VERMONT’S LITERARY LEGACY AND WHY WE SHOULD SUSTAIN LITERARY ARTS EDUCATION IN VERMONT

?????As a resident of Vermont for thirty-six years, where I have worked as an English?teacher at The Putney School as well as a writer of poetry, reviews, and essays, I have aspired to follow the sage advice of the speaker in Robert Frost’s poem “Two Tramps In Mud Time,” namely, “to unite/ My avocation and my vocation/As my two eyes make one in sight.”

??????Vermont has provided an ideal admixture of poetic inspiration for not only me but hundreds of other poets and writers with its native wit, its Deweyesque work ethic, and its empyreal mountains.? More poets and writers live and work in Vermont per capita than in any other state. But such numbers mean very little if the poets aren’t strong. Vermont can boast of the following eminent bards who are either from Vermont or who have lived in Vermont for a significant time: Robert Frost, Louise Gluck (Nobel Prize winner), Ellen Bryant Voigt, Norman Dubie, Hayden Carruth, Sydney Lea, Grace Paley, Ruth Stone, Galway Kinnell, Mary Ruefle, Stephen Sandy, Robert Penn Warren, and David Budbill, among many others. These poets, several of whom have won such prizes as the Pulitzer Prize and The National Book Award, have cherished drawing their inspirations from Vermont’s landscape and its people, enriching America’s literary legacy immeasurably, while at the same time imbibing from Vermont’s well, from which, to quote Frost again, they have become “whole again beyond confusion.”

??????So why this extensive preamble? Because an impediment to Vermont’s august poetic tradition has cropped up like an obtrusive boulder in the middle of its literary road. The BFA in Creative Writing at VTSU is the only state-funded BFA writing program in Vermont. Through poorly executed and badly flawed research, the Chancellor and Interim Presidents have convinced the Vermont State Legislature to approve funding cuts for the VTSU Creative Writing Program down to an untenable level while at the same time compromising the efficacy of its two nationally renowned professors, Jensen Beach and Liz Powell. There are now only three BFA students left in the VTSU’s program, and the Green Mountains Review, formerly one of the country’s premiere literary journals, has been cut completely. To say that the community of Vermont poets, along with the literary community in general in Vermont, are heartbroken over these cuts would be an understatement. We implore you to please restore adequate funding to the BFA Program at VTSU, as well as the Green Mountains Review, in order to return both to their former academic and journalistic excellence. Thank you.

Chard deNiord

Poet Laureate of Vermont, 2015-2019

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? Vermont boasts a Nobel Prize winner in Literature – Louise Gluck, and a 31-time nominee – Robert Frost.? Vermont also claims a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist – Ron Powers, and a host of additional distinguished writers and poets among us.? (See Sidebar).? ? The importance of these names, their legacy, and their connection to and contribution to Vermont and the world of literature and poetry cannot be underscored more clearly.?

However, the assault on literary arts education and our State’s neglect of it is deeply evident and of concern to those of us who teach, write, and enrich the Vermont landscape as writers and poets.? It is this concern that prompted us to reach out to you and ask that you consider offering your support to sustain literary arts programs as well as restore their vitality for the benefit of all of Vermont.? If the focus of the VTSU is on the economic vitality of its colleges and the cost of sustaining them, it would then be crucial to consider the 1.1 billion dollar contribution made by the Arts to the State’s economy each year and what it requires to sustain and grow that contribution, of which arts education is vital.

This brings us again to question the accuracy of the Optimization 2.0 report submitted to the Governor by then interim President Mike Smith in October of 2023.? Mr. Smith, while well-experienced as an administrator in the Scott Administration, had zero experience on our campuses and zero credentials in higher education. The resulting report and subsequent direction our State colleges are now being forced to follow are proving disastrous. Mr. Smith’s deeply flawed and egregiously biased Optimization 2.0 report, which was approved by President Smith’s Board of Trustees, Chancellor Sophie Zdatny, and Provost Nolan Atkins, was never fully vetted by faculty or staff, and no audit was done to confirm Mr. Smith’s findings.? Faculty were not consulted on the initial report and the input they provided thereafter, was, according to faculty, largely ignored. Consider these questions and observations:

• Who was on “the team” that formulated the Optimization 2.0 study and decisions? What were their credentials?
• Who among the arts faculty was involved in the Optimization 2.0 study and decisions?
• Who reviewed and verified the interim President’s findings before the report’s submission for review and approval by the State?

ALL of the faculty we spoke to admitted they had no idea who among them had been consulted.? NONE.? ? ? ? ??????????

Given the decision in the Optimization 2.0 report to reduce faculty by more than 15%, how does the Board of Trustees justify this substantial reduction while also increasing staff and payroll at the Chancellor’s Office to reach over 10 million dollars per year? From the Optimization 2.0 report, here are the “savings” by cutting student-facing positions: “projection estimates that after three years these program array adjustments would result in a reduction of direct expenditures in the range of $2.1-$3.35M attributed to the reduction of 20 to 33 full-time faculty positions out of the current 208.”

In the Optimization 2.0 report, the following is noted. “7. Fine and Performing Arts a. Consolidate Fine Arts to Johnson and Castleton b. Consolidate the Music, Music Education, and Theater Arts programs into two programs that share some courses.”? The BFA in Writing Program is treated separately.

The FCC radio licenses at Lyndon State and Vermont Technical College were sold (and without prior legislative approval which is required by State law), yet, Optimization 2.0 suggests the following, “Lyndon has state-of-the-art facilities to support broadcast and digital media.”

And yet, “Promising Jobs related to Communications in the broader areas of arts, design, entertainment, and media include writers and authors (VDOL projects 84 annual openings), public relations specialists (93 openings), photographers (61 openings), and graphic designers (54 annual openings). Related to the MBI program, VDOL projects 262 annual openings in Vermont for coaches and scouts. The communications field is not identified as a critical occupation.”

If programming decisions are based on the prospect of a “promising job” in Vermont upon graduation many of the degree programs students are currently enrolled in would be closed. But that may not be what is of interest to those students.? Has there been an evaluation of similar programs and enrollment across colleges in Vermont and the country?? How many students choose majors based on job potential vs. their interests and aspirations?? If the student is paying for their education, shouldn’t they decide what they wish to study?? Why is there so much emphasis on workforce development?

To help with restructuring, VTSU hired an out-state consultant, rpk group of Maryland, which has been widely criticized. https://truthout.org/articles/colleges-say-theyre-cash-strapped-yet-pay-top-dollar-for-anti-union-consultants/?

"The rpk GROUP is particularly noteworthy because it had a heavy hand in the “restructuring” of West Virginia University (WVU). As has been widely reported, WVU recently?eliminated 32 programs, including foreign languages, math, literature and linguistics, jazz, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, and creative writing.

And they’re not just doing this at WVU. In fact, rpk has been hired by a long roster of colleges including the six-campus University of Kansas, the sprawling State University of New York, Howard, Gallaudet, Rutgers, and the Vermont State College system. Their role is murky. According to founder?Rick Staisloff’s LinkedIn?page, the 13-year-old company aims to “find the intersection of market needs and a margin that will ensure sustainable growth” for higher ed. That intersection has clearly been profitable — at least for rpk.

Take West Virginia University, a school with a projected $45 million deficit for fiscal year 2024. WVU hired rpk to help administrators complete an “academic portfolio optimization” plan. According to a?FAQ issued by the university, the company’s senior partner is being paid $500 an hour for his work as a consultant. Another staffer, dubbed a principal, is earning $450 per hour. (Several additional rpk staffers are being paid an hourly rate ranging from $100 to $300.) Their 9-month contract began in mid-April and runs through the end of 2023."

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Again, in the Optimization 2.0 report, the Engineering, Construction & Manufacturing cluster is identified as an area with “strong outcomes and a legacy at Vermont Tech to build on.”? But, “many of the programs need clearer differentiation and career pathways to grow them to the point of sustainability.”? And, “Identify and expand on existing employer and industry partners for all these programs.?? ? Invest in strong program-level marketing for the programs in this cluster. ??? Pursue alternate funding to support the higher cost of these programs in critical occupation areas.”? And, “There are over 700 Promising Jobs in Engineering and Manufacturing.”? But there are 554 in the Communications field, as identified in the Optimization 2.0 report. Why then, is there such vigor and focus on engineering and not on communications if the potential for jobs is comparable?? Couldn’t this same evaluation be used to argue for any of the programs scheduled for closure?

In the Program Cluster “Fine and Performing Arts” the BFA in Creative Writing program remains separately identified which unfavorably skews the numbers.? The Fine and Performing Arts group, projects 377 workforce openings. However, when combined with the “Communications” thread, that number is 931 persons, exceeding the number of projected needs for engineers. When the Program Cluster, “Literature and Writing” is combined with a projected job need of 84 that number grows to 1015.? Therefore, Optimization 2.0 bifurcates the arts to make the category appear weaker. And it further suggests that Writing is not a need or a viable program for the future of Vermont.? The McClure Report would suggest otherwise.

Further, it does not appear anywhere in the report what these programs cost to run. The coursework in the BFA program overlaps to a large extent with the B.A. in Writing and Literature. Add to the small cost the substantial benefit to students of having a writing-enriched and challenging program and it would seem reasonable to assert that sustaining the BFA program is not a burdensome expense.?Further, it provides a connection to the award-winning, nationally recognized journal, the Green Mountains Review – one of the few features of VTSU with a national reputation.? The benefits to students and the university far outweigh its very modest cost. The Optimization 2-0 report falsely claims that “Fine Arts is not identified as a critical occupation in Vermont” and that “Creative Writing/Literature is not a field identified as a critical occupation in Vermont. There is only one closely aligned occupation, Writers and Authors.” The data clearly shows many artists, musicians, writers, photographers, and other creative entrepreneurs are part of a robust creative economy in Vermont, a sector that includes more than 40,000 jobs (9.3% of all employment) and adds, as noted previously, $1.1B billion in value to Vermont's GDP. As for writers and authors, the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics ranks Vermont in the top 5 states for jobs in that category. And yet, these false claims are being used to justify recommendations by rkp GROUP to cut programs at Vermont State University.

The facts clearly show how critical these occupations are in the Vermont workforce. Even more concerning is the very idea that Fine Arts, Creative Writing, and Literature are not programs that should be part of a robust university curriculum in their own right. Again, the facts show that culture not only drives economic growth but also makes our state more desirable to the young families that Vermont needs so desperately. Vermonters don’t need to waste taxpayer dollars on bogus recommendations by out-of-state consultants when common sense tells us how important these programs are to educating our young people, enriching our communities, and preserving our humanity. In the cluster related to Health Care, it is noted that “The remaining health-care professions in this cluster align well with the Williston distinction that includes proximity to UVMMC and the relatively larger population center with health-related employment opportunities in the region.”? This statement establishes a bias toward UVMMC at the expense of every other healthcare service and needs across the state.? EVERY hospital, nursing home, and private practice requires staff, and many are spending upwards of $80 per hour for nurses.?

Further, funding for certain positions and programs has never been scrutinized or explained. After repeated requests for a list of job descriptions of the positions at the Chancellor’s Office, NO response or provision of information was ever provided. Yet, this same office boasts of making “decisions from 30,000 feet”. It is a mindset and reliance on costly disinformation by the VSC Board of Trustees. How can we ensure that better decisions are made in the future? By engaging with and implementing the recommendations of the colleges’ very faculty, staff, and students – not from a distant and out-of-touch Board of Trustees, Chancellor, and now, third interim President in as many years.

Here is one example:? Patricia Moulton, who has served at higher levels of State government for many years, mostly in economic development, and then as the President of Vermont Technical College, was moved into a position as the Workforce Development Administrator within the VTSU Chancellor’s Office. With a salary of more than $180,000, Ms. Moulton’s work was never documented or publicly shared. She has since left the Chancellor’s Office and is now overseeing flood relief for the town of Montpelier. What did she produce in the two years she was at the Chancellor’s Office? Why is there no information about her work publicly available?

Another example:? The dental hygiene program slated to begin at Vermont Technical College, under the Administration of then President Pat Moulton and funded with a 2.7 million dollar federal grant over two years ago, has not launched. Why? Where did that money go? How is the program sustainable, according to the Optimization 2.0 report, if it is not attracting students?? Where is the documentation on this effort and expense?

https://vtdigger.org/2023/09/25/despite-2-5m-investment-dental-therapy-program-has-not-yet-materialized-at-vermont-state-university-auditor-finds/ These are just two examples of questions regarding using funds, personnel, and the lack of accountability or appropriate leadership in critical positions that affect our state, our students, and our future.? This is not limited to literary arts education but inclusive of it and suggestive of a clear bias that serves a workforce development focus at the expense of all other student aspirations and of the obligation toward educational equity for Vermonters. When programs that have been cornerstones of Vermont’s State Colleges for decades are underfunded, left un-promoted, and neglected; when the goods and services within these programs are cut in favor of support of programs endorsed by the Governor – and not necessarily desired by our future students and community leaders, what are we to assume other than a conspiracy of intentional neglect?

We ask that you consider:

• Meeting with us to learn more about the cost/benefits of sustaining VTSU’s Fine Arts in Writing program and its greater contribution to Vermont.?
• An independent and critical review of the Optimization 2.0 report to verify its findings.
• A financial audit of the cost/delivery of all programs within the VTSU portfolio.
• Meeting with faculty, staff, and students to hear their concerns – separately from the Chancellor and Board of Trustees.
• Full endorsement of Senator Brian Collamore’s bill (S216) calling for the restoration of administrators on each of the campuses, while also realigning the Board of Trustees to include more faculty and staff and fewer legislators.
• Restoration of full funding to the Green Mountains Review.

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In summary, the INVESTMENT in higher education and its BENEFIT to all Vermonters - not just the privileged few is essential for the well-being of our future generations and their earned and deserved seat at the table.? Our colleges should never have been hijacked to endow workforce development training exclusive to corporate needs. They are oases of equity and inclusion created in 1961 to provide access to students whose aspirations are as varied and diverse as there are students among us. The Vermont State Colleges deserve to be supported as such in ways that dignify the investment made in our public colleges in service to all who choose to be educated within them.

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Thank you.

Signed,

Chard deNiord, Westminster West, VT. Poet, Educator, former VT Poet Laureate (2015-2019)

Jensen Beach, Jeffersonville, VT. Writer. Educator. Director of the BFA Program at VTSU Johnson

David Cavanagh, Burlington, VT. Poet, Educator, former Director External Degree Program Johnson

Greg Delanty, Burlington, VT. Poet, Educator. St. Michael’s College

Sydney Lea, Newbury, VT. Poet, Novelist, Educator, former VT Poet Laureate (2011-2015) David Mook, Poultney, VT. Poet, part-time faculty, VTSU Castleton

Dennis Nurkse, Arlington, VT. Poet, Educator

Elizabeth Powell, Poet, Educator, Director Green Mountains Review

Cathy Printon, Essex, VT.? Johnson State Class of 1985. College Access/Family Engagement Educator

Mary L. Collins, Elmore, VT.? Johnson State Class of 1981. Poet, Essayist, Educator ?

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VERMONT WRITERS AND POETS

Chard deNiord, Ruth Stone, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Sydney Lea, Galway Kinnell, Mary Ruefle, Dan Chiasson, Pamela Harrison, David Cavanagh, Major Jackson, Didi? jackson, Reuben Jackson, Jane Shore, Lyn Lifshin, Verandah Porche, Paul Blackburn, April Ossmann, Thomas Rowley, Mary Eastman Ward, Norman Dubie, Jim Schley, William D. Mundell, Sam Stockwell, Hayden Carruth, Abby Maria Hemenway, David Huddle, Grace Paley, John Engels, David Budbill, T. Alan Broughton, Martha Zweig, Greg Delanty, Bianca Stone, Edward Weismiller, Charity Bryant, Eva Munson Smith, Henrietta A. Bingham, Rudyard Kipling, Lucy H. Washington, Philip Stack, Stephen Cramer, Jon Meyer, Lisa Alther, Julia Alvarez, M.T. Anderson, Jim Arnosky, Mary Azarian, Lynda Barber, Susan Bartlett, Stuart Bartow, Philip Baruth, Elizabeth Bassett, Jensen Beach, Susan Provost Beller, Megan Mayhew Bergman, Rick Bessette, Stephen R. Bessette, Paul Blackburn, Elizabeth Bluemle, Chris Bohjalian, Abbie Bowker, Don Bredes, Joseph Bruchac, Frederick Buechner, Sue D. Burton, Michael Caduto, Ann Cardinal, Jason Chin, Jennifer and John Churchman, Joseph A. Citro, Brian D. Cohen, Daniel T. Cole, Art Corriveau, Dede Cummings, Michael Daly, Sharon Darrow, Michael Delanty, Sarah Dillard,? Sara Dillon, Gov. Jim Douglas, Crescent Dragonwagon, Norman Dubie, Holiday Eames, John Elder, Erik Esckilsen, Barry Estabrook, Katy Farber, Melanie Finn, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Laurie Forest, Catherine L. Frank, Castle Freeman, Jr., Deirdre Gill, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER Louise Gluck, Karin Gottshall, Peter Gould, Micah Bay Gault, Thomas Christopher Greene, Eileen Rockefeller Growald, Jessie Haas, Sue Halpern,? Margot Harrison, Pamela Harrison, Chris Hedges, Bernd Heinrich, Karen Hesse, Ben Hewitt, Geoff Hewitt, Laban Carrick Hill, Margaret Dodge Holden, Maria Hummel, Stephen Huneck, Amy Huntington,Clement Hurd, Thacher Hurd, Dahlov Ipcar, Shirley Jackson, J. Alison James, Jim Jeffords, Beth Kanell, Garrett Keizer, Brett Kessler,? Stephen Kiernan, Jamaica Kincaid, Suzanne Kingsbury, Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, Jo? Knowles, Oliver Kranichfeld, Governor Madeleine Kunin, Senator Patrick Leahy, Jeffrey Lent, Ellen Lesser, Reeve Lindbergh, Dayna Lorentz, Daniel Lusk, Robin MacArthur, Kekla Magoon, David Mamet, S. Lee Manning, David Martin, Jack Mayer, Archer Mayor, Kerrin McCadden, Marilyn T. McDowell, Bill McKibben, Jennifer McMahon, Pam MacPherson, Mary McGarry Morris, Howard Frank Mosher, Rita Murphy, Helen Nearing, Scott Nearing, April Ossmann, Angela Palm, Katherine Paterson, Angela Patten, Stephen Russell Payne, Tracey Campbell Pearson, Sheila Post, Elizabeth Powell, Ron Powers, PULITZER PRIZE WINNER Megan Price, Alison Prine, E. Annie Proulx, Emily Raabe, Willard Sterne Randall, Dawn Ridolfo, Leslie River, Ronald Rood, Sarah Rosedahl, Rebecca Rupp, Senator Bernie Sanders, Cam Sato, Jaime Scanlon, Jim Schley, Bill Schubart, Leda Schubert, Lyn Severance, Peter Shea, Julia Shipley, Tamara Ellis Smith, Cathy H. Smithers, Brenda and Grann Snow, Brett Ann Stanciu, Aaron Starmer, Wallace Stegner, Phoebe Stone, ?Tanya Lee Stone, Ruth Swennerfelt, Chris Tebbetts, Ted Tedford, Tasha Tudor, Linda Urban, Dana Walrath, Wendy Watson, Tim Weed, Doug Wilhelm, Suzi Wizowaty, and many more.