Timeline

The following outlines the discussions, meetings, decisions, and events as best we know. Faculty, students, alumnx, and staff were not part of any conversations about changes prior to June 2022.

  • The Board of Trustees meets quarterly. At the board meeting in May 2021, the board begins discussions of changes to VCFA campus and residencies.

  • Board gives unanimous approval to Leadership Team to pursue partnership with another college and sell campus properties.

  • Board consults with White + Burke Real Estate Advisors, Inc. to divest properties.

  • NECHE sends VCFA a request for information.

  • VCFA Board of Trustees commits to move forward with Colorado College partnership.

  • VCFA sends report to NECHE in response to December 2021 NECHE Information Request.

  • Leadership team visits the campus of Colorado College, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Program directors are unaware of the visit.

  • Contract signed with Colorado College (Colorado Springs, Colorado) to lease campus space for 2023 and 2024 summer residencies.

    At the time the contract is signed with Colorado College, program directors, faculty, and staff do not know any residency changes are planned.

  • Board hires White + Burke Real Estate Advisors to divest VCFA campus properties.

    At this time, program directors, faculty, staff, alumnx, and students are unaware the Board plans to sell campus properties.

  • On June 13th, program directors learn summer residencies will move to Colorado College and winter residencies will be held remotely. (The location of winter residencies is later changed).

    This is the first time program directors hear of any planned residency or campus changes. The contract with Colorado College is already signed.

  • At the All-Staff meeting, on the morning of June 15th, President Ward informs staff for the first time of changes: summer residencies will move to Colorado College and winter residencies will be held remotely.

    Faculty and staff learn about the decision to change residencies immediately before students are informed via email.

    At the time, President Ward stated that the college is financially stable, and the decision came about primarily because administrators wanted to encourage collaboration among VCFA’s artists. However, interdisciplinary collaboration ever requested, demanded, or even discussed by college faculty or other constituents.

  • On June 15, 2022 Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) President Leslie Ward sent an email to some, but not all VCFA students and alumnx announcing a plan to move the college’s summer residencies to Colorado College and hold winter residencies online. At the time, President Ward stated that the college is financially stable, and the decision came about primarily because administrators wanted to encourage collaboration among VCFA’s artists.

    • President Ward emails students about changes to residencies

  • • A Message from the Office of the President

  • An open letter with 95 alumnx and student signers was sent to the Board of Trustees in response to President Ward’s email announcement.

    • Open letter from alumnx and students to Board of Trustees

    “In a letter sent to the college's board of trustees Tuesday, 95 alumni of its low-residency master’s degree programs expressed “profound disappointment in, and strong objection to” the school’s recently announced decision to move its on-campus programming to Colorado College and online.”

    • Read article on VT Digger: Alumni voice ‘profound disappointment’ in Vermont College of Fine Arts’ plan to end residencies, explore selling buildings

  • MFA in Writing residency is held on the VCFA campus from June 21 - June 30 2022.

    This residency occurred less than one week after students received the announcement about a new residency location.

  • President Ward and Chair Goldstein speak at VCFA Community call conducted via Zoom.

  • VCFA Alumnx attend Zoom call with President Ward and others.

  • Currently enrolled students from multiple graduate fine arts programs at VCFA emailed President Ward and the Board of Trustees with a request to provide answers.

    “We were promised in-person residencies at the campus in Montpelier, Vermont (when COVID restrictions allowed). The decision to move residencies to Colorado Springs will impact the majority of students’ ability to attend in-person residencies. Students who chose VCFA for its location will be forced to travel at personal expense to a new campus approximately 2,000 miles away.”

    • Open Letter from current VCFA students

  • VCFA Stakeholder update

  • Email to Michael Goldstein again requesting meeting with Stakeholders group.

  • MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults residency is held on the VCFA campus from July 7 - July 16 2022.

  • Stakeholders email Michael Goldstein outlining concerns.

  • Michael Goldstein emails stakeholders and agrees to meet.

  • Alumnx and VCFA stakholders meet with board.

  • MFA in Visual Arts residency is held on the VCFA campus from July 19 - July 29 2022.

  • Meeting with Co-Chairs over Zoom.

  • President Ward chooses not to attend a Q&A meeting with Visual Arts students. Matthew Monk and David Markow attend.

  • On July 26th, after president Leslie Ward failed to attend an informational meeting, Visual Arts students stage a public protest on VCFA campus grounds with signage and picketing.

    • Watch Video on YouTube: ORCA Media PSA - VCFA Student Protest July 26, 2022

    • Read the Montpelier Bridge article: VCFA Students Protest Move to Colorado

  • Students submitted a letter demanding transparency.

    July 26, 2022

    To President Ward, Chairman Goldstein, Vice Chair Carvelli, and Members of the Board of Trustees:

    This letter serves as an official request for you to create a plan describing how you will restart the process to secure the future of VCFA following a collaborative organizational model.

    The plan shall:
    • Include input from students, faculty, program staff, alumnx, and the Montpelier community
    • Describe how you will involve student, alumnx, and faculty stakeholders from each program in your decision-making process
    • Be provided in writing to students, faculty, program staff, and alumnx by August 31, 2022

    We request you confirm in writing by 12pm on July 28, 2022 that you agree to provide this plan.

    If there is no response to this letter, we will pursue a tuition withholding action coordinated with the other programs.

    Sincerely,

    Visual Arts Student Reps

  • President Ward, Matthew Monk, and David Markow attend a meeting with students that had been rescheduled after President Ward did not attend the initial meeting.

  • MFA in Music Composition residency is held on the VCFA campus from July 31 - August 6 2022.

  • Students send a followup letter to the Board of Trustees Chair and Vice Chair to confirm their agenda items will be discussed at the board meeting.

  • Film Faculty send letter to President Ward and Board of Trustees.

  • A previously announced zoom Q&A with president was cancelled. No notification, reason, postponement date were offered.

  • President Ward emails students in response to their request for the Board of Trustees and Senior Administration to “create a plan on how they will involve both students and faculty in decisions moving forward.”

    Her email states:

    After thorough discussion, the Board of Trustees directed me to communicate the following:
    • The Board welcomes and encourages input from faculty and students and instructed the President to:
    • Implement across all programs a plan for effective and continuing student/board engagement.
    • Request that Academic Dean Matt Monk meet with the Academic Council to develop a structure and process to ensure and enhance faculty/board engagement.

    In addition, President closes the email with the following:

    “Let me add that I and the entire Senior Administration welcomes input from students and will be communicating to students across all programs a plan for student/administration communication and engagement as we plan for VCFA's future. This communication will occur before August 31.”

  • Students email a response to President Ward with their dissatisfaction with her leadership.

  • President Ward responds to students’ email and tells them to correspond directly with Michael Goldstein, Board Chair.

  • President Ward invites students to Student Leadership Council that will meet twice a year in advance of two board meetings. The council is not an invitation to have two students on the board, which students asked for. The invitation also does not guarantee that the board will discuss any of the topics brought up by student representatives.

  • Board of Trustees Chair Michael Goldstein sends an email to the VCFA community. ”This message is intended to provide a thorough explanation of what led to and went into our actions so that our community fully understands how we came to these very significant, and indeed inescapable, decisions.”

    • Email: Community Update from the Board of Trustees

    Stakeholders report that his response is inadequate, far from thorough, and insulting to many alumnx donors. The email does not address many concerns, including the future of the library, concerns from BIPOC constituents about Colorado Springs, nor any guarantee College Hall will not be sold, among others.

  • VCFA Alumnx request a followup to the July 18 2022 meeting.

  • VCFA Alumnx send a 2nd request for a followup to the July 18 2022 meeting.

  • Academic Dean Matthew Monk send a letter to Faculty Chairs and Co-Chairs.

  • Twenty-two faculty members send the VCFA Board of Trustees a letter expressing No Confidence in President Ward's leadership.

    • View the VCFA Faculty No Confidence Letter

  • VCFA Faculty formally submit a complaint to New England Commission for Higher Education.

    • Access the 34-page complaint (PDF)

    • From Vermont Business Magazine: Faculty letter of no-confidence and NECHE complaint issued against Vermont College of Fine Arts president & board

  • The trustees responded to faculty and sent a letter from other faculty members offering their full support to the president.

    • Read article in VermontBiz: VCFA trustees respond to faculty letter

  • MFA in Graphic Design residency is held on the VCFA campus from October 9 - October 15 2022.

  • Students send a survey to current students. The writing students email was returned.

    • VCFA Student Survey summary of results

  • Visual Arts Students met with National Association of Schools of Art and Design and submitted complaints against VCFA leadership.

  • Students, faculty, and staff attend the BIPOC/LGBTQ panel over Zoom.

  • Current Students send their Vote of No Confidence in President Leslie Ward to the Board of Trustees and all faculty. Writing faculty email was returned.

    • Students Support NC Letter

  • Vermont College of Fine Arts student and donor constituents submit a complaint to the Vermont Attorney General regarding potential illegal conduct and violations of Vermont Statutes committed by the college’s Board of Trustees.

    • Read the complaint (PDF)

  • • Wikipedia entry on: Colorado Springs nightclub shooting

  • President Ward sends a brief acknowledgment of the massacre in Colorado Springs.

  • President Ward sends a followup email about the shooting titled “Offering Support”.

    ”I also want to emphasize that central to our summer residency planning will be addressing the safety and support of our LGBTQ+ community.”

  • Students and Alumnx/Distinguised Auther Wally Lamb submit addendum to the Attorney General of the State of Vermont.

    “Students would like to ensure fixed residency costs with a contractual agreement from VCFA.”

  • Chair Goldstein emails students and says that “President Ward has the unanimous and unequivocal confidence and support of the Board in her leadership.“

  • President Ward Sends Follow-Up email after Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs

  • VCFA’s campus master plan and other materials may be found in resources on the VCFA Application Materials page on the City of Montpelier’s website.

    • See 36 College VCFA Campus PUD Final Staff Rep December 29, 2022 (PDF)

  • MFA in Writing residency is held on the VCFA campus from Dec 29 2022 - Jan 11 2023.

  • MFA in Visual Art residency is held on the VCFA campus from January 25 - February 4, 2023.

  • MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults residency is held on the VCFA campus from January 11 - 20, 2023.

  • The Montpelier Bridge publishes two letters to the editor responding to the campus master plan.

    • Letters to the Editor express concerns and say DRB "should vote no"

  • Visual Arts students meet in-person during their residency with President Ward, Academic Dean Matthew Monk, COO/VP for Student Services Markow, and Assistant Dean for Equity & Inclusion in Teaching & Learning Mary-Kim Arnold.

  • Protest includes a projection onto College Hall with the words “STUDENTS AND FACULTY VOTE NO CONFIDENCE IN PRESIDENT LESLIE WARD”

    • Protest on the green on January 28

  • Instagram Replay: Acclaimed film & television actor and VCFA MFA in Film faculty Luis Guzman, a decades-long resident of Vermont, hosted an Instagram Live Q&A to share his thoughts about the proposed sale of the Montpelier campus and the program's move from Vermont to Colorado.

    • Video available on Instagram: www.instagram.com/p/CoLrm3GD2jx

  • 47 of the 48 written testimonies received prior to the meeting opposed the proposed zoning changes.

    The City of Montpelier’s website hosts a dedicated page for VCFA’s Application for a Campus PUD (Planned Unit Development), with links to associated presentation materials, meeting minutes, and public comments.

  • MFA in Music Composition residency is held on the VCFA campus from February 5 - 11, 2023.

  • • February 6, 2023 - The future of Vermont College of Fine Arts’ campus up for discussion

    • February 7, 2023 - Campus makeover concerns VCFA neighbors

    • February 7, 2023 - As Vermont College of Fine Arts Packs Up, Students and Neighbors Worry About the Future

    • February 10, 2023 - Letter to the Editor: DRB Should Vote “No” on VCFA’s Proposed College Master Plan Application

  • • Letter from Monk: agreement signed to sell three campus buildings to 150 Main Street LLC

    • About potential buyer Casey Ellison and 150 Main Street, LLC

    • From VT Digger: Vermont College of Fine Arts plans to sell buildings for ‘health and wellness’ center

    Students have not been informed that some campus buildings are under contract to be sold as of February 26, 2023.

  • • February 16 - Letter to the Editor at VT Digger from VCFA founding trusting and long-time faculty Sydney Lea: Selling the College of Fine Arts buildings is an outrage

    • February 17 - Letter to the Editor at VT Digger from Assistant Professor at Clark University and VCFA alumnx Soren Sorensen: Vermont College of Fine Arts plan is baffling

  • VCFA withdraws their PUD application to change zoning for VCFA. They will not be meeting Tuesday, February 21st, and will instead have a community meeting March 2nd with the neighbors and new buyers.

    • VCFA withdraws PUD application

    • From VT Digger: Three VCFA Buildings Have a Buyer; College Withdraws DRB Application

  • Current MFA students at Vermont College of Fine Arts submitted an update to their initial complaint to the Vermont Attorney General dated November 19, 2022.

    • Read the update to the complaint (PDF)

  • • VT Digger Letter to the editor: Important steps to preserve Vermont College of Fine Arts

  • College should at least change its name