WE ALL NEED TO CARE ABOUT VERMONT'S PUBLIC COLLEGES

“For the benefit of Vermont.”

It’s that simple. For the benefit of Vermont, it is our duty and our obligation to serve, educate, and sustain our citizenry, yet Vermont allocates fewer public dollars to its state college system than any other state.

How do we ensure stability in our public colleges, engage the public, and insist that the Vermont legislature provide deeper legislative oversight and involvement to protect these important legacy institutions from further erosion and possible closure?

It is our belief that the State of Vermont is obligated to restore our public universities to their rightful and necessary place among our institutions of higher learning to do what they were established to do: serve the people of Vermont. Yet, we cannot do so without thoroughly reviewing the investment made, or not, in these colleges and more importantly in our students.

Despite the infusion of funds over the past few years from the $10.9 billion dollars Vermont received during the COVID crisis, and of which the VSC received $43.32 million, our public universities are struggling. More than 70% of its students are from Vermont. UVM alone received $36.79 million, just under 15% less than the VSC received. Fewer than 23% of UVM’s students are from Vermont. Over the past five years, the Vermont State College System has seen two name changes, a loss of numerous programs, faculty, staff, and administrator attrition through retirement and outsourcing to adjunct online faculty, and a poorly executed, badly researched recommendation to close libraries and redefine athletics.

At the same time, the Chancellors' Office administrators earn 87% more than the national average for their work. This ongoing struggle has shaken our public universities to their very foundation. The cost of these changes was ill-advised – and could have been better used to support students in their educational pursuits. The number one problem with Vermont students attending our public college system is affordability.

In 2021, near the beginning of the conversion of our public colleges to serve a workforce development agenda, Jake Wheeler, a 50+ year resident of the Northeast Kingdom, said of the northernmost institutions at Lyndon and Johnson, “NVU is a major economic and cultural driver in Vermont’s northern region. In fact, NVU’s total economic impact in northern Vermont is conservatively estimated at more than $100 million annually. NVU’s students and graduates are trained for Vermont’s job market – ski area managers, mental health professionals, teachers, business owners, and meteorologists, and these are just some examples.” Mr. Wheeler went on to say, “Additionally, NVU brings 18,000 people to our region every year. These students, graduates, faculty, staff, and family members boost our local economy every single day by skiing and riding at our local mountains and Nordic trails, biking at Kingdom Trails, buying from our local stores, eating at our area restaurants, and more. Furthermore, NVU provides vital access for Vermont students who might not otherwise attend college.” Wheeler shared, “The vast majority of NVU’s students are Vermonters and more than half are the first in their family to attend college. The hard reality is that without our state college system and without NVU, many Vermonters and many Kingdom kids would never receive a college education. The value of this cannot be understated.”?

Further, with such an economic and cultural draw in the NEK one would think there would be some acknowledgment that a college with one of the most notable Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology programs in the entire country is just up the hill. There is none. Missed opportunities are everywhere. And while Mr. Wheeler was talking about NVU only if we add in the assets that are Vermont Technical College, CCV, and Castleton University, the numbers are staggering. So how is it that cutting 25 or more faculty, eliminating 10 more programs, and consolidating or moving more degree programs from one campus to another is an improvement in the quality of education and its availability to Vermonters? ?To lose any more faculty, students, staff, programs, or other resources that serve Vermont and our future would be a travesty. Transforming the colleges into workforce development centers is not the answer. While workforce development is needed, it should not hasten the erosion of our public colleges' ability to continue offering a comprehensive public education accessible to all.

ALL students in Vermont deserve to follow their aspirations, interests, and curiosity – in any field they choose.? Therefore, we are calling for transparency from the governing body – the Chancellor, the Board of Trustees, the soon-to-be exiting interim president, and the newly hired president of VTSU. And, we are asking for a full STOP regarding the proposal entitled “Optimization 2.0” before any of the recommendations therein are adopted. Why? The colleges and communities they serve, the faculty they employ, and the students they educate deserve full accountability for the decisions that will drive their futures and those of thousands more in the near future. The full story is not being told to the Vermont public.?

-????????? We are calling for the inclusion of the public’s voice and vote in critical decisions that affect access and equity for all Vermonters and all students.?

-????????? We are calling for a forensic audit of the spending of the Chancellor’s office and Board of Trustees which had been requested by the Labor Relations Board and denied.?

-????????? We are calling for a full review of the expansion of the Office of the Chancellor which increased its payroll, overhead, and staffing while simultaneously cutting faculty, staff, and programs.

?-????????? We are calling for an explanation of why the Board of Trustees has abused Executive Session privileges at Board meetings over many years.

-????????? We are calling for deeper legislative oversight and involvement to protect these important community assets and legacy institutions from further erosion and possible closure.

-????????? We are asking that the public reach out to legislators, select boards, and Governor Scott to insist that the actions of the Chancellor, Board of Trustees, interim, and future President be stopped until the above requests are thoughtfully and thoroughly considered and implemented.?

ALL of Vermont will pay a heavy price if we ignore the further erosion of our public universities, neglect the people they serve, and diminish the education of thousands who aspire to greater knowledge, skill, and scholarship to serve their own talents, ambitions, and the greater good. Here are our concerns: Acceptance of the draft proposal by interim President, Mike Smith, to cut 10 programs and upwards of 25 faculty will be disastrous for our public universities and for the 77 students currently enrolled. Reaching legislators is critical. They have accepted the recommendations of the Chancellor, Board of Trustees, and interim Presidents without a more critical review or input from those outside of the Chancellor’s and President’s recommendations. Smith’s recommendations are fraught with misrepresentation and faulty research. Legislators concerned about the amount of money spent on the VSC in the past four years, relative to the results, seem unwilling to hold their appointed leadership, the Chancellor's office, or trustees, accountable for its self-inflicted wounds. This is a group that plays with numbers to justify its goals. For example, the student-to-professor ratio of 1/13 purported by Mr. Smith is based on full-time AND part-time faculty numbers. That is not how these numbers are normally figured. It conflates two different bargaining units. Fulltime, the number is about 1/17 which is approximately the number the interim president, Chancellor, and Board of Trustees say they want. They then claim that we need to fire full-time professors to get there. This pits part-time faculty against full-time faculty and campuses against each other. It then moves successful programs from one campus to another while eliminating required courses.

This is poor management and spells erosion of students’ experience and the quality of the education they are paying for. Vermont State University (VTSU) is going through what it calls Optimization 2.0, an Orwellian phrase developed by an expensive consulting firm called rpk, which promotes a practice of cutting programs and firing professors. rpk has introduced this practice across the country. Why? Because it was decided to cut funding for public higher education, among other things, so money could be funneled to the wealthy via trickle-down economics. Even though wealth has not trickled down to the rest of us as claimed, those in power continue with it. From an October 23, 2023, article in The New Republic, Aaron R. Hanlon writes, “rpk Group, which founder Rick Staisloff describes as “a leading national consulting firm supporting universities and nonprofits with their growth strategies,” is behind the cuts at WVU and boasts a long list of college and university clients.” This includes Vermont State University.? He continues, “A slide presentation rpk Group prepared for the University of Virginia in 2018, obtained by a professor there through a Freedom of Information Act request, encourages leadership to “shift the frame from cost-cutting to maximizing return on investment.” rpk Group’s method involves analyzing academic departments and programs based on student application numbers to a given program (before students enroll, and regardless of whether they change their mind once they do) and counting how many students have been enrolled in majors and programs (for a 2018 presentation, the firm used average data from 2013 to 2015).

Making bets on this crude form of analysis is risky and shortsighted because predicting student interests and enrollment patterns, as well as economic needs that may impact enrollment, is notoriously fraught. Examples abound of subjects across the liberal arts and sciences that were foolishly written off.”

Funding public higher education is an investment in the future of Vermont’s economy.

What business marketing "leaders", college administrators, and boards fail to recognize is the desire of students to explore, be curious, and chart the path that works best for them – a path they choose with good advice and support – in order to learn about themselves at this critical stage of maturity and exploration.

Cutting public higher education was an easy way to fund tax cuts for the rich because colleges could raise tuition. Now high tuition means lower enrollments. Some will say it is due to population decline in New England, but if that was the case, why are lower enrollments happening across the country? UVM has experienced a higher volume of Vermont applications year after year with a 38% increase in Vermont applications in 2021, a 19% increase in 2022, and an 8% increase in 2023. These increased applications are following a trend of students going where the message is strong and clear – not weak and uncertain. The percentage of Vermont students at UVM has dwindled to 23% of the student body. Where do the other Vermont student applicants go? There seems to be a strong link here for the VTSU to connect to these students.?

Public higher education serves the common people, the working class, the middle class, and the poor. We are designed to serve regular Vermonters in getting a hand-up that they would not otherwise have (70% of the students at VTSU are from Vermont). It provides them a chance to pursue their dreams and in turn, help build a better future. Economies are built on human skills and these skills determine the future success of the economy. Hence, funding public higher education is an investment in the future of Vermont’s economy. Moreover, it is an investment in our social and cultural future while also contributing to an informed citizenry. ??

A 2019 report regarding the economic impact of our public colleges stated that “A part of the Vermont State Colleges System, NVU alone spends more than $12.5 million annually on institutional operations, including services, supplies, and utilities. More than $8.9 million was spent in Vermont; including $6 million in the local communities surrounding NVU’s campuses. NVU employs, on average, 700 people, including 400 part-time faculty and staff. The university’s payroll and benefits add another $32.7 million to the economy of northern Vermont. Using a conservative 2.5 multiplier, NVU’s total economic impact is $113 million in the northern tier of Vermont. A multiplier measures the effect of money as it moves from one source to another. For example: a person’s salary as it moves from where they work to the local grocery store or restaurant, and from there to the salaries and operating expenses of the grocery store or restaurant. In addition to enrolled students, the university brings in tens of thousands of dollars more for the local economy by attracting nearly 18,000 visitors each year. These include the more than 1,200 prospective students and their families and more than 16,000 attendees of performances and events at the Dibden Center for the Arts and Alexander Twilight Theatre, conferences, meetings, retreats, and summer camps, which range from Basketball Camp to Governors Institutes of Vermont to the Northeast Kingdom Running Camp to the renowned Burklyn Ballet.” Residents are committed to the community, schools, environment, and goods and services.

Many countries and other US states realize the risk to our fundamental rights and have provided funding to make public higher education free. This is what we need to do in Vermont. This would solve declining enrollments and stop us from cutting the educational opportunities of Vermonters. In the recent past, State Senator Anthony Pollina has offered a plan from the left, and Senator Scott Beck has offered a plan from the right. They understand the need for free public higher education so Vermont has a vibrant and bright future. If we can get this done, VTSU and the state will prosper. If we do not, then Vermonters will have fewer opportunities and a bleaker future – that exists in service to tourists.

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). Arts and culture added $1.1B billion in value to Vermont's GDP, ranking a close third behind retail and construction. For example, under the heading “Workforce Needs”, Mr. Smith’s report claims that "Fine Arts is not identified as a critical occupation in Vermont." In fact, 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). Arts and culture added $1.1B billion in value to Vermont's GDP, ranking a close third behind retail and construction. Using recommendations from RKP Group (a Maryland consulting firm) to justify discontinuing Photography and Music, eliminating studio and graphic arts at Castleton, and making cuts to creative writing and literature programs and faculty is a travesty!

Another inaccurate claim under Workforce Needs: "Creative Writing/Literature is not a field identified as a critical occupation in Vermont. There is only one closely aligned occupation, Writers and Authors." Wrong! Vermont has an unusually large concentration of writers and authors. The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics ranks Vermont in the top 5 states for jobs in that category. Perhaps the administration should spend fewer taxpayer dollars on out-of-state consultants and pay more attention to FREE and accurate information readily available from the Vermont Arts Council, vermontcreativenetwork.org , the U.S. Department of Labor, and others. The facts clearly show how important these occupations are in the Vermont workforce.

Rather than seeing cuts to these programs as "necessary to reduce the overall costs," why not recognize academic support for the professions in the creative sector as an investment in Vermont's future, an investment VTSU, sadly, seems unwilling to make? According to Mike Smith "There are two critical and equally important reasons… 1) We currently offer 99 programs while our peers offer closer to 50. And 2) it is fiscally unsustainable." To believe that austerity is somehow more sustainable than investment is misguided. The state originally committed to more than a 50% funding level of investment in higher education, but over several decades of austerity, the state share of the cost of higher education at VSCS was reduced from over 50% to just 13%.

Let's look at the truth about sustainability first. To believe that austerity is somehow more sustainable than investment is misguided. The state originally committed to more than a 50% funding level of investment in higher education, but over several decades of austerity, the state share of the cost of higher education at VSCS was reduced from over 50% to just 13%. Consequently, the student/family share increased from 60% to 87% creating the highest in-state tuition in the country! Austerity is the problem, not the solution.? Vermont committed to its public universities when they were established by then-Governor Phil Hoff in 1961. “Corporation [Vermont State Colleges] shall plan, supervise, administer, and operate facilities for education at the postsecondary level supported in whole or in substantial part with State funds.”? This has not been sustained and has led to egregious shortfalls of funding which have been laid at the very feet of the people these institutions were designed to serve.? It is vital that the legislature be reminded of the very law passed by the legislature including the legislature’s responsibility for sustaining and supporting the VSC as an investment in the future of Vermont. Student interest far exceeded expectations.

Executive Summary: "The reality is that enrollments have fallen over the last ten years." Another untruth: The fact is that Castleton University bucked the trend and increased enrollment over the ten years before the merger by 9% (from 2169 to 2363). This misrepresentation of the facts brings up another piece of disinformation, that declining enrollments on the other VSC campuses are due to "demographics." The facts are that three decades of underfunding put Vermont dead last among all 50 states in supporting higher education, and Vermont families were faced with paying the highest in-state public tuition in the country. And yet, the VSC administration continues to blame "demographics" for declining enrollments rather than unaffordable tuition rates.

An article, written by Lola Duffont, an education writer for Vermont Digger, provides clear evidence that the problem is not a "demographic challenge" at all, but a cost problem. Free tuition programs made possible by the COVID funding have been "maxed out" with Vermont students being put on "wait lists." Chancellor Zdatny admitted that "Student interest far exceeded expectations."

Carolyn Weir was not surprised, noting that "cost has been a key factor all along," with declining enrollments at VSCS linked to affordability, not demographics. Administration may not get it, but first-year students recognize a false-cause fallacy when they see one. Yes, a single program that addressed affordability turned a supposed "demographic problem" into "wait lists" of Vermont students desiring a VSCS education. What more proof do we need that sustainability means investing in affordability, not wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on out-of-state consultants, rebranding, and a bloated administration?

Now, let's look at the claim about academic programs: "Our peers offer closer to 50." When the administration was selling the idea of becoming a "hybrid" university, the peer group included state universities such as Georgia State and Central Florida. But those "peers" have well over a hundred, and in the case of Central Florida, over 200 programs. It appears the administration found a different peer group for the purpose of selling "optimization." Which state universities offer only 50 programs? When selling the proposal to dump all the books in the libraries and go to an "all-digital" library system, the "peer" group included online universities, which of course have digital libraries. Looking for a different peer group to find data that supports the administration's agenda du jour is just one glaring example of the cognitive dissonance responsible for their ill-advised decisions, many of which have been met with public outrage and then reversed. A mere 10% reduction in administration (probably 20% or more is called for) would save more than the proposed cuts to academic programs and the dedicated faculty who foster student success.

While Mr. Smith is not responsible for those past decisions, he explained that he alone "will make the final decisions" regarding eliminating academic programs and faculty positions. It is difficult for us to believe that in just six months on the job he has acquired a better understanding of the academic needs of all three of these institutions than the faculty who have many years of experience in the classrooms at VSC and who strongly oppose many of these cuts to academic programs which will negatively impact student success at VTSU. It is concerning that neither Smith nor the Chancellor, who is also leaving, will be around to experience the consequences of the elimination of academic programs and cuts to faculty proposed in this Optimization 2.0 Report. We urge interim president Smith to pause these decisions until his promised recommendations for cuts to administration can be evaluated and hopefully implemented. Perhaps cuts to academic programs and faculty can be avoided. A mere 10% reduction in administration (probably 20% or more is called for) would save more than the proposed cuts to academic programs and the dedicated faculty who foster student success.

With the Chancellor also leaving soon, it's an ideal opportunity to recommend the elimination of that expensive figurehead position which would pay for a working president on campus at each of these five institutions –Castleton, Lyndon, Johnson, Vermont Technical College, and Community College of Vermont. A Council of Presidents could do a much more effective job of managing the VSCS. Once the $200 million in "bridge funding" has been exhausted, will the Governor and the legislature recognize higher education as a public good worthy of investment, or will they return to the decades of underfunding that created the crisis in the first place? Since the primary function of the BOT is to secure the fiscal resources necessary for VSCS to meet its mission, we strongly suggest adding faculty, staff, a few folks from the creative sector, and more than one student representative (perhaps one student from each institution). These additions to the BOT would not only improve fiscal advocacy and fundraising prospects but would also provide more meaningful oversight of the VSCS as it seeks to provide affordable, accessible, quality education to all Vermonters. We ALL want that. To reiterate, “Optimization 2.0” is a poorly researched document that serves one purpose; to address financial concerns at the expense of students, faculty, and staff. It should not be accepted or enacted. Transparency and inclusion of the public’s voice and vote are essential to the well-being of our state and its people to restore our public universities to their rightful and necessary place.

A forensic audit of the spending of the Chancellor’s office and Board of Trustees is necessary. Members of the Labor Task Force asked specifically for an audit but were denied. The public has every right to know what the budget is for the Chancellor's office, the administration, and how the one-time COVID monies were spent.

-????????? We are calling for a review of the reasons for the expansion of the Office of the Chancellor while at the same time cutting numerous faculty positions that will affect students.?

-????????? We are asking for an explanation of why the Board of Trustees has repeatedly abused Executive Session privileges at its Board meetings over two years.

?-????????? We are calling for deeper legislative oversight and involvement to protect these important assets and legacy institutions from further erosion and possible closure. To lose any more faculty, students, staff, programs or other resources that serve Vermont and our future would be a travesty.

And, we are asking that the following questions and concerns be addressed.

?-????????? Why have more Deans been created and why is the existing staff not notified of these appointments until they show up on campuses?

?-????????? Why was the co-chair of Dibden Center for the Arts at Johnson never consulted when the decision to move Performing Art programs to Castleton University was made?

?-????????? How has centralizing Human Resources at the Chancellor’s Office benefited the colleges?

?-????????? Johnson has COPLAC credentials and is a premiere liberal arts school which will be lost if cuts continue. What is the explanation for placing these credentials at risk?

?-????????? Students are already forced to finish their degrees online or have to drive to another campus for classes.? How is this beneficial to their experience and education?

?-????????? If there is a lack of money, why move nursing from Randolph, which has a waiting list of applicants, to Johnson which will necessitate the building of lab facilities?

?-????????? According to a report on Vermont Public, Vermont has the highest number of artists and writers per capita in the nation. Why are we then removing more arts programs from our public universities?

?-????????? What has the benefit of rebranding served? And if truly needed, why were existing, internal staff with the credentials to provide design and marketing services not employed to do so?

Please join us and reach out to your legislators, select boards, and Governor Scott to insist that the actions of the Chancellor, Board of Trustees, and interim and future President be stopped until the above requests and questions are considered. ALL of Vermont will pay a heavy price if we allow continued mismanagement and further erosion of our public universities and who they serve.

From Aaron R. Hanlon, “We don’t know—not even university presidents; not even management consultants—when circumstances will elevate a neglected or undervalued area of study to dire importance. Since at least the 2008 financial crisis, higher education leaders, policymakers, and the media have increasingly accepted as a given that higher education should not be comprehensive but rather driven by return on investment, based on short-term, fluctuating, homespun ideas about market value. This is a high-stakes gamble on an unknowable future.” Hanlon speaks to the short-sighted short-term business mindset espoused by rpk. It is pure myth that cutting programs will ultimately save money. In fact, cutting programs means cutting enrollment, which is what is needed for revenue. It makes no sense to do so and we do not wish to see the futures of Vermont’s college-bound students gambled away by administrators who do not care about their goals and aspirations but rather, seem to exist to serve corporate pressures and demands. It is in our power to stop it. It is our responsibility to do so.

Thank you.

Signed,

Mary L. Collins, Elmore, VT (Johnson State College – Class of 1981, BFA in Writing/English Literature, former faculty, Champlain College, Burlington, VT) Cathy Printon, Essex, VT (Johnson State College – Class of 1985, BA Special Education, Virginia Tech – Class of 1992, MA) Adriana Eldred, Winooski, VT (Northern Vermont University – Class of 2020, BA Journalism/Creative Writing) Susan Rand, Ferrisburgh, VT (Johnson State College – Class of 1980) David Mook, Putney, VT (Part-time Faculty, VTSU Castleton Paul Langevin, MA, CRC-MAC, SDAD/ABDA, Johnson, VT (Vt. Certified Voc-Rehab Counselor V-0003) Renato Tempesta, Wheelock, VT (Concerned citizen)? Kathie J. Sullivan, Sullivan Information Management Services, (BA University of Vermont – Class of 1977) Richard Moye, St. Johnsbury, VT (Professor Emeritus of Humanities, former Chair of the Department of English at Lyndon State College) Patty Genadio, Jeffersonville, VT (Community Librarian and concerned citizen)

And a host of additional faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members.