Current:Home > MyStudents, faculty and staff of Vermont State University urge board to reconsider cuts-InfoLens
Students, faculty and staff of Vermont State University urge board to reconsider cuts
View Date:2024-12-23 14:33:44
The board of the Vermont State Colleges said Monday it continues to back a plan to cut and consolidate some programs and reduce faculty at Vermont State University after hearing from faculty and students who urged it to reconsider, including student government groups who have voted no-confidence in the board and administration.
The plan calls for discontinuing 11 programs, consolidating 16 others, and eliminating 20-33 full-time faculty positions out of the current 208. It’s estimated to save $2.1 to $3.3 million after three years from the faculty reductions. Faculty have been offered buyouts.
“For the first time in recent history, Vermont State University has a smart and actionable plan to right-size course offerings and restructure administrative operations to reflect the needs of a rural, unified university with multiple campus settings,” the board said in a statement. “These changes align Vermont State University with peers and set the entire Vermont State Colleges System on a path where financial stability is within reach by Fiscal Year 2027.”
Vermont State University is comprised of the merged campuses of the former Castleton University, Northern Vermont University in Johnson and Lyndon, and Vermont Technical College in Randolph. It welcomed its first class this year. The Vermont State Colleges System has struggled financially for years.
On Monday, the board took public comment during a Zoom meeting, during which students and faculty said they were not consulted in what is best for the school.
“We believe your decision in the recent optimization vote has failed our institutions by eliminating positions within departments that are not only currently understaffed but also heavily overworked,” said Zack Durr, treasurer of the Castleton Student Government Association. “You have turned these positions simply into points of data and salaries on a page rather than real people who have improved students’ lives every day.”
David Mook, who teaches part-time in Castleton, said the Vermont State University transformation has been mismanaged, including what he said was “huge failure” of leadership to meaningfully engage with students, faculty, staff, alumni and communities around the institutions. The inaugural president who drew fierce opposition when he proposed all-digital libraries stepped down in April less than three months before the Vermont State University’s official launch. He was replaced by interim president Michael Smith, who worked for years in a number of state government positions, most recently as the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month, Smith released the cost-savings plan currently supported by the board.
“It’s left us with instead of an engaged student body, we have an engaged student body,” Mook said. “We have dedicated faculty and staff that are so demoralized it’s sad for me to come in and talk to them.” Alumni are frustrated and citizens are concerned, said Mook, who suggested adding faculty, staff and more students to the board.
The board said in a statement Monday that it’s time to implement the plans and focus on “growing high-demand programs such as nursing, plumbing and electrical apprenticeships, mental health counseling, teaching, advanced manufacturing, aviation and more.”
____
Rathke reported from Marshfield, Vt.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Messi breaks silence on Inter Miami's playoff exit. What's next for his time in the US?
- Two Russian journalists jailed on ‘extremism’ charges for alleged work for Navalny group
- Early in-person voting begins ahead of Georgia’s May 21 primary and judicial elections
- Missing teen child of tech executives found safe in San Francisco, suspect in custody
- Burger King is giving away a million Whoppers for $1: Here's how to get one
- Israeli officials concerned about possible ICC arrest warrants as pressure mounts over war in Gaza
- The Best Mother-in-Law Gifts That Will Keep You on Her Good Side & Make Her Love You Even More
- NFL's top 20 remaining free agents include Odell Beckham Jr.
- Louisville officials mourn victims of 'unthinkable' plant explosion amid investigation
- RHOSLC's Monica Garcia Suffers a Miscarriage After Revealing Surprise Pregnancy
Ranking
- Maine elections chief who drew Trump’s ire narrates House tabulations in livestream
- Charging bear attacks karate practitioner in Japan: I thought I should make my move or else I will be killed
- Charging bear attacks karate practitioner in Japan: I thought I should make my move or else I will be killed
- CDC says it’s identified 1st documented cases of HIV transmitted through cosmetic needles
- Quincy Jones laid to rest at private family funeral in Los Angeles
- U.K. man charged with Russia-backed arson attack on Ukraine-linked site in London
- The unfortunate truth about claiming Social Security at age 70
- Rihanna Reveals Why Her 2024 Met Gala Look Might Be Her Most Surprising Yet
Recommendation
-
Disruptions to Amtrak service continue after fire near tracks in New York City
-
Affluent Americans are driving US economy and likely delaying need for Fed rate cuts
-
Horoscopes Today, April 27, 2024
-
Looking back: Mage won 2023 Kentucky Derby on day marred by death of two horses
-
John Robinson, successful football coach at USC and with the LA Rams, has died at 89
-
United Methodists prepare for votes on lifting LGBTQ bans and other issues at General Conference
-
Veterinary care, animal hospitals are more scarce. That's bad for pets (and their owners)
-
Upstate NY district attorney ‘so sorry’ for cursing at officer who tried to ticket her for speeding