Editor’s note: This commentary is by Glenda Bissex, of Plainfield, who is a former Johnson State College faculty member.
Now that Jeb Spaulding has withdrawn his proposal to close three campuses in the Vermont college system (Johnson, Lyndon, and Vermont Tech in Randolph), the local media have resumed their focus on Covid-19, and it is not clear what effect the public outcry may have on the future of the colleges. Will they just go through a period of palliative care before dying? They have long been in ill-health, chronically underfunded by a Legislature that had other priorities on a rather small budget.
In a recent, otherwise admirable commentary, Richard Moye proposed “eliminating the central [VSC] office and merging with UVM” as his first solution to the state colleges’ financial crisis. As a longtime resident of rural Vermont and a former Johnson State faculty member, I have numerous concerns about the efficacy (as well as the financial sufficiency) of this proposal. The nature and goals of the University of Vermont are different, and often contrary, to those of the state colleges.
For instance:
— Everything about UVM is big — budget and resources, student body, faculty, staff. Many classes are big lectures.
— UVM is located in the largest urban area in the state.
— UVM has a major interest in research and big grants and donors.
— UVM invests in attracting out-of-state students who can pay a high tuition, be attracted by resort-like features such as the Davis Center, and big athletics.
Administrators and trustees (and alumni) who are steeped in UVM issues are not necessarily interested or skilled in dealing with the quite different issues of small, rural, non-prestigious colleges.
We are seeing perhaps some of that would-be scenario playing out through the results of Act 46, which was likewise intended to reduce the amount and expense of school administration — results which have often been unfortunate for rural Vermont. Small schools are closing or being pressured to close. Small communities are threatened by losing schools that were at their heart. Educational value is being assessed superficially in terms of how many different courses are available to students. Where collaboration was apparently expected, there is too often enmity. Small schools are outvoted on merged boards and power is more concentrated in the hands of the bigger players.
For years, Spaulding has asked the Legislature for sufficient funds for the state college system. For years he has been told there wasn’t money, the demographics don’t work, and many more negatives. Suddenly, when the anticipated crisis appears, there is an outcry affirming the value of the state colleges, their educational and economic importance to some rural areas of the state, especially the Northeast Kingdom. If they are so valuable — and I believe they are — do we finally have the will and commitment to support them in whatever forms make sense in a post-pandemic Vermont, where we are able to do things we considered impossible only a few months ago?
