Teaching Excellence

Faculty-student relationships are hallmark of Ripon experience

The commitment of Ripon College faculty to help each student — to get to know each one as a distinct individual and ensure that every student realizes his or her unique promise — is profound. It’s a huge reason why close facultystudent relationships remain a true hallmark of the Ripon educational experience, not just a tagline on a glossy brochure.

Unlike a big university, Ripon’s liberal arts environment creates a community that embraces the faculty-student relationship and prioritizes it above all else. Our alumni frequently tell us how humbled they are and grateful for the attention they received from their Ripon faculty, whom they refer to as mentors, role models, colleagues and friends.

Whether it occurs in class discussion or the lab, office hours or in the hallway, at a game or in Pickard Commons, Ripon’s wonderful and accomplished professors are there for each student. They want to help. Their deepest satisfaction comes from seeing students grow and flourish over four years, and then watching from afar as alumni live lives of meaning and accomplishment.

We asked four Ripon faculty members to tell us in their own words what teaching at Ripon means to them.

What excites you most about teaching at Ripon?

Mary Unger, Associate Professor of English

MARY UNGER

“I love the small class size, of course, but I especially enjoy being able to teach the same students multiple times throughout their careers at Ripon, sometimes even as many as four or five times!” says Mary Unger, associate professor of English. “This allows me to get to know students on a much more individual level, track their growth over several years, and help them personalize their liberal arts education to suit their interests and career goals.”

Paul Jeffries, Associate Professor of Philosophy

PAUL JEFFRIES

“The students are the source of my greatest excitement about teaching at Ripon,” says Paul Jeffries, associate professor of philosophy. “They come from such a wide range: first generation, diverse economic, social and ethnic backgrounds, different community sizes, international students and students of different levels of preparation. I have worked with some truly gifted students and also with students who faced significant academic challenges. What excites me is that both kinds of students can and do thrive here.”

Lamont Colucci, Associate Professor of Politics and Government

LAMONT COLUCCI

“Traditionally, Ripon College students are more diverse in thought than in other institutions. This is particularly true in politics,” says Lamont Colucci, associate professor of politics and government. “The monolith of thought that exists on the majority of American university campuses does not exist among the student population here. This allows the professor to ignite political discussions and debates where multiple sides are illustrated.”

Julia Meyers-Manor, Assistant Professor of Psychology

JULIA MEYERS-MANOR

“I love the opportunity to work one-on-one with students,” says Julia Meyers-Manor, assistant professor of psychology. “I like watching them grow in their courses as writers and thinkers. I also love being able to partner with local community members to enrich the students’ experiences.”

As you prepare your classes, what are some of the universal objectives you have no matter the subject matter?

UNGER

“As an English professor, I always want my students to work on critical reading and writing skills, as well as develop an ability to articulate their ideas out loud to a group of their peers. Knowing how to weigh evidence, construct an argument and interpret the world around them are objectives I hope my students will master no matter what class they take from me.”

JEFFRIES

“(I try) to cultivate a passion for learning and seeing the world through a new way of thinking. My goal is to make apparent some of the ways they are already ‘doing philosophy’ and ‘doing ethics’ in their lives, as I also challenge them with ways they might engage in these activities differently and more thoughtfully. I see myself as planting seeds, seeds that may take root that semester, but more often after lying dormant for a time and may come to fruition many years down the road.”

COLUCCI

“My teaching of Ripon College students has been constructed along three pillars: content, critical engagement and provocative communication. Each class has to revolve constantly around these three pillars.”

MEYERS-MANOR

“I always incorporate writing and critical-thinking skills into my courses. I think these are skills that are essential for all students to have. I especially like to get them thinking about connections of the material to real-world problems.”

What are some of the key lessons you want your students to take away from their time at Ripon College?

Mary Unger

UNGER

“I want my students to gain the knowledge and experiences to live deliberately. No matter their major or minor, their extracurricular activities or their career goals, I want students to be able to construct lives that are meaningful to them.”

JEFFRIES

“I want all of my students to know that they can and must make a positive difference in the world. I want students to become more curious about the world around them and to be open to learning throughout their lives. Such a capacity can help a person navigate a wide range of jobs and careers in the span of a single lifetime. Finally, I want them to see that what is most important about each of them is not the job or career they have but what kind of person they are and are becoming.”

COLUCCI

“I am often identified as a ‘policy practitioner’ so it is surprising to some that my foundational focus on politics is on great ideas. Policy and opinions without grounding in the world of philosophy, morality and ethics is an exercise in futility. The great questions of politics, which go well beyond policy issues, are the foundations of my classes. Students need to understand that ideas and opinions must be grounded in content. Opinions and beliefs are not in and of themselves worthy unless they are built on knowledge, logic, reason and wisdom.”

MEYERS-MANOR

“I want students to be able to leave Ripon College and to read newspaper articles or chat with their friends and to be able to think and speak critically about research conclusions. I want them to be able to look at a problem behavior and think of ways that they could change that behavior. I also want them to know that there is someone out there who believes in them and is rooting for their success.”

What are some of the ways you engage your students in the classroom?

UNGER

“Facilitating class discussions about readings is the primary way that I engage students. Rather than providing them with answers upfront, I ask questions, present them with pop quizzes (which are often games) and set up problems for them to solve in order to make their learning experience more engaging. I want them to give me the answer and be able to articulate in a convincing way how they arrived at that interpretation or conclusion.”

Paul Jeffries

JEFFRIES

“The dominant metaphor for my teaching is ‘surfing the chaos.’ I think philosophy is an activity, not merely a body of knowledge that one masters. The surfing analogy comes when we get to our Socratic dialogue as a class. Sometimes I happen to catch a really great wave and can ride it for a long time. But I never know exactly how the discussion will go or what direction it will take, so I just ride the wave and see what happens.”

COLUCCI

“It is my desire and goal to create an atmosphere where the student is constantly challenged to engage, defend or refute a host of arguments and concepts at all times. I pride myself on maintaining such an environment where I am neither neutral nor partisan. This means that I am the challenger to the right, the left and the center. A constant stress imposed on me is the balance between allowing the free flow of discussion and debate, and ensuring the content is completely presented.”

MEYERS-MANOR

“In the classroom, I use mini-experiments such as dissecting Twinkies ‘brains’ or training dogs on a novel behavior. I also use a lot of videos and classroom discussions to engage students in difficult topics. I use outside-of-class exercises to get them to think about why the topics matter. That might include putting on a neuroscience fair for kids or writing advice columns to solve practical dating and family problems.”

What does success look like for a teacher at Ripon?

UNGER

“Success for me means helping students become more independent, compassionate and aware of the world around them and their impact on it.”

JEFFRIES

“Teachers must find their own way of teaching that fits their strengths and personality and then develop their own unique excellence. And part of developing teaching excellence is recognizing that each class each semester has its own personality. What works with one class may not work with another. Hence, ‘success’ can be a real challenge to define. I believe it is more important to be faithful to one’s calling as a teacher.”

Lamont Colucci

COLUCCI

“For me, success is measured in what my students do after Ripon. I am proud in how many of my students I have assisted in placing in graduate school and law school. However, I am even prouder of the tremendous number I have helped in getting their first career slot in places like the FBI, CIA, Department of Defense, Capitol Hill and the Wisconsin State Legislature.”

MEYERS-MANOR

“To me, student success is to help students better understand the topic. That doesn’t necessarily mean an A for every student but that each student can engage with the material at whatever level they are at. I feel like my students have succeeded when I can take their progress from first paper or project drafts to excellent final products that make everyone proud.”