Editor’s note: This commentary is by Glenn Fay, of Burlington, who is an educator, consultant and entrepreneur.
In the early 1980s, graduate students taking “Higher Ed Administration 101” prepared for the coming decades of retrenchment in higher education and the extreme pressure it would put on institutions. It was an era when 50% of college students did not finish college in four years. And the relatively poor, rural state of Vermont contributed a fraction of the general funds compared to other states’ contributions to their universities. Future higher ed administrators learned that universities needed to anticipate the coming hard times and proactively position themselves to survive.
The strategies in 1980 included ideas such as:
- Offering competitive programs that would be in demand by the students and employers.
- Creating exceptional career planning, internships, and placement.
- Promoting innovative continuing education to augment the traditional program.
- Expanding research to create revenue and opportunities for faculty and students.
- Expanding the community of influence and support with alumni.
- Abandoning programs that were not sustainable.
- Supporting high-quality faculty and programs.
In their zeal to thrive and survive during the last 40 years, some higher ed institutions have done all of these things exceedingly well. With the emergence of the internet they have embraced and maximized online learning, redoubled their alumni relations, and created world-class facilities that attract students. Their admissions applications have soared along with their budgets and tuition rates as any parent knows.
The most successful institutions have figured out how to provide the right content at the right time for each learner using opportunities such as academic credit programs, personal/professional development, and earned admission. They use the best technology tools to enhance learning, and personalized student support undergirded by a user-friendly infrastructure. This means flexible start dates, affordable, stackable credentials, blocks, and soft skills that promote employability. The most successful institutions have an expanded mindset, promote flexibility, and listen to and retain their students. And they market their assets as if their survival depended on it.
These components are sometimes but not always visible in the Vermont State Colleges. How can we ensure the VSC will survive, be accessible, and affordable? Let’s assume that “free college for all Americans” may not rescue us any time soon.
As we all know, the VSC is inextricably part of the cultural, social and economic Vermont ecosystem and therefore indispensable. The VSC also makes Vermont a place that serves and attracts younger Vermonters. Younger Vermonters are crucial to our vitality and sustainability as a state. We will need to find new sources of revenue that might not have been tapped before to save the VSC and that will require some soul-searching.
What if the VSC revisioned its mission? A decade ago, UVM President Dan Fogel envisioned UVM as “the green university” and helped position UVM as a center for green technologies and sustainable enterprise that has served them well in many ways.
Could a revised identity emerge for the VSC? Does the current VSC mission accurately reflect the global context? Could tweaking the mission point to some ways to find economic viability? At the very least, one could argue that if the VSC schools are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, it would be fruitful to look at the mission with fresh eyes.
In any case, educational leaders will undoubtedly need to make difficult personnel and program decisions based on hard numbers to curb expenditures. And they will need to address the revenue side of the VSC budgets in ways they haven’t done before. It is unlikely that a relatively small, poor state like Vermont can continue to sustain the VSC in the medium or long term. Here are some considerations on where to look for revenue.
After revisiting the mission:
Can the VSC create a more robust alumni relations program of capital giving to create an endowment that goes beyond financing scholarships with a goal of permanently sustaining the universities?
Can educational and political leaders forge more synergistic partnerships with businesses in the Vermont community and elsewhere that might include financial support and permanent endowments?
Can we count on prosperous, generous, altruistic Vermonters to step up and permanently endow the state colleges that deeply shape Vermont’s charm? Numerous individuals’ charitable contributions have nurtured so many other aspects of Vermont life that are vital to the Vermont we love.
Rethinking and restructuring the VSC will take leaders with very unique skill sets who possess the vision and personal appeal to influence and facilitate contributions and change from others who might not have fully participated in the past. Finally and most importantly, in order to get it right, the leaders must listen to the students.
