VPR Commentary Stirs the VSC

One man's opinion about overhauling the Vermont State College system, as it is currently constructed, has brought both criticism and praise.

A Vermont Public Radio commentary about the VSC has caused a stir within the system.

The piece, aired Monday night, by Bill Schubart talked about the likelihood of supporting five Vermont state colleges in such a small state. Schubart's solution to increasing education costs was to enfold the VSC into the University of Vermont. This solution has been met by pushback from the VSC.

"It struck me that this was not a well-informed commentary by a very experienced commentator for VPR," said VSC Chancellor Tim Donovan. "It was full of inaccuracies and assumptions that made no sense. How do we think we are going to make this less expensive by rolling the least expensive option (the VSC) into the most expensive option (UVM)?"

Donovan sent a letter to Schubart addressing these concerns on Tuesday after he was bombarded by calls, emails and text messages from those upset by the commentary. The letter highlighted some solutions Schubart suggested that have already been put in place.

Schubart said that any student attending a Vermont State College should be able to transfer credits to any other school or switch from one school to another easily.

Donovan said that possibility is already in place.

"We have one course database for the system," he said. "Credits taken at any state college count at every state college."

Rolling the VSC into UVM would not make financial sense. Donovan cited the recent hiring of Lyndon State College's president, Joe Bertolino, at $142,000.

"There are 22 vice presidents at the University of Vermont that make more than $150,000," he said. "If you were working within the (UVM) structure and had a campus dean, the University would be paying more than we are paying for presidents."

There had already been a study done by Governor Jim Douglas in 2009 that looked into the possibility of consolidating the VSC schools. The study said it found that a merger would impact the cultural differences of the VSC and UVM in a negative way. The study also said that a merger would not save much money and could "result in negative impacts on students if academic programs and facilities were terminated, consolidated, or relocated."

Schubart says that his piece was meant to be an opinion and to ask a question to open up discussion.
"I did expect that this would elicit a pretty strong response," he said, adding that the criticism that he did not do his homework about this topic was justified. "I don't always, because it's an opinion piece, call everybody involved. I try to be fair and I try to be practical above all else."

Schubart said that of the responses he has received since the piece ran, almost half have been positive, a third have disagreed, and the rest said it was a good idea, but should be explored differently.

One of the inaccuracies in the commentary was that Schubart never brought up one of the VSC schools, the Community College of Vermont. The VSC includes Castleton State College, Johnson State College, LSC, Vermont Technical College and CCV.

"It was because I saw (CCV) as a much more regional initiative," he said.

Schubart went on to say CCV should have been included because it highlights his point even further. The census conducted in 2010 said the population of Vermont stood at 625,741 and there are six state funded schools of higher education with the VSC and UVM.

"That is a full blown college system for every 100,000 people in Vermont," he said. "People forget that."

The piece was not meant to disparage the Vermont State Colleges. Schubart grew up in Morrisville, Vt. next to JSC and said all the VSC schools have a great reputation.

"I'm grateful that we have these schools, but there is a real question as to whether we can afford to manage all the unique infrastructures of all six of them," he said.

LSC President Steve Gold said that he considers Schubart a friend and is even on the board of trustees for Vermont Works for Women, a nonprofit organization, with Schubart's wife. Gold disagreed with Schubart on much of the commentary, however.

"Anyone who knows anything understands that a lot of what he said is completely off base," he said. "It really robs the commentary of any real value."

Even though the VSC has made it easy to transfer credits, like Schubart suggests it should, it is still not easy to move from one school to the next.

"If you are a student at Lyndon, you expect to stay at Lyndon and get a complete rounded education available to you here," Gold said.  "I think that is just as true at Johnson and just as true at Castleton."

Gold did see some merit in one of the issues Schubart raised. Another way that Schubart proposed cutting costs was to eliminate tenure for faculty. That was something that Gold agreed should be looked at.

"The institution of tenure for life for faculty could become a very major burden for colleges like Lyndon State College across the country," he said, adding that the idea of tenure is obsolete because of unions and contract negotiations. "There is the potential for that contractual situation to cover all the issues that tenure for life was invented to protect."

Gold says his thoughts on this topic may not be popular with the faculty.

"I am not suggesting that I would favor having it terminated, but I do think it deserves some thoughtful study about if it is the best way to move forward," he said.