{"id":2336,"date":"2026-09-04T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/09\/04\/2026-09-04-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:08:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:08:38","slug":"2026-09-04-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/09\/04\/2026-09-04-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine new professors are the \u2018very, very\u00a0best\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Julia Kramer<\/a> · News Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New
New faculty gather for a photo before the beginning of the academic year. \u2014 GCC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s faculty this academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in August of 2025, the hiring process was intensive and rigorous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long process,\u201d Peter Frank, the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Grove City College, said. \u201cWe really want to hire folks who are a good mission fit with Grove City College and our Christian mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cscholar and a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe work really hard to bring in who we think is the very, very best,\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not all this year\u2019s 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 \u201cunique historical methodology\u201d to experimenting in \u201cquantum magnetism\u201d to conducting \u201cnovel cell imaging approaches and systems biology,\u201d these professors were chosen because they offered something that students could not already access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re interested in how they might incorporate students into their research,\u201d Frank said. \u201cWhether that\u2019s through independent projects or even within their courses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new alumni professors are chemistry professor Rachel Clark, mathematics professor Jared Kettinger, education professor Michael Pelloni and physics professor Allen Scheie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music professor Sarah Gilbert, history professor Abigail Gomulkiewicz, communication professor Rudy Sunrin Kim and management professor Jennifer Roy round out the new professors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim is already impacting her students and their future research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe works hard to make the material digestible,\u201d Elizabeth Jenkins, a junior English and communications major in Kim\u2019s Research Methods class, said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to gauge in a week or two of class what a professor\u2019s really like, but honestly, she\u2019s really sweet, really helpful. She\u2019s really encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excellent research, however, was not the only criterion the college was seeking. As an institution whose mission is to equip students through a \u201cChrist-centered\u201d learning experience, the college also evaluated each applicant\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want folks who really understand and think deeply about how they would integrate their Christian faith into their discipline,\u201d Frank said. \u201cPeople who are really committed to Grove City College\u2019s Christian mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some professors, being allowed to include their faith while teaching is a new experience. Clark previously taught at Slippery Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Claire Wisler, a junior exercise science major in Clark\u2019s General Chemistry class, said. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to know that she is invested in furthering our understanding of God\u2019s creation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s faculty this academic year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[80,18,162],"class_list":["post-2336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","tag-julia-kramer","tag-news","tag-issue-2026-09-04"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-09-04-25-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best-1.jpg",800,397,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-09-04-25-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best-1.jpg",150,74,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-09-04-25-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best-1.jpg",300,149,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-09-04-25-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best-1.jpg",768,381,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-09-04-25-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best-1.jpg",800,397,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-09-04-25-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best-1.jpg",800,397,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-09-04-25-nine-new-professors-are-the-very-very-best-1.jpg",800,397,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"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\u2019s faculty this academic year.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2584,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2336\/revisions\/2584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}