The Vermont College of Fine Arts plans to host its winter residencies at Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna University, with the first in-person sessions scheduled to take place in January 2024.
In a Wednesday email to community members obtained by VTDigger, college president Leslie Ward said that administrators had chosen Susquehanna after “extensive dialogue with VCFA faculty, and after thoroughly considering feedback from students.” She cited the school’s “beautiful campus” and state-of-the-art facilities.
Susquehanna, a private liberal arts school located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, has a student body of approximately 2,200 students, according to its website. The first winter residencies at Susquehanna are scheduled to take place Jan. 5-13.
VCFA, which offers six low-residency master’s degree programs, has been reducing its physical presence in Montpelier and Vermont.
In previous years, students spent about two and half weeks on campus a year. That time was split between two residencies, one in summer and one in winter.
But last June, the Vermont College of Fine Arts announced that it would end its on-campus programs and move summer residencies to the campus of Colorado College, in Colorado Springs. At the time, administrators said, winter residencies would take place virtually.
Last month, Ward said that the college had reached a deal to sell three of its campus buildings: the Crowley Center, Martin House and Gary Library.
The buyer, an entity called 150 Main Street, LLC, plans to open a health and wellness facility at the site that is expected to offer services such as psychotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and nutrition, according to a description shared by Ward.
VCFA’s decision to move residencies outside of Montpelier has elicited sadness and anger from students, alumni and faculty.
Faculty have submitted a formal complaint to the New England Commission of Higher Education and a letter of no confidence in Ward, and students and alumni have asked Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark to investigate the college’s actions.
“The leadership of VCFA should be held accountable, out of respect for the history of the school, for the future of arts education, and for the local and international communities it has betrayed,” Luis Guzmán, the actor and VCFA faculty member, wrote in a commentary published by VTDigger.
But college administrators have said that the moves are necessary for the institution’s financial health.
In an email to VTDigger, Ward declined to say how much the partnerships in Colorado and Pennsylvania would cost, but said they were “a far more prudent use of resources.”
Moving the residencies to Colorado and Pennsylvania “was necessary to relieve the school of the untenable cost of maintaining the entire Montpelier campus, which is only used for a fraction of the year, and allow for more investment in scholarships, faculty and program development, and equity initiatives,” she said.
