Newswise — Fourteen members of the Mount Holyoke College faculty have been named by the Princeton Review to a list of the nation's best 300 undergraduate professors—the greatest number from any one U.S. college or university.
The faculty are listed in a new guidebook, The Best 300 Professors, published April 3 by Random House and the Princeton Review. The book includes faculty from 122 colleges and representing 60 academic fields; faculty selections were based on data collected by the Princeton review and ratings from RateMyProfessors.com, the country's highest-trafficked college professor ratings site. All of the professors won high praise from their most important audiences, the undergraduate students they teach, according to the Princeton Review.
Representing MHC on the list of 300 are: Susan R. Barry, Rachel Fink, Amy Frary, Stan Rachootin, and Craig Woodard, all in biological sciences; Eleanor Townsley and Kenneth H. Tucker, sociology; Vincent A. Ferraro and Constantine Pleshakov, international relations; Jane F. Crosthwaite, religion; Susan Daniels, theatre arts; James Hartley, economics; Sam Mitchell, philosophy; and Christopher Rivers, French.
{Photos and faculty summaries from the Princeton Review can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhc/sets/72157629382077388/ }
“I am very pleased that Mount Holyoke has been recognized, once again, for our outstanding faculty,” said MHC President Lynn Pasquerella. “Their dedication and excellence as teachers, scholars, and mentors is at the center of the College's commitment to promoting liberal learning and fostering the next generation of women leaders. I am extremely proud and deeply grateful for the many contributions of each of these individuals and the entire faculty of which they are a part.”
The guidebook includes profiles of the colleges where the 300 professors teach, and the list of faculty is organized by academic fields. Neither the professors nor the colleges are ranked in the book. The professors were selected from an initial list of 42,000 faculty, based on qualitative and quantitative data collected by both the Princeton Review and RateMyProfessors.com from students at thousands of colleges reporting on their classroom experiences. The professors represent less than .02 percent of the 1.8 million postsecondary teachers at colleges and universities across the United States.
According to the students quoted in the guidebook, the professors at Mount Holyoke "have nothing but the best to offer students" and work "hard to create a great academic experience." Students find that faculty members are "extremely dedicated to their subject," "really enjoy teaching," and "make sure every student is getting the most out of their class."
That hard work extends beyond their regular class hours, students noted.
"From your first year to senior year, you feel very supported by the faculty, and they are genuinely interested in getting to know students on a personal level," wrote one student quoted by the Princeton Review. Students also reported their professors are "always available outside of the classroom" and are prone to "frequently extend their office hours to accommodate (student) schedules."
The Princeton Review is a Massachusetts-based education service known for its test-prep courses, books, and student survey-based college rankings. It is not affiliated with Princeton University. The organization has named Mount Holyoke as a leader in various categories in its annual Best Colleges guidebooks; in 2011 it named the College first in the category of Best Classroom Experience; and in 2012 it recognized MHC as a Best Value College.
Located in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Mount Holyoke College is the oldest women's college in the United States and was the first of the Seven Sisters.The College is distinguished by its academic rigor, its diverse international community, a worldwide network of influential alumnae, and the conviction that women can and should make a difference in the world.
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