With levels of unrest and uncertainty at an all time high last year regarding the school’s financial crisis, followed by the retirement of President Carol Moore in April, students and faculty alike weren’t sure how LSC was going to recover.
Despite the panic button being pushed so fervently last semester that it nearly wore through, it appears as though members of faculty, as well as the student body, have eased their fingers from this metaphorical button, sat back, and taken a deep breath.
“The level of stress has been reduced, and people seem calm,” said professor of Education, Timothy Sturm.
Sturm, who has met with Gold personally, showed his confidence in Chancellor Donovan’s decision to bring in Gold on an interim basis, stating: “I’m impressed with him… given his work with unions and large groups of people, I think he is capable and has the right skills for the job. He’s the type of person we need to stabilize the college.”
English professor Elaine Razzano echoed similar sentiments regarding the hiring of Gold. Razzano, during her tenure at Lyndon State has three presidents come and go, but remains positive about the recent hire.
“I’m pleased with the decision to hire President Gold. I’m hopeful because he listens to people and has touched on a lot of things I was hoping to hear, including how to deal with the benefits and challenges on an increased student body.”
Sturm stated that he is impressed by the new freshman class, stating that they seem motivated and “interested in being in college.”However, he hopes for a higher graduation rate. “The big incoming class is great; it helps us pay our bills. But we have to help students pay their bills in the future.”
Sturm was surprised at how quickly the problems with the financial deficit ended, and wonders “how much of it was real, or fabricated to achieve another goal?” But with many of these issues set aside for now, he looks forward to doing “what we do best, which is teaching students and preparing them for the future.”