News & Events

Burlington College Unveils
Bold Vision for the Future

The Burlington College Board of Trustees has adopted a bold new vision that will result in substantial growth in the size, reach, and reputation of the College. Plans to substantially increase enrollment and development, to broaden the undergraduate academic program, to offer a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters degrees, and to construct new buildings on campus signify a newfound confidence and strength at the 35-year-old institution. The College has developed this ambitious plan for the future under the leadership of Dr. Jane O’Meara Sanders, who will complete two years as President in July and is taking the steps necessary to make it a reality.

A liberal arts college with a humanistic curriculum that emphasizes responsible citizenship and stewardship of the environment, the College offers student-centered education and small seminar-style classes that encourage discussion and critical analysis of issues. This broad-based approach is reflected in Vision 2010, which has been developed through the involvement of all the constituencies of the College, from students, staff and faculty to trustees and community practitioner faculty members.

The College is planning to dramatically increase enrollment from the current 165 students on campus to 500 students in 2010. The Independent Degree Program is slated to rise from 40 to 200 students. Sanders said the school “plans to review, appraise, and strengthen or re-evaluate existing programs to meet the needs of our growing population. We will emphasize our interdisciplinary approach and broaden the curriculum in the academic disciplines of the social sciences, particularly sociology, political science, history, and economics.” Two new majors – Sustainable Community Development and Health and Wellness – along with several professional certificates are currently being explored, according to Sanders. The school will internationalize the campus through student exchanges and partnership agreements.

Well-known for its Film School, the College plans to expand to include Media & Documentary Studies, and Photography. A Professional Certificate in Screenwriting is planned for the near future, and a Bachelors of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) is in the planning stage. The College will also move to a higher degree level in the near future with plans to offer Masters Degrees and an M.F.A. and to augment their B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology with a graduate degree.

“Underpinning all the plans,” said Sanders, “is an expansion of community partnerships to ensure that Vermonter’s educational needs are being met and that the College’s programs and approach reflects the standing and the values of the city of Burlington and the state of Vermont. Our entire academic program, graduate, undergraduate, and professional certificates, will be supported by community partnerships – with city government, nonprofit agencies, businesses, arts organizations, and neighborhood groups.”

Long-standing community ties – Sanders and her husband, and three of their grown children make their homes in Burlington – keeps Sanders cognizant of the fact that neighborhoods need to be preserved. So while the College has increased its real estate holdings to now own a full city block, Sanders says that they will contain their expansion to that area. “We will work with our neighbors to ensure that our success will be a benefit to the community, not an encroachment onto adjoining properties. Our buildings will be in scale with the surrounding neighborhood and, along with opening up a view corridor to the lake, we will create landscaped walking paths with fitness stops and ecological interest all the way down to the waterfront for all residents to enjoy.”

The plans are ambitious and results will begin to be evident as early as this summer, when the current building will be painted, and updated. A second, complimentary yet contemporary structure will take the place of a single story addition in the coming years. And a zero-energy building will be built on the point and underneath the existing parking lot, which will turn into a campus green. The preliminary plans call for an underground parking garage to service not just the school, but the revitalized Old North End community. A design charette will be held in the coming school year to develop architectural renderings.

Sanders is very clear that it will take significantly more resources than the College currently has to accomplish these ambitious goals. Along with substantial increases in enrollment and exploring various financing mechanisms, Sanders is working to double the endowment, triple the College’s donor base, and increase the development revenues fivefold by 2010.

In the meantime, the program development is well underway. The Institute for Civic Engagement is already becoming an influential conduit in public discourse by hosting public lectures, discussions, and debates. A Cuba Study-Abroad Program has already been approved by the U.S. Treasury Department and plans are taking shape to work with Burlington’s Sister Cities on the Inter-American Studies Program, which has been revitalized to stress the interconnectedness of the Americas and the history, arts, culture and people of the western hemisphere. “We are making every effort to foster our student’s participation in the community and our community‘s participation in the College, as we strive to truly become Burlington’s College,” concluded Sanders.

SUMMARY

Develop new programs
•  Strengthen their interdisciplinary approach and broaden the existing curriculum in the academic disciplines of the social sciences, particularly sociology, political science, history, and economics;
• Review, appraise, and where appropriate, strengthen existing programs;
•  Continue development of the Institute for Civic Engagement;
•  Develop majors in Media & Documentary Studies and Photography;
•  Explore a Health and Wellness program;
Offer a Professional Certificate and a B.F.A. in Screenwriting;
•  Develop a major in Sustainable Community Development;
•  Revitalize the Inter-American Studies Program;
•  Offer semester-long Study-Abroad experience in Cuba (approved by the U.S. Treasury Dept.);
•  Expand the International programs by working with Burlington’s Sister Cities.); and
•  Expand community partnerships.

Offer Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters degrees
•  B.F.A. in Screenwriting
Masters Degree in Transpersonal Psychology and other areas
•  Interdisciplinary M.F.A. in Screenwriting

Provide more professional certificate programs
•  These may include Psychology (e.g., adolescent psychology), law (elder, entertainment), financial literacy (succeeding in the creative economy, entrepreneurship), graphic design, or child development, among others.

Increase enrollment
•  From 165 to 500 students on campus
•  From 40 to 200 in the Independent Degree Program

Increase endowment and development revenue
•  Increase the donor base by 300%
•  Double the endowment
•  Increase development revenues fivefold (from FY’05) by 2010
•  Significantly increase library holdings, particularly in the social sciences and environmental studies

Renovate and expand existing facilities and build new facilities
•  Restore the current building
•  Design a second, complimentary yet contemporary structure
•  Build a zero-energy building on the point and underneath the existing parking lot
•  Eventually, build a series of small-scale individual buildings
•  Create landscaped walking paths with fitness stops, ecological interest throughout the property to the waterfront.
•  Improve our instructional and administrative technology and our environmental integrity