If you want to find Jim Vernon outside class at Front Range Community College’s Boulder County Campus, check the Student Commons.
“That’s where the students are,” says Vernon, a member of the business faculty. So that’s where he is. The Student Commons is Vernon’s second office. He spends an hour a day there.
This commitment to being accessible to students is one reason Vernon is the Faculty of the Year at FRCC. He was honored at a meeting of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education.
“I like to see the lightbulbs go on,” Vernon says of what motivates him to teach. “I love to see that happen.”
After a career as a management consultant and corporate manager himself, mostly in financial services, Vernon joined FRCC in 2009.
Students appreciate his commitment to their success. In 2015, Vernon received the Advocate of the Year Award from the State Student Advisory Council and the Excellence in Service to Students Award from the campus chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success. He is the advisor to Student Corp, the campus business club, which received the Outstanding Club Award in 2015.
Other faculty also recognize Vernon’s skills. “His talents as a teacher are seen as his students reach even more than they think they can reach,” says a colleague.
Vernon has a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and master’s and Ph.D. from the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
If you do find Vernon in his office, you will find two overstuffed chairs. Whether in the Student Commons or his faculty office, he wants students to be comfortable in approaching him.
About Front Range Community College
FRCC offers nearly 100 degree and certificate programs from locations in Boulder County, Larimer County, Westminster, and Brighton, and online. FRCC is a member of the Colorado Community College System.
About the Colorado Community College System
The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) is the state’s largest system of higher education, serving more than 144,000 students annually at 13 colleges and 39 locations across Colorado. Our open access mission ensures all Coloradans who aspire to enrich their lives have access to quality higher education opportunities. CCCS students save time and money with affordable tuition and fees, concurrent enrollment, and guaranteed transfer to any public university in Colorado. Online courses are available via Colorado Community Colleges Online. CCCS also oversees career and technical programs in our 13 colleges, more than 160 school districts, and six other post-secondary institutions. By partnering with business and industry, CCCS helps employers meet workforce needs and prepares students for direct entry to their chosen career pathway. The vast majority of our students are Colorado residents and, after graduation, 97 percent of our students stay in state, becoming the workforce that powers the Colorado economy and the heart of our neighborhoods, businesses, and communities.
