On Anniversary of Controversial Merger, VTSU Officials Say They’ve Turned the Page

RANDOLPH CENTER, Vt. (WCAX) – It’s been one year since the Vermont State Colleges campuses merged to form Vermont State University to address millions in debt and declining enrollment. Faculty and university leaders say while it has been a bumpy year, they feel like they’ve turned the page and are looking forward to year two.

Engineering department head John Kidder and his peers have been on the front lines of the merger of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, and Vermont Technical College.

“It’s been somewhat tumultuous going through that,” Kidder acknowledged. “The faculty, while we had a common catalog and a lot of common ground and common practices, they were still very different institutions, and so there’s been some work to pull that all together. I would say the faculty has done a great job at pulling it all together.”