MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The board of the Vermont State Colleges has appointed an interim chancellor to take over after Jeb Spaulding resigned amid outcry over his proposal to close three campuses because of mounting financial problems.
The board voted Wednesday night to appoint the state colleges general counsel Sophie Zdatny as interim chancellor until a permanent replacement is found. Also on Wednesday, Karen Scolforo, the president of Castleton University, one of the state colleges, told the board that she would step down on May 31, after three years in the position. She did not say why.
Spaulding had announced Tuesday that he would resign and formally submitted his resignation to the board on Wednesday.
“Clearly, the process leading to my recommendations, later withdrawn, did not turn out the way I would’ve hoped,” Spaulding said. “I take full responsibility and apologize to those that were hurt. I’ve become more of a liability than an asset to the VSC systems. My ability to be an effective chancellor has eroded and I don’t believe that can be repaired quickly, if ever.”
Spaulding had proposed April 17 that the campuses of Northern Vermont University in Johnson and Lyndon and the campus of Vermont Technical College in Randolph, which has another campus in Williston, would close. Liberal arts programs in Johnson and Lyndon would be moved to one campus, Castleton University.
Spaulding withdrew the proposal after he and the board heard from thousands of people in emails and two online meetings who opposed it.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott praised Spaulding and said the challenges the VSC faces started before the coronavirus outbreak and were not Spaulding’s fault.
“His heart is in the right place,” Scott said.
“It is unfortunate that we are in the position that we are in, this was again not his doing, this was pre-COVID-19 when they were struggling, and COVID-19 was unfortunately the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Scott said.
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