Green Mountain College President Robert W Allen, January 23, 2019: I regretfully announce that after a 185-year legacy, Green Mountain College will be closing. Although the Trustees of the College have not yet set a specific closing date, we anticipate cessation of operations after the Spring 2019 semester. The Board of Trustees has concluded it is in the best interests of our students, prospective students, faculty, and staff to notify them of this decision at this time, so they can make informed choices for their future. Our most important concern is supporting all members of the GMC family in this difficult time.
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The decision to close Green Mountain College comes only after a tireless pursuit of multiple options to remain open, including the rigorous search for new partnerships and reorganization of our finances. Despite our noteworthy accomplishments related to social and environmental sustainability, we have not been able to assure the economic sustainability of the College. Financial challenges are impacting liberal arts colleges throughout the country and Green Mountain College is no exception. These financial challenges, the product of major changes in demographics and costs, are the driving factors behind our decision to close at the end of this academic year.
Throughout this process, students have and will remain our top priority. We are working closely with the New England Commission of Higher Education and we are in the process of formalizing agreements with other colleges and universities to ensure our students have the best opportunities to continue their studies and to earn their college degree. Closing plans will include options to complete comparable programs at other institutions, information about credit transfers and student records, question and answer briefings, contact information for transition advisors and counselors, as well as any changes to the academic calendar. We will be providing more details of our closing plans as they are available, and there will be regular updates as we move forward.
I personally wish to thank our dedicated faculty and staff who have exhibited great care, dedication, and compassion while supporting our students in their pursuit of a college education. I also wish to thank everyone else who has supported Green Mountain College over its 185-year history. We know that the spirit and mission of Green Mountain College will continue to live on in the lives of our graduates and broader community.
Sincerely,
Robert W. Allen
President
Press Release January 23, 2019
Green Mountain College (GMC) announced today that its trustees voted to close the college following commencement in May. The announcement was made at an all-college meeting.
With the college age population decline in Vermont and New England over the past decade projected to continue, there has been an associated decline in enrollment. At the same time, the costs of providing the quality education that GMC students want and deserve have remained stable or have increased. That combination of a decrease in tuition payments and an increase in the costs of providing unique programming have overstrained GMC finances.
To provide continuity, GMC is partnering with Prescott College in Arizona. Prescott will hire some Green Mountain faculty; house all of Green Mountain’s academic records; provide opportunities for Green Mountain students to complete their degrees, and create a center, school, or institute that carries on the Green Mountain name. The two colleges share a mission and are founding members of the EcoLeague consortium of environmentally focused colleges.
Green Mountain College, Poultney
The decision to close and partner with Prescott was only finalized after all options were fully investigated and the pros and cons of each path carefully evaluated over several months.
“Our efforts to maintain the Poultney campus as the site where Green Mountain’s unique programs would continue to be delivered did not cease when students left for the semester break a month ago. In fact, efforts were redoubled to find a solution but we have reached the point that continued pursuit of these strategies is narrowing the options available for all students, faculty and staff,” said Green Mountain College President Robert Allen.
Over the past 18 months, the administration and college trustees investigated a wide range of options available to insure the continuation of its mission, including potential ways to decrease costs and increase revenues. The GMC administration met with potential partners both in and out-of-state and strategic alliances were explored with other institutions that share the same values as the college and that have a complementary curriculum to the GMC.
Several options were still under consideration as recently as last week; however, the college was unable to find a financial solution, or secure a partnership that would enable the GMC-Poultney campus to continue operations beyond the Spring semester. The GMC-Poultney campus will wind-down all operations in Vermont after commencement in May.
“If we could not remain here in Poultney, our goals had been to find an institution that had already committed to a sustainability curriculum, had a similar small college feel, would continue the Green Mountain legacy, be committed to ensuring that there would be little or no direct financial or academic impact on our students and, despite the notable change in geography and in climate, would provide for as smooth of a transition as possible for students,” added Allen.
The partnership with Prescott and the teach-out agreements with the seven (7) other colleges are subject to the approval of The New England Commission of Higher Education and The Higher Education Commission.
The college will be conducting separate Q and A sessions for faculty, staff, and students. It will be staffed by college personnel who are best equipped to answer the many questions that result from today’s announcement. In addition, over the next two days the college will be holding separate call-in opportunities for parents, alumni and graduate students.
Not all positions will continue to the end of the semester. In coordination with State of Vermont Department of Labor, we will be scheduling job fairs on campus. In addition, several trustees and other individuals connected to the College have volunteered to assist staff in finding new jobs. Each staff member will be notified of the current plan for their position in the next week.
Green Mountain College is committed to helping students, faculty and staff transition to their next opportunity. The GMC administration and trustees will devote their full attention to this effort.
Prescott College, Arizona
Prescott College Provost Dr. Paul Burkhardt said of the partnership: “We will carry on the GMC legacy, not just by helping students to complete their degrees, but by welcoming both students and faculty from GMC to join our learning community. Given the flexible design of our programs, all GMC students will find an existing Prescott College program where they can complete their current program of study with a remarkable alignment of curricular content and title. But we will also create opportunities for Green Mountain students to continue to learn directly from Green Mountain faculty.”
Prescott College has created an online portal at www.prescott.edu/GMC providing details for current GMC students and future applicants to indicate their interest to transfer and enroll.
Representatives from Prescott College will be on the GMC campus January 30 and February 6 to meet with students and faculty to discuss transfer options. Prescott College will provide 100% transfer of all credits from GMC, guarantee admission with no application fees, and guarantee matching net tuition price or better for each student.