The NVU-Lyndon and NVU-Johnson SGA held a special meeting on April 22 over Zoom. The meeting was held in the wake of Chancellor Jeb Spaulding’s proposal to close both NVU campuses alongside VTC-Randolph due to financial burdens on the VSC system that escalated with COVID-19. The meeting drew in members of both NVU campuses’ SGA executive boards, staff members, and students from both campuses, alongside President Elaine Collins and Board of Trustees members Dylan Giambatista and Izzy Gogarty.
As she opened the meeting, Kate Henriques made a statement about remaining positive and polite in our public statements regarding the proposal, and to not single out members of the board and bully them. Even though this has been a tough and stressful situation for everyone involved, resorting to negative behavior toward the board gives us and our campus a bad name. From there, the meeting moved to public comments and questions.
Several students spoke directly to President Elaine Collins, praising her hard work, her positivity, and her involvement with the community throughout the crisis. In return, Collins praised the student body and the board for their efforts and how proud it made her that the campuses were working together and united for a common cause. Some students shared their awe over how nothing like this situation has come up before, especially not with the overwhelming response it garnered.
The crisis has been an opportunity for NVU to self-reflect and find ways to evolve and improve as a university, as a parent stated at the meeting. Ideas poured in on how to draw more students in, particularly when it came to marketing. One excellent suggestion was to include more student work on NVU’s website and social media, which right now is somewhat restricted to visual arts. There’s potential for ATM students to share their weather charts and photos, for MBI students to share their music, and so much more. Another suggestion would call for alumni to attend admissions tours along with incoming freshmen and share their stories from when they were students. In response, Michael Fox shared a couple of ideas that were planned for this year when people were still on campus, and how alumni involvement with Admissions has indeed been on the university’s mind. Amid concerns about how the crisis has impacted Admissions, Fox shared that a wave of applications and deposits had come in after the proposal was withdrawn. Furthermore, he explained that Admissions would continue to do events virtually and try their best to keep the acceptance process as seamless as possible.
An interesting idea was brought up regarding the university’s relationship with non-traditional students. High school graduates aren’t the only ones who may be contemplating college, and the university should increase their marketing in other areas like libraries, where people who took a break from school could see it and be convinced to return. Another idea was to allow space on campus for local CCV students. This would give those students more access to resources they need that might not be offered on CCV campuses, and the exposure would encourage those students to continue their studies at NVU after wrapping up their Associates or GEUs.
One of the big highlights from the meeting was hearing the story of an incoming freshman’s mother. Even though her son hadn’t yet begun school at Lyndon, she explained that they already felt like a part of the NVU family. Her family had struggled in finding the right college, and Lyndon was the one campus that her son expressed that he could belong at. She was astounded at NVU’s hard work in the midst of the crisis and how well her family has been treated by the university, which encouraged her to want to join in the protest.
To cap off the meeting, RA Patrick Wickstrom and Director of Student Life Erin Rossetti reminded residential students that housing selection will be taking place on Tuesday, April 28, and that you should have received a time to choose your housing by now. If not, make sure you have completed your housing contract and paid your deposit.
The meeting wrapped up around 10:05 pm. The SGA will resume their normal schedule and meet again on April 29th at 8 pm over Zoom. We hope to see you then!