Colorado Mountain College eNews

Passion for subject earns Potter faculty of year honor

By Mike McKibbin

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – As an associate professor of English and communications at Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus in Steamboat Springs, Rebecca Potter wanted to connect with students instead of just lecturing to them.

Her ability to do just that helped earn her the campus’s full-time faculty of the year honor.

Each year, educators and students from the college’s seven campuses stretching across nine counties in north-central Colorado can nominate one full-time and one adjunct instructor for faculty of the year honors. The highest honor bestowed on faculty members at the college, the award recognizes demonstrated excellence in setting and achieving high academic standards, promoting student success and providing community leadership.

A part- and now full-time instructor at Colorado Mountain College for 10 years, Potter earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Penn State University in State College, Penn.

Potter didn’t always want to be a professor.

“I guess I always wanted to be a student,” she said with a chuckle.

As an undergraduate at Washington University, Potter said many of her English professors were “literary scholars who really wore tweed coats and smoked pipes. They were intimidating, and I accepted that was the way it should be. I didn’t ever think I would be standing in their shoes, and I didn’t realize there was another way to teach besides walking in, lecturing and walking out.”

While Potter was at Penn State, she discovered the advantages of linking ecology with writing.

“I took an environmental literature course because I’d always had a lifelong interest in the outdoors,” she said. “I realized you can really teach writing to include any content or material.”

Sam Rush and Kevin Cooper, Alpine Campus instructional chairs, nominated Potter for the honor.

“In teaching these (eco-focused) classes over the course of the last couple of years, she realized the students often felt powerless and disconnected in terms of the environment,” they wrote in their nomination. “So she changed the curriculum to focus much more on positive changes the students themselves can make. She helps them to connect to the issues and attempts to give each one a sense of empowerment.”

One of Potter’s students called her “the most trustworthy mentor I’ve had at the college.”

“Her wisdom and enthusiasm has inspired me towards higher goals and to become more like her in her thoughtfulness and work ethic,” the student wrote in Potter’s nomination.

Another student called Potter “a dedicated teacher with a passion for English.”

“She keeps the subject fresh and interesting, and challenges you to always live up to your potential,” the student wrote.

A third said Potter has “a consistently positive attitude and is always encouraging students to push for more.”

“The award is especially an honor because my students are supporting me in the way I strive to support them,” she said.

She said teaching at a community college like Colorado Mountain College, and a campus like Alpine, is an opportunity for instructors and students alike.

“The entire faculty here at Alpine and across CMC are here for a reason, and I think they do step up and take that opportunity to reach students,” she said. “I’m really just one of many doing that very same thing.”