Three faculty and staff unions at Vermont State University issued votes of “no confidence” in administrators and trustees this week, amid outcry over plans to reform campus libraries and athletics.
Vermont State University, which will be officially incorporated July 1 through the consolidation of Northern Vermont University, Castleton University and Vermont Technical College, announced last week that it plans to transition to an “all-digital” library. The physical library spaces will be “repurposed,” administrators told community members in a Feb. 7 email, and library materials will primarily be available digitally.
Most of the physical books in the libraries will be donated, while seven full-time and three part-time positions will be eliminated, officials said.
Athletics programs at two campuses will also be downgraded. Northern Vermont University’s Johnson campus will leave the National Collegiate Athletic Association for the smaller United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Meanwhile, Vermont State University’s Randolph campus, which is currently part of Vermont Technical College, will leave the USCAA and offer only club sports.
The announcement of those changes sparked an immediate backlash on the university’s network of campuses, including protests, petitions — and now, “no confidence” votes.
Three faculty and staff unions — the Vermont State Colleges Faculty Federation, the Vermont State Colleges United Professionals, and a unit of the Vermont State Employees’ Association — announced the votes this week.
Those unions represent more than 1,000 full-time and part-time faculty and staff at the university’s campuses, according to Linda Olson, who represents the Faculty Federation for the American Federation of Teachers.
“The decisions that these leaders made are not grounded in data, nor are they in the best interest of (Vermont State Colleges) students, or equally important, in the best interests of Vermont,” an unnamed American Federation of Teachers spokesperson said in a press release shared by Olson.
Along with Vermont Community College, Vermont State University is part of the Vermont State Colleges system.
Administrators have apologized for the way the decision about the libraries and athletics was communicated, but have given no indication that they will backtrack on their plans.
Athletics programs in Johnson and Randolph have struggled to fill team rosters, administrators said, and the Johnson campus is currently on NCAA probation.
The changes in the libraries are due to what school officials said was a yearslong decline in the circulation of physical materials, and an overwhelming preference among students for digital materials over physical ones.
Speaking via Zoom Tuesday to lawmakers in the Senate Committee on Education, Vermont State University president Parwinder Grewal emphasized that the libraries will not physically close, nor will they remove all of their books.
“We want to keep it as a library, and call it as a library as well,” Grewal told lawmakers.
