Fate of an alma mater

Jeb Spaulding, the chancellor of the Vermont State College System, recommended on Friday April 17th that the VSCS board should vote to close three of the system’s campuses: Johnson, Lyndon, and Randolph. The response has been overwhelmingly against his recommendation.

Faculty in the system along with alumni, students, and community members have banded together at extremely short notice to organize a drive-by protest in Montpelier, organize response groups on Facebook, organize votes of no-confidence, and stir up resistance in the state legislature.

As for me, I penned this letter to Spaulding, legislators, and other folks:

I can empathize with the immense pressure that you are under, but I feel that I need to register my deep concern and disappointment with your announcement earlier today. At the same time, I want to offer myself as a volunteer to work on this issue. My PhD work is in managing organizational systems and leadership of sustainable systems, and I think we can salvage this if we come together. Give us the summer to figure this out.

I read your white paper, and I fully understand the economic and demographic pressures the system faces. At the same time, the systemic impact that closing campuses will have on the State of Vermont are far-reaching and immense. We should not be closing campuses in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. We should do what we can to stay open and methodically approach all of the possible solutions available before making a final decision.

First, the economic problems of the colleges will not be solved by shuttering the campuses. This kind of reduction will likely cascade. The reputation of Vermont State Colleges will be damaged for a generation, the number of applicants into the system will decline, the system will become more financially untenable, and we will face this same situation in the future that we are now.

Second, the demographic situation in the state will not improve if we take away the reasons for coming and/or staying here. The entire Northern section of Vermont will be educationally gutted by the closure of NVU. These young people will not stay here for school and will instead leave the state for better opportunities because they will feel abandoned — and in fact are being abandoned — by Vermont. Why would they stay?

Lastly, and I won’t type this all out right now, the power of education lies not just in its ability to help people find careers, but in boosting the well-being and success of communities (this is documented by UN research into sustainable practices. I have also attached a report related to this topic with relevant areas highlighted). Investing and supporting higher education will pay for itself if we design the system well enough and set the appropriate goals.

Please take more time. Postpone this decision. Allow us — the alumni, faculty, students, communities, and legislators — to ruminate and come up with working proposals that solve your concerns while not acquiescing to a panicked world. Our financial issues at NVU and in VSCS are symptoms of a larger problem that we must have time to understand and solve. 

Shutting down campuses is not a viable long-term solution for saving the Vermont State College System. Please take this opportunity to keep the schools open, work with those of us who are reaching out to help, and transform the VSCS into a sustainable educational system that can support itself. 

Reach out to me any time. I am ready to help the VSCS work on this problem in a way that will involve all stakeholders to this all-important system

My sincere hope is that this utterly idiotic recommendation by the chancellor triggers a reimagining of what supporting higher education in Vermont looks like. I want there to be a unified approach from legislators, community members, students, faculty, staff, and representatives from all of the groups who are impacted by the college system here.

In the meantime, I am heartened and encouraged by seeing thousands of people respond to this last-minute and under-the-radar move with anger, frustration, and determination. I am saddened, but glad to be witnessing this kind of organizational process first-hand.

Here’s to hope.