About

SOUTHERN VERMONT COLLEGE – ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

Bennington, VT

“Southern Vermont College affirms a deep belief in the potential of every individual. We embrace diversity in all its forms, fostering excellence and personal responsibility in each member of our community…” – Southern Vermont College Mission Statement.

“Most of us ended up at SVC against the odds.  They did not give up on us and we should not give up on them.”  – Carol-ann Ricardo (SVC ’93)

We are a group of Southern Vermont College Alumni and Friends out to save the college.

ORIGINS

Southern Vermont College has its roots in Saint Joseph College which was established in downtown Bennington by the Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1926 as a business school.   The College offered certificates of proficiency in secretarial accounting, finance, shorthand and typewriting.  Eleven students were in the first graduating class. In 1962, it became an accredited junior college, St. Joseph College, awarding associate degrees in business and secretarial science.  

St. Joseph’s college later became Southern Vermont College; a small liberal arts college with more diversified degree offerings.    

THE ROAD TO LEARNING IS A BUMPY ONE

Students who arrived on campus in the 1970’s through to the mid 1980’s were greeted by a sign at the entrance to the college that read “the road to learning is a bumpy one.”   Indeed, through this time period the college road was an unpaved dirt road and all that existed on campus was the 27-room Everett Mansion (now a historic landmark).   

Southern Vermont College students during this early time period resided in student housing located throughout the Bennington Community and ate meals at The Bennington Station.    Such housing options included:  Stark House (now a multi-family home), The Greenbrier (now The Autumn Inn), and others.

In the mid-1980’s to the early 1990’s, the Southern Vermont College community saw tremendous growth.   In the mid-1980’s the college constructed dorms A, B, and C.   By the late 1980’s, the campus added dorms D, E, a student activities center, a dining hall, and began construction on the gym.    During this time period students lived in dormitives on campus.   The only exceptions were in the spring semester of 1991 and the Academic Year 1991-1992 when the college rented out The Monument View Motel (now Pizza Hut) to house students because the dorms were over booked.  

The late-1990’s were a difficult time for the college.   Under new leadership, the college experienced a serious mission drift problem and partially abandoned the original mission of Southern Vermont College.  This mission drift had a huge impact on college enrollment and fostered a significant increase in the transfer rate at the college.   In addition, in 2002, the Southern Vermont College Board of Trustees voted on a ten-year deferment of a significant portion college debt and also depleted the college’s endowment.  This debt included the debt incurred for the construction under the prior administration (mid 1980’s-1990’s),

“SOUTHERN VERMONT COLLEGE IS A COLLEGE WORTH SAVING”

Under the current leadership, the college has seen several notable improvements.   Some of these improvements include:

-The college recently brought back the Environmental Studies degree program.   

-In January 2014, Southern Vermont College established the Veterans’ Scholar Program (VSP).

-In Fall 2013, Southern Vermont College partnered with the College Steps Program for students with cognitive impairments.  

-US News and World Report recently ranked Southern Vermont College #25 in regional colleges in the North.

As punctuated above, the current problems facing Southern Vermont College are entirely focused on the debt burden of the college.    There was nothing cited with respect to the quality of the academic programs.    It is very unfortunate that the debt burden was deferred and caught up to the college at a time when several indicators inform us that the college was on the upswing.    

Moreover, the college is a college worth saving because the academic integrity of their programs was in tact and the college does not have an overwhelming number of buildings.  Simply, there is no massive overhead that inflate the operating costs.   Without the debt burden, the college can operate within budget and poise itself for continued growth.  As a small college with no wasted building space, Southern Vermont College is a uniquely positioned small college that is sustainable without mounting debt burdens.   

WHAT HAPPENED

Over the last 3-4 years Southern Vermont College experienced a mission drift problem that directly led to a significant decline in enrollment.     Most recently (the past 3-4 years), SVC went from an acceptance rate in the high 90% range down to a 61.8% acceptance rate; the last reported acceptance rate. This represents a serious mission drift for the school and, undoubtedly, had a direct impact on the fiscal stability of the college.

Due to the financial burdens of the college, The New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE), the accrediting body, stated their intent to revoke the accreditation in a show cause hearing in March 2019.  The accreditation of SVC was revoked on August 31 based solely on the financial predicament of the college.  

No concerns were raised by NECHE about the academic quality or integrity of any of the Southern Vermont College programs.   In fact, in 2018 Southern Vermont College was named the 25^th best small school in New England (US News and World Report).  Since graduation in May 2019, however, SVC has been winding down operations.

The most recent President (David Evans) of Southern Vermont College has promulgated a narrative that remains only partially true.   This narrative is that Southern Vermont College was saddled with debt and succumbed to a nationwide decline in college enrollment.  The factual reality is that Southern Vermont College had about $6 million in debt and the national enrollment trends dipped years ago and are currently stabilizing (National Center for Educational Statistics).  That said, however, the decline in Southern Vermont College enrollment was based on mission drift and a concerted effort by the administration to compete with more elite colleges.   Competing with more elite colleges has never been the mission of SVC and has never been the demographic they served. An acceptance rate of 61% would be difficult for most small schools. By way of comparison, Castleton State College reports a current acceptance rate of 95% and they do not even share the same mission as SVC. Meaning, even CSC recognizes the need to have a high acceptance rate to be viable, even though they do not cater to an undeserved demographic like SVC.

Prior to former President David R. Evan’s taking the helm at SVC nearly four years ago, and thematic with the college’s mission, the college had an admissions acceptance rate well over 90%.   Southern Vermont College most recently reported an acceptance rate of 61.8%.   Moreover, under Evan’s tenure, the college also did not balance a budget.   This severe mission drift led to the demise of Southern Vermont College, but it can be saved. It should be saved.

The decline in the acceptance rate and the college having $6 million in debt led to the college being unable to satisfy debt obligations and this reality forced the board to give up close it; rather than change leadership and explore viable opportunities to remain open.

APPROACHES TO STABILIZATION

There are three pillars to the approaches to stabilization and continuation of Southern Vermont College. These include: (1) Fiscal Support, (2) Enrollment and Admissions Support, and (3) Programming changes. This is a very brief overview.

(1) Financial Needs and Support – Southern Vermont College would require a cash infusion of around $10-15 million to be saved and to rebuild over the next few years.  This money could be from multiple generous donors who come together to help save this magnificent institution.  As noted above, the NECHE decision was solely about finances.  Paying off the $6 million in debt. or acquiring the campus from the bank with no debt burden, would be a substantive change for SVC and would enable them to appeal the NECHE decision.   Further, since the closing announcement, the current SVC Board of Trustees have created a finance company and loaned the college approximately $1.5-2 million.  This loan was to pay faculty contracts so that the college remains in good standing with faculty.  

(2) Enrollment and Admissions Support – Since admissions would initially be very low several ideas have been broached for helping overcome this obstacle.   Spring 2020 and Fall/Spring 2020-2021 would be a rebuilding period that would lead up to a full re-launch in Fall of 2021.  Below you can find a few of the enrollment building ideas that have been broached. 

(a) An idea has been broached to enable all those who have ever attended, but did not finish a degree program, the opportunity to come back in finish at no cost in the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020.  

(b) Alumni of Southern Vermont College are willing to adopt states and territories to promote the college on social media to help improve enrollment.

(c) Southern Vermont College will create an alumni ambassador program.   The Alumni ambassadors will visit high schools in the area where they reside in an effort to recruit students and spread information about Southern Vermont College.

(2) Programming Changes – In an effort to develop a sustainable model that will take SVC into the future, we have worked collaboratively with community leaders to assess community needs and have explored additional learning models that can be added to enhance program offerings. Simply, these would be new majors for SVC.

SVC will create new programs of study to be added to the current curriculum.  These programs will be a hemp and cannabis educational program, as well as, a program in aviation mechanics. 

SVC will create a low residency model for adult learners.  This program will be kicked off with the program mentioned above that will enable former students to complete their degree programs at no cost and in a low residency model or traditional model ; whichever model they choose. 

SVC will create a program for military members and Veterans.

PLEASE HELP

There has never been a more important time to show your support of Southern Vermont College.   Please feel free to contact us with any thoughts, ideas, or possible funding sources.