Vermont State Colleges
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2016) |
 | |
| Motto | Scientia est Lux Lucis |
|---|---|
Motto in English | Knowledge is Enlightenment |
| Type | Public Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Established | 1961 |
| Chancellor | |
| Students | 11,060 |
| Location | , , United States |
| Website | www |
The Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS) is the system of public colleges in the U.S. state of Vermont. It was created by act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1961. There are presently four colleges in the VSCS consortium, they are: Castleton University, Community College of Vermont, Northern Vermont University, and the Vermont Technical College. Together, more than 11,000 students are enrolled in these colleges.[1]
History[]
While VSCS, the state colleges' governing organization, was created in the mid-20th century, most of the component colleges are older. The state legislature first chartered Castleton University as a grammar school in 1787.[2] Johnson State College was founded in 1828. The Vermont Technical College was founded in 1866. Lyndon State College was founded in 1911. Community College of Vermont, founded in 1970, was founded after the creation of the VSC. The newest institution, Northern Vermont University, was created in 2018 by merging Johnson State College and Lyndon State College together, combining administration but keeping the campuses separate.[3]
The VSCS was headquartered at the Chancellors Office in Waterbury until August 2011 when Tropical Storm Irene forced it to relocate temporarily. After one year of temporary location at the Vermont Tech Enterprise Center in Randolph, the Chancellor's Office found a new, permanent home in Montpelier.
For many years, the Vermont public colleges have experienced financial stress and chronic underfunding. Exacerbated by COVID-19, in April 2020, Vermont State Colleges system Chancellor Jeb Spaulding recommended closing the Vermont Technical College residential campus in Randolph as well as all operations/campuses of Northern Vermont University. Under the proposal, some of the Vermont Tech academic programs would be consolidated in Williston.[4] This proposal was withdrawn and the state provided emergency "bridge" funding to the system in fall 2020.
Chancellors[]
- Richard E. Bjork, 1978 – 1984
- Charles I. Bunting, 1984–1999
- Robert G. Clarke, 1999 – 2009
- Timothy Donovan, 2009–2015
- Jeb Spaulding, 2015–2020
- Sophie Zdatny, 2020-Present
Organization[]
The Chancellor's office is the chief executive function of the system and performs day to day financial and policy operations. It is headed by Chancellor Sophie Zdatny. The system is overseen by the fifteen-member Board of Trustees and each of the state colleges has its own president and deans.
Over eighty percent of VSCS students come from the state of Vermont. Students come from over forty other U.S. states, and more than forty-five countries. Class sizes are small, the average faculty to student ratio across the five colleges is 1:16. Nearly ninety percent of the faculty hold a Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate level terminal degree in their field of instruction.
References[]
- ^ https://www.vsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Sourcebook-2019-Final_Upd.pdf
- ^ Our Campus. Castleton.edu. Retrieved on 2017-01-13.
- ^ Hallenbeck, Terri. "Coming Soon: Northern Vermont University — Johnson and Lyndon". Seven Days.
- ^ Jane Lindholm; Matthew F. Smith; Abagael Giles (2020-04-20). Vermont Public Radio https://www.vpr.org/post/chancellor-jeb-spaulding-his-proposal-close-three-state-college-campuses. Missing or empty
|title=(help)
External links[]
| show Authority control  |
|---|
- Vermont State Colleges
- Public universities and colleges in Vermont
- Liberal arts colleges in the United States
- Public university systems in the United States
- 1961 establishments in the United States