[L]eaders at the beleaguered College of St. Joseph are sounding a hopeful note, saying that a merger with a yet-unnamed school could appease the school’s accreditors and stave off closure.
But on the ground, multiple staff, faculty and students have told VTDigger that the college’s president, Jennifer Scott, announced in meetings last week with employees and students that in a last-ditch effort to save the college, the school would need to suspend its undergraduate programming entirely for at least a year. Under that scenario, graduate programs would continue.
College leaders hope accreditors will grant the school extra time to negotiate a merger if it promises not to enroll any undergraduates. The only alternative to suspending undergraduate programming is closing the College of St. Joseph altogether, students and staff were told.
Undergraduate students have been told they cannot return next year and have been given scant information about their options moving forward.
“Plan A is to complete an agreement with our partner college to continue College of St. Joseph, as both a graduate and undergraduate school, in Rutland, Vermont, with our mission,” board of trustees chair Jay Kenlan said in phone interview Wednesday.
“Plan A is not to eliminate our undergraduate program. If that becomes necessary as a means to getting to Plan A, Jennifer (Scott) will consider that,” he added.
But a half-dozen faculty, staff and students who attended meetings last Wednesday with Scott said they were told point-blank undergraduates would not return next year.
“The truth right now is that there will be no more undergraduates. One way or another, there’s no undergraduates after May. So that said, step up. Make the friggin’ decision, make it clear, and help them move on. Instead of ‘let’s not yet.’ ‘Well it’s not final.’ The waiting game is definitely not conducive to the kids,” said one faculty member, who asked not to be named for fear of being retaliated against.
Meanwhile, the college has not activated any teach-out agreements with partner schools. Teach-outs allow students at colleges that are closing to complete their degrees elsewhere. They typically include a guarantee about how many credits partner schools will accept, waived transfer application fees, and clear pathways into comparable programs.
That means that while faculty, staff and coaches are working with students on a case-by-case basis to try to find ways to transfer out, they are doing so without any clear direction from college leaders about where students can find equivalent tuition rates and academic programs.
“The information we’re giving is very slim. We can’t answer their questions on whether or not their financial aid will be covered. We can’t answer their questions about whether, after the first year of the teach-out agreement, are they suddenly going to have to start paying Castleton rates?” said a staff member, who also asked not to be named.
A draft teach-out transfer agreement with Castleton University has reportedly been circulated among staff and faculty. But employees who spoke to VTDigger said that top administrators had told them not to share the agreement with students because it was not yet finalized.
A spokesperson for Castleton, Jeff Weld, said that students calling the school from CSJ were essentially being treated like traditional transfer students for the time being.
“We’re not executing a teach-out agreement because, like I said, they’re not closed. But we’re doing whatever we can within the scope of the institution to keep them on the right path to their degree,” he said.
Students who spoke to VTDigger also complained that CSJ appeared to have only one transfer option in mind for students – Castleton – a school that might not provide the same athletic options, sense of community, or academic supports and offerings.
“They’re just seeing it as – you’re going to school, and that’s all that matters,” said LaShaunte White, a sophomore at CSJ.
The New England Commission of Higher Education, the federally recognized accreditor for the six-state region, in November voted to withdraw CSJ’s accreditation effective this summer because of the school’s troubled finances. CSJ has vowed to appeal the decision to keep the school operating, and has an April 1 deadline to submit new information to NECHE.
Accreditation is technically voluntary, but it is required for schools to receive federal financial aid dollars, a necessary source of revenue. It is also a baseline indicator of quality, and many schools won’t accept transfer credits from a school once it loses its accreditation. (CSJ’s accreditation expires Aug. 31, according to NECHE.)
Despite its status with its accreditors, the school has been aggressively recruiting new students. The school widely advertised “Instant Decision Days” in February and March, where students could come in, apply, and make deposits for next year all in the same day, and even gave local media interviews on the subject.
One Instant Decision Day was even scheduled for March 6, the same day Scott reportedly held meetings to tell CSJ students and faculty there would be no undergraduate programming next year.
It’s unknown if accreditors are aware of or object to the school recruiting despite NECHE’s decision to withdraw the school’s accreditation. Barbara Brittingham, NECHE’s president, did not respond to a request for comment.
But CSJ’s approach stands in stark contrast to what other struggling schools in Vermont have done recently. Green Mountain College in Poultney had multiple teach-out agreements in place for students when it announced in January it would close. And while GMC, at the time, had received some extra scrutiny from accreditors, NECHE had not yet taken any public action against the school.
Southern Vermont College, which announced in March that it would close, stopped recruiting students as soon as NECHE notified it that losing its accreditation was a possibility. David Evans, the college’s president, told VTDigger at the time college officials did so for ethical reasons, and also on advice of counsel.
Kenlan, for his part, appeared not to know the school had kept recruiting students as late as early this month.
“I don’t believe we are. I’d have to go back to Jennifer on that. Obviously if we are under a threat of losing our accreditation, we would probably not be. I believe that’s probably the case. But you’d have to ask Jennifer that,” he said.
Scott did not respond to questions submitted by email yesterday, and her office did not return a call.
