges must think in advance and hire with each academic year in mind. Taking up anywhere from six to eight months to make an official decision, each candidate must undergo several evaluations before receiving an offer.
After passing preliminary virtual interviews and a full day of in-person interviews on campus, candidates are often asked to provide a research presentation and teach a class on campus.
This last step is crucial for Frank. While any professor can be intelligent in their area of discipline, Frank stressed that the college is specifically looking for a person who can be both a “scholar and a teacher.”
“We work really hard to bring in who we think is the very, very best,” Frank said.
While not all this year’s new professors can claim previous teaching experience, each comes into the classroom with a new niche and area of expertise for students in their major. From practicing “unique historical methodology” to experimenting in “quantum magnetism” to conducting “novel cell imaging approaches and systems biology,” these professors were chosen because they offered something that students could not already access.
“We’re interested in how they might incorporate students into their research,” Frank said. “Whether that’s through independent projects or even within their courses.”
The new alumni professors are chemistry professor Rachel Clark, mathematics professor Jared Kettinger, education professor Michael Pelloni and physics professor Allen Scheie.
Music professor Sarah Gilbert, history professor Abigail Gomulkiewicz, communication professor Rudy Sunrin Kim and management professor Jennifer Roy round out the new professors.
Kim is already impacting her students and their future research.
“She works hard to make the material digestible,” Elizabeth Jenkins, a junior English and communications major in Kim’s Research Methods class, said. “It’s hard to gauge in a week or two of class what a professor’s really like, but honestly, she’s really sweet, really helpful. She’s really encouraging.”
Excellent research, however, was not the only criterion the college was seeking. As an institution whose mission is to equip students through a “Christ-centered” learning experience, the college also evaluated each applicant’s faith.
“We want folks who really understand and think deeply about how they would integrate their Christian faith into their discipline,” Frank said. “People who are really committed to Grove City College’s Christian mission.”
For some professors, being allowed to include their faith while teaching is a new experience. Clark previously taught at Slippery Rock.
“I love that she starts every class with prayer to help focus our learning on the one who made all of the intricacies of science that we get to discover,” Claire Wisler, a junior exercise science major in Clark’s General Chemistry class, said. “It’s wonderful to know that she is invested in furthering our understanding of God’s creation.”
