VTSU Interim President Mike Smith: Library plan rescinded
Dear Vermont State University Community,
I have been on the ground since Thursday and after taking a few days to look at transformation plans, what we need most is to move forward together to create a strong and thriving future for Vermont State University.
I am writing to let you know that effective immediately, we are rescinding the library layoff notices announced in February. We will continue our work to streamline our library collections consistent with normal and progressive library best practices. This allows us sufficient resources to accomplish this task in collaboration with faculty, students, planners, administrators, and library staff. At the same time, we know that digital academic materials are the way of the future, and we will continue to evaluate how they fit into our libraries. As we look forward, we will take an agile approach together to design the best library to serve our faculty, students, and community.
Additionally, we will extend our current athletic conferences for the next three years with Johnson continuing in the NCAA and Randolph in the USCAA with the goal of maintaining the existing programs on all campuses. Athletics play a significant role in student recruitment and retention on all our campuses. Over the summer we will establish athletic specific benchmarks and metrics for all four campuses. These benchmarks and metrics will allow us to evaluate the programs over the coming years with the goal of building towards long-term sustainability.
As we move forward together, transformation and change will continue.
I look forward to launching Vermont State University with you on July 1. We will welcome our first class this fall, an exciting time in our combined history. As we lead up to that, we will continue to cheer our athletes on and recognize our students’ accomplishments. In May we will celebrate our graduates. Thank you for joining me in all these important moments as we become Vermont State University.
Thank you.
Michael K. Smith
Interim President
Vermont State University
802.728.1252
Mike.Smith@VermontState.edu
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