President’s All College Update May ’21

19 May 2021

Welcome to the End of Spring Semester!

For the non-PN academic calendar, we have arrived at the end of another academic year and spring semester. As we reach this point, I am reminded of how adaptable and resilient you – we – have all had to be in the face of the pandemic, and any other number of disruptions or our lives this past year. Yet, here we are again with finals, capstone project presentations, and move-out day fast approaching. You have all found reserves to tap into or supports to lean on to get you to this point. Know that I admire all that you, our community, have accomplished this year. Congratulations!

Transformation Update

The Chancellor recently announced that Wilson Garland has accepted the role of the system’s Transformation Project Manager. Wilson joins us in June! He has extensive experience in higher education and innovation, so will be a great fit as we seek to make the new university stronger together. The Chancellor posts her regular updates to the VSCS Transformation web page, including her most recent one with news of Wilson’s hire.

The Council of Presidents had a retreat recently to do some higher-level thinking about the process to get from the current three institutions to desired unified university. Much of the time spent on key decisions and key decision makers needed to move forward with unification.   There is a LOT more work to do but the COP is working collaboratively.

Vermont Tech’s transformational updates continue to go up on the website with documentation as it is developed. Meeting minutes are stored on the R drive for reference. The charter teams filed progress reports, which were recently added to the Resources page of the site after review at the April 26 Senior Leadership Team meeting.

Summer Transformation Efforts – Watch Your Email!

If you reference the current Gannt chart that maps out the timeline of our transformation efforts, there is activity this summer crucial to our progress. While summer often signals a needed respite from studies and teaching, or practical study in internships and research, we need you to stay connected this summer! Please watch for emails to engage in the important research that will be executed to inform the brand identity of the newly combined entity. Participate in the program array efforts, if you’ve been tapped. Make sure to give us moments of your time so this transformation is reflective of all of us and informed by our community’s input!

Commencement Saturday, May 22 at 11:00AM

This Saturday, the college will host its virtual Commencement with a Premier event on our YouTube channel. In addition, we built a Commencement website that goes live once the ceremony has begun to find individual graduates’ pages, individual speeches and a downloadable program. You will be able to find this new link from the Commencement Information page of the website and in the description of the Premier event on YouTube. Please join us all in congratulating the Class of 2021 and wishing them much success in their futures! May you all find fulfilling careers, communities to support and thrive in and opportunities to return to your alma mater often!

Student Honors and Awards

The Honors Celebration for spring recognized students for academic excellence, college service and induction into professional societies. The full list of the 128 honorees is available on the website. These students have demonstrated the hard work, commitment and dedication needed to succeed in our rigorous programs, and soon will be leaders in their respective professions! Congratulations to you all, honors and award recipients!

Who’s New at Vermont Tech?

Since our last All College update, we have two new employees that have joined the college community. Please join me in welcoming them to the Vermont Tech family!

  • Howard Switser – VMEC Professional Manufacturing and Business Growth Advisor
  • Brie-Anne Aldrighetti – Lab Technician, Architectural & Civil Engineering