Office and People Directory

Gary Baker

Biography

Dr. Gary A. Baker has a passion for teaching. For over 30 years, he’s been working to guide students toward successful career choices and successful lives. His own scholarly expertise lies in experimental social psychology. He enjoys interacting with students inside and outside the classroom. He likes introducing students to the study of psychology because students gain a practical knowledge of themselves and others that serve them well throughout their lives. He feels that the students who are most successful in college are those who seek an “education”, not just a degree. In addition to teaching psychology, Dr. Baker worked for nine years at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Medical College of Georgia conducting research on addictions and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Professional & Scholastic Affiliation

• American Psychology—Law Society
• Association for Psychological Science
• The Society for Personality & Social Psychology

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Jonathan Banfill

Biography

Dr. Jonathan Banfill is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Core Division at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, where he also directs the Global Studies Minor and the Freeman Foundation Asia Grant. Jonathan’s academic background is in Comparative and International Education, where he holds a PhD from UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. He also holds an MA in Comparative International Politics from American University in Washington, D.C. and a BA in Comparative History from University of Washington, Seattle.

Jonathan’s research and pedagogical practice is engaged in creating interdisciplinary interconnections between new trends in the humanities, social research on global and urban issues, and creative practices from art and design, via place-based and experiential education. He has a long-term interest in thinking about these issues specifically within the context of a transnational Asia-Pacific, but is expanding in more directions since relocating to Vermont. At Champlain, this means creating courses and pedagogical spaces that can combine students’ professional knowledge with a humanistic perspective that can address future changes and global challenges. Jonathan has lived, worked, and taught in places as diverse as Los Angeles, Beijing, Belfast, Pyongyang, Mexico City, Shanghai, Cape Town, and Tokyo.

Jonathan is a graduate of the UCLA Urban Humanities Initiative, an interdisciplinary research and training program funded by the Mellon Foundation that brings together humanities scholars, architects, and urban planners to study 21st century issues in cities in the Asia Pacific. He also served as a research and teaching fellow for the program and at cityLAB, an urban research think tank in the UCLA department of Architecture and Urban Design. More recently Jonathan is a co-founder of the Urban Humanities Network, which is supporting a new generation of Urban Humanities scholars and practitioners around the world.

At Champlain, Jonathan is Primary Investigator for a Champlain College subward grant that is part of a larger Vermont EPSCoR proposal organized by The Vermont Complex Systems Center at the University of Vermont. This project, called The Study of Online, Collective Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS), examines social narratives using Big Data and computational tools. Champlain College’s project focuses on the way that the soundscape has changed in Vermont and how Vermonters have talked about those changes over the last 150 years. Jonathan is a contributing faculty member for a National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities Advancement (DHAG) grant that will be used to build infrastructure and contribute to faculty’s professional development for Digital Humanities tools. Finally he is a contributing faculty member to an ongoing multi-media research project funded by the Council of Independent Colleges Humanities Research for the Public Good grant that is investigating the history of Urban Renewal in the city of Burlington.

Jonathan is presently helping develop the new major in Digital Humanities at Champain that will start in fall 2024.

Publications & Abstracts

Urban Humanities Pedagogy (2016) 

Favorite Quote

“If a scholar stays only in one place, then he or she will know no more than one song, their mind poor and pathetic. He ought to travel widely, observe how people live and how things work, understand customs and cultures across regions, learn of mountains, waters, and meteorology (cosmology), in order to extend their knowhow. This is how scholars are benefited from their experiences.”

—Hu Yuan (993-1059), Northern Song Dynasty Educator speaking about what we would now call interdisciplinary education. I am a descendent of Hu and try to put his ideas into practice in my teaching. Original Chinese quote translated by Dr. Weiling Deng.

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Steven Barefoot

Biography

In his current role as the associate director for value-based care programs, Dr. Barefoot (Steve) is responsible for the clinical integrity of value-based care programs and ensuring the validity of clinical performance measures used in those programs. In addition, he has primary responsibility for data analysis that supports the design and implementation of these programs across the United States. This involves managing, merging, and interpreting data from wide-ranging information platforms. The platforms range from data-rich legacy systems to the most current social collaboration platforms.

In the early part of his career, Steve developed his clinical experience delivering patient care in his private practice, as part of an HMO dental clinic, and via a mobile dentistry program serving mostly Medicaid schoolchildren. He also has worked with other volunteers to deliver dental care in rural communities in Honduras.

His interest in technology and analytics lead him along a separate career path where he was a consultant and certified instructor in IBM-Domino technologies. In that role he developed collaborative, company-wide applications to manage workflow processes for a range of Fortune 500 companies and taught advanced courses in systems administration and application development. During this time, he was a National Solutions Director for an international, Chicago-based information technology consulting company with over 2,000 employees. In terms of analytics, Steve has experience modeling market penetration for new communication products in the wireless industry and has utilized unsupervised machine learning to perform cluster analyses to risk stratify patients.

His clinical background combined with has experience in analysis and developing sophisticated business applications provides a broad platform for teaching classes at Champlain College Online.

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Anjali Barnick

Biography

Dr. Barnick has worked in a variety of educational areas and her main focus is that each student have a successful experience. Learning is about exploring different perspectives and growing as an individual and she hopes to be a part of that process.

Distinctions & Awards

Faculty award from Michael Zemany

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Scott Barrett

Biography

Scott Barrett is an alumnus of Champlain College who is delighted to be pursuing his passion of teaching. He worked at Ubisoft Montréal for 5 years in a variety of roles, including as a network programmer, as a gameplay programmer, and as a tools programmer. He has worked on teams as small as under a dozen people to as large as several hundred people. He has experience with both Unity and with proprietary game engines.

Scott’s teaching philosophy centers around helping students achieve their goals by working with them collaboratively and with honesty. He teaches physics, networking, and game engine courses, and he has a particular interest in low-level and systems programming. He is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Computer Science at the University of Vermont part-time while teaching at Champlain College full-time.

Distinctions & Awards

Awarded a gift grant by Activision for educational work at Champlain

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

Practical Creativity by Raph Koster

An excellent talk for game developers of any kind, and for anyone working in any creative field. Includes practical advice on how to be creative, and also includes a different way of looking at what it means for different works to share a genre.

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Charles Bashaw

Biography

Charles “Chuck” Bashaw received a BA in Comparative Literature from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, an MA in History from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and a Joint PhD in History and History of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His scholarly interests all center on questions about how we know things and how much confidence we can have in what we think we know.

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Mark Bateh

Biography

Mark was born in Jacksonville, Florida and lived the first 18 years of my life here. Upon being graduated from high school, he moved to Gainesville, Florida where the University of Florida is located. There he earned an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and a Master of Statistics degree.

While in graduate school, Mark worked in the Statistical Office of the Pediatric Oncology Group (POG). POG was the basis of a worldwide study encompassing the research of more than 500 hospitals so that they could study the beneficial effects of chemotherapy on pediatric patients.

Following that, Mark worked as an engineering statistician with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Group. In 1983, Mark returned to the University of Florida as an instructor in statistics and also to pick up on the research at POG. While back in Gainesville, Mark enrolled in several doctoral level statistics classes.

During the period of 1985-1988, Mark worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (now Florida Blue) in the Actuarial and Underwriting division and the Utilization and Benefits Management division to evaluate the efficacy of cost containment programs.

During the period 1988-1995, Mark worked for two divisions of AT&T.

During Mark’s employment with BCBSF and AT&T, he taught several math and statistics courses for universities and community colleges in the area. Also, Mark ventured in establishing a consulting practice in statistical research, customer satisfaction measurement, market segmentation studies, advertising effectiveness studies, and quality measurement / improvement programs.

In 1995 Mark became a full-time consultant and continue to live and am based in the Jacksonville, Florida area. For most of the last 25 years, Mark worked in the field of continuing education for professionals. His company was accredited both by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Most of his work revolved around the need assessment for continuing education program as well as outcomes measurement for the educational intervention.

Mark is actively engaged in the field of health services research and Type 1 diabetes research.

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Sarah Beno

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John Billingsley

Biography

John has diverse broadcast and media production experience, having worked in various capacities in television, radio, film and music production. Early in his career, he spent many years working in the music business in New York City while on staff at two major recording studios, Quad Studios and Looking Glass Studios. During this time, John worked on and received engineering credits on many major label releases, including albums by Phillip Glass, Nils Lofgren and Phish. Later, as a freelance audio engineer in New York, he worked for a variety of television stations and independent production companies, including MTV, VH1, The Oxygen Network and Giants Football Broadcasting.

More recently, John spent a decade working as a producer and production engineer at Vermont Public where he recorded, edited and mixed audio for broadcast and podcasts on a daily basis. In addition to producing audio content, he created videos for the station’s website. John developed and produced a music video performance series titled Live From The Fort that ran for 5 years, garnishing over 100,000 views on Youtube. He also developed, produced and occasionally hosted, a weekly series titled Safe and Sound, that focused on Vermont musicians.

Through his production company, Breadbox Productions, John have produced several documentaries. One feature documentary he co-produced, directed and wrote, Liemba, tells the story of Africa’s oldest operational ship which plies the waters of Lake Tanganyika. He has also written, performed and mixed the musical scores for several independent productions. Through the use of midi, samples and virtual instruments, he composes in styles ranging from hip-hop to classical.

John received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Lawrence University and a Master of Arts in Media Studies from The New School.

Publications & Abstracts

Liemba

Favorite Quote

“Learn as if you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

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Robert Bloch

Biography

Arguably, Robert Bloch has had three careers. He “retired” in 2019, but for the twelve years prior, he had been mentoring and supporting student entrepreneurs, both commercial and social, as Director of Champlain College’s innovative BYOBiz (Build Your Own Business) program, precursor to today’s CIE, and teaching in the Stiller School. Robert’s first career was in the corporate world beginning with eight years in brand management at General Foods and later as the Chief Marketing and Sales Executive worldwide for both Four Seasons Hotels and Marriott. This was followed by eight years as an entrepreneur, starting two companies, one successful the other not so much.

Robert has three grown children and four grandchildren. He enjoys motorcycling, the outdoors, golf, gardening, teaching and renovating a home with my wife Nancy. He holds a BA in Government from Cornell University and a MBA from Harvard University.

Robert is very excited about getting to know you and helping you explore the fascinating world of business and your potential role in that world.

Favorite Quote

“Be the ball.”

—Ty Webb

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Pat Boera

Biography

A former New Yorker who adopted Vermont as “home,” Pat Boera is an enthusiastic member of the Champlain College Career Collaborative team.

As a University of Vermont graduate who majored in Marketing, Pat uses her expertise every day to help students and alumni market themselves to prospective employers. She worked in the Hospitality Industry out of college, spending time on the management team of two of Vermont’s leading properties—The Tyler Place Family Resort and the historic Middlebury Inn. With this background, she strives to provide five-star service to the varied constituents who are her “customers”—students, alumni, colleagues, employers, and community members. Pat was honored by her Champlain College colleagues with selection as the first recipient of the Elizabeth Durick Staff Service Award.

Pat works hard and plays hard. When she’s not working at her office in the Garden House, popping into classes to present workshops, assisting with InSight initiatives, planning a Career Ed*Venture or Signature Event, or helping facilitate the Annual Elevator Pitch Competition, you are likely to find Pat dedicating time to favorite community activities in Burlington and Middlebury. She has been a volunteer with Lyric Theatre Company since college days, working in nearly every behind-the-scenes aspect of productions. She was a longtime House Captain at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts; is a trained Audio-Describer who helps blind and visually-impaired audience members “see” performances; and helped found the award-winning Middlebury Summer Festival on-the-Green.

Pat has been recognized for service with two special awards—The Middlebury College Citizens Medal and as a United Way Hometown Heroes Nominee—and she hopes that this involvement makes her a good role model for Champlain College students and alumni. Pat can’t go a day without reading. She also dabbles in artisan crafts, specifically calligraphy and silk-screening and loves to be in the audience at live theater performances every chance she gets.

What are your hobbies?

Volunteering, reading, calligraphy, silk-screening

Favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

Favorite eateries: Warner’s Snack Bar on the St. Albans-Swanton Road; Rosie’s Restaurant in Middlebury. Favorite things to do in Vermont: Exploring Vermont’s cities and towns as part of the Vermont 251 Club; attending live theater performances with friends

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Cullen Bostock

Biography

Cullen has been with Champlain College since 2014. He currently serves as Data Systems Manager for Champlain College. In this role, Cullen serves as the system administrator for the College’s primary internal reporting tools, Informer by Entrinisk and the Edify data lake. He also works closely with various functional areas to ensure report needs are being met which includes assisting with report and dashboard construction, data management, analysis and visualization. Prior to this role, he served as Quality Assurance Coordinator and Data Analyst at the College, specifically for Champlain College Online. Cullen has B.S. in Marketing from Central Connecticut State University and over 7 years experience utilizing Python and other programming languages to extract, clean, transform, and visualize data to inform decisions and solve problems.

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Kelly Bowen

Biography

Kelly A. Bowen is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Core Division. Before Champlain College, Kelly worked in global trade assisting companies to identify opportunities and expand in emerging markets. As an International Trade Director for The Massachusetts Port Authority, she also led delegations of American manufacturers on Gubernatorial Trade Missions. Kelly managed offices in Jerusalem, Berlin, Derry, and Warsaw.

Time abroad fostered a love of the arts. Switching to the right brain, Kelly left business to pursue creative writing. She earned an M.F.A. at Goddard College.

Kelly champions experiential learning within an interdisciplinary framework. Her passion is empowering students (or clients) to uncover personal strengths and recognize their potential:

“Only after examining the self can we place ourselves in the context of a wider world. Critical thinkers evolve through this self-examination and encouragement.”

A Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, her work has been featured in Creative Nonfiction Magazine, The Huffington Post, Healthy Women, The Fiction Advocate, Vermont Digger, USA Today, and others. Her recent poem Dress Code was published in the Military Review Poetry Reader: Global War on Terrorism, 2001-2021 Anthology. Her essay Mystic Trinities received a notable mention in the 2022 edition of Best American Essays.

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John Boyd

Biography

Boyd started teaching at Champlain College in the fall of 2012. He teaches multiple topics within the Game Design curriculum including game design, system design, and level design.

As a game designer, he helped develop eight titles on a variety of development platforms including PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Notable titles include: Rage (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360, PS3), Kinect Star Wars (Xbox 360), Medal of Honor: Airborne (Xbox 360), Luxor3 (PC), and Sin Episodes: Emergence (PC).

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David Boyle

Biography

Born in Philadelphia (Go Eagles!) and raised in Vermont. Joined the Vermont Army National Guard at 18 and which became a career. Deployed twice in support of the Global War on Terrorism with one in Kuwait and one in Afghanistan. Retired from the military after more that 26 years in service (23 of them on Active Duty). Currently assigned as a clinician at the college’s counseling center.

Holds two Masters Degrees, one in Administration and one in Clinical Psychology, both from St. Michael’s College. Worked in the mental health field for over 13 years. First clinical experience in the field was working in a Combat Stress Control Clinic in Afghanistan treating service members with mental health issues. Other relevant clinical experience is in both community mental health (in crisis and drug addiction issues) and in private practice.

Distinctions & Awards

Bronze Star Medal
Army Meritorious Service Medal 2nd Award
Army Commendation Medal 5th Award
Army Achievement Medal 4th Award

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman
• The Gettysburg Address

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