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Kascenska's position saved

By Sam Monroe

On May 6, 2011

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After 19 years at Lyndon State College, it was just months away from ending for Associate Academic Dean John Kascenska; now the VSC Chancellor has rescinded the decision and Kascenska will be returning for year number 20.

With a hefty budget deficit staring LSC the face, cuts are going to be made to balance it.

One of those cuts was thought to be the elimination of the associate dean of academics position. That decision has been over turned.

Kascenska will remain employed by Lyndon as the college heads into its second century.

"I am very excited that I have a chance to continue here at the college and I look forward to next year," said Kascenska with a smile. "I have a deep care as I always have four our students and our faculty, I work very closely with them and I am happy to be back."

Kascenska received a letter on April 14, telling him that his position was being taken out of the budget for fiscal year 2012; he was out of a job.

June 30 would end a 19-year run as an employee of LSC, a place where he graduated from in 1982.

In 1992 he returned to become a member of the mountain recreation department and was later promoted to associate academic dean. He still teaches classes in the mountain recreation department.

The day after Kascenska got the letter, President Carol Moore announced her retirement. After her retirement the final budgetary decisions were sent to Chancellor Tim Donovan for final approval.

"I think obviously these kind of things are emotional," said Kascenska. "It was an emotional situation, both personally and professionally. However I was still the associate academic dean and I had to be here and take care of the responsibilities that my office has and that's what I did to be honest."

Kascenska wrote a letter to the chancellor expressing his concerns. When the Donovan visited campus, he met with Kascenska. He also sent a letter to the chancellor. He wasn't the only one to send a letter, several faculty and staff also wrote letters of support for him.

"It was very heartwarming," Kascenska said. "They let me know that they sent messages on my behalf. All of those were unsolicited. It was very heartwarming and I have a very close working relation ship with a lot of people here and I thanked each of them."

A week letter the Kascenska and the Chancellor sat down one more time. This time the chancellor informed the associate dean that his position would not be removed from the budget and they were looking forward to having him back.

Kascenska is happy to be back, but he is taking it one step at a time.

"Focusing on this semester. I'm glad to be back to help move forward and prepare for next year," he said.