With higher education facing some headwinds, the University of Vermont's president delivered the school's first-ever State of the University address. As WAMC's North Country Bureau chief Pat Bradley learned, after attending the speech and talking with new students, despite broader challenges, optimism abounds in Burlington.
The federal government has cut funding to university research programs across the country at the same time colleges face financial challenges due to enrollment pressures from competition and an approaching demographic cliff. Despite these setbacks, UVM President Marlene Tromp said the school is ready to meet the moment. Speaking to the campus community Tuesday, she said UVM is creating a three-year planning process to take a proactive approach.
“Our values and our strategic plan will guide us through whatever challenges that we face together. We will not be daunted in the face of the challenges before us. We will come together and solve our common problems. And we have the tools to do it and the history to do it.”
As Tromp outlined the four pillars of UVM’s ‘Green, Gold and Bold’ strategic plan, she made several announcements, including an expansion of a tuition-free program for Vermont residents.
“Our Vermont UVM Promise scholarship, which has always been awarded to students whose families make less than $100,000 a year, we are bumping that up to $125,000 a year. And we recognize that we have a role to play in helping the state’s economy thrive. We are creating a new division of statewide economic development. And I’m really proud to announce second highest fundraising year in history.”
Tromp’s optimism was reflected by undergraduate students and their parents as they arrived on campus for move-in day this week. An army of 500 volunteers fanned out across the campus and with military precision helped hundreds of undergraduates and their families unload belongings from vehicles into rolling carts to take them into their assigned rooms. Among those moving into the Central Campus Residence Hall -- the largest on campus -- was first-year sustainability, ecology and policy student Zoe Campbell from Southern California. She had read about President Tromp’s speech outlining college initiatives.
“It’s so important to fund new research and development so that we can better understand our environment and how to coexist within this environment and not fight against the earth, but fight with it. And I think that this new tuition grants are so important because so many kids need access to education.”
Environmental studies major Soren Stelma-Leonard of Westfield, Vermont, is benefiting from the Vermont Promise tuition program and said he might not be going to college without it.
“I qualify for the UVM Promise fund. It’s for in-state students and moving that cap up will also benefit a lot of people who are attempting to go to college."
"Would you have been able to go without the Vermont Promise and that tuition-free program?" asks Bradley.
"Most likely not," Stelma-Leonard replies. "It’s pretty expensive. Even in-state tuition is a pretty hefty price.”
In recent years, there has been a movement for students to consider the trades rather than a college degree. Stelma-Leonard said he considered that option but decided college was best for his goals.
“It’s kind of the central component of my career. I’m considering going into law enforcement. So in order to pick the type of law enforcement that I want to go into I need to have a bachelor’s degree. So I’m trying to study to be a game warden so my major is environmental studies.”
As environmental science major David St. Onge from Addleboro, Mass., unloaded his belongings, his mother Lisa expressed her concern about the impact of federal research cuts to colleges.
“How can you not be? This is something that’s a core tenant for us in the U.S. But there are certainly opportunities for things to change that can open that up. But it also forces us to get more creative on how are we going to solve these educational issues.”
Classes at the University of Vermont begin on Monday.
