Leaders of the Vermont State Colleges System gathered Wednesday morning to update stakeholders on the status of the system.
Held at the Community College of Vermont’s Rutland campus, the event provided a progress report on the work already underway to strengthen both CCV and the VSCS and previewed initiatives that aim to expand access to education and training.
VSCS is composed of Vermont State University and CCV.
VSCS Chancellor Elizabeth Mauch welcomed attendees with a brief overview of highlights from the past year, including strengthened CCV to VTSU and workforce pathways, flood resilience renovations at the VTSU Johnson campus and addressing the needs of a new student demographic.
“Students today are actually older than you might think,” Mauch said. “On average, our part-time students are almost 30, and our full-time students (are) closer to 23. We don’t really have as many of those 18- and 19-year-olds. … We have students who want life and use college at the same time, and they will have different housing needs.”
Regarding development on the Johnson campus, Mauch said the town was devastated by the 2023 and 2024 floods and, as such, has been working with the campus to reimagine town needs.
In addition to some congressional spending that has been awarded to the campus’s McClellan Hall for senior housing, Mauch said the community has been brainstorming ideas such as student apartments; giving local schools extra classroom space; or moving the town office and other emergency services to the campus and out of flood paths.
During a question-and-answer portion of the event, VSCS leaders were asked about work that has been done to inventory assets across all campuses to evaluate need and potential adaptive reuse.
VTSU President David Bergh said architecture and planning firm Dumont Janks had completed an analysis that determined VSCS was 30% overbuilt across the system in terms of all physical infrastructure.
“There are opportunities on all our campuses, including Castleton, with fewer traditional campus-based students,” Bergh said. “We’re going to be doing a deep dive on each of these campuses. Castleton will have its turn at that in the coming years.”
The Castleton campus has closed one residence hall this year to “enhance community vibrancy, increase energy efficiency and streamline facilities services and staffing,” Bergh wrote in a follow-up email.
Leaders indicated the system is currently on a “hiring chill,” due to softer-than-anticipated enrollment trends this year.
“(That) was largely due to the federal environment around international students,” Bergh said. “We are taking an extra look and asking budget managers anytime there is an opening to do a deeper evaluation of that position and needs.”
Bergh said the number of 18-year-olds in the country has plunged in correlation with the 2008 financial crisis. He added that the international student population within the U.S. also fell by 20% this year.
While Bergh acknowledged a year-over-year enrollment gain last year and an application rate increase of 20% this year, he said the system saw an unprecedented number of withdrawals late this summer.
He attributed this trend to students opting to attend other schools that opened wait lists and late discounting in response to the declining student population.
“Broadly speaking, campus by campus, we saw a fall off at Castleton and Randolph. We saw gains at the Lyndon campus (and online), and steady and marginal growth at Johnson and in Williston,” Bergh said.
Bergh said official enrollment data will be released after Oct. 15.
Mauch said the university continues to make successful progress in decreasing the $25 million structural deficit the system began with when VTSU was formed.
The event also discussed the departure of Bergh, who is set to continue in his role through June 2026. Mauch said a presidential search is underway.
Mauch requested continued input from community partners as the system continues to grow in the years ahead.
“What are some of the programs or certificates that you need to make your industry more vibrant? How can you encourage your community members to look to us in the VSCS? What ideas do you have for how our campuses can drive economic development, housing and community vibrancy?” Mauch said.
