 Good evening folks. I think we are going to get started mainly because I need to go home at some point today. It's been a long day, but really excited to just have this opportunity to talk with neighbors and community members again. So thank you all for coming out tonight. Sorry that this came together really at the last minute, but we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce folks to our new interim president, Andrew Ramsamy. So we're going to start out tonight. I'm going to tell you a little bit about Andrew and let him have the mic for a bit. And then I'll give an update on the campus, and then we have a really exciting item to wrap up with. So I'm going to read you Andrew's bio. So Andrew is a multiple Emmy winning award-winning, sorry, it's been a long day. He is a multiple Emmy award winner with more than 25 years of global experience in creative content and production, and has committed much of his career to expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion within the field of journalism. Mr. Ramsamy most recently served as a local media association's chief impact officer where he led Word in Black, a groundbreaking digital collaboration of the nation's leading black news publishers, and the Night and Bloom Lab, a sustainability initiative in support of a free and independent black press. He is a graduate of New York City's LaGuardia High School and a film graduate of the School of Visual Arts. And he is also the winner of the 2022 Salzburger Fellow at the Columbia Journalism School. Andrew came to us by way of our board. He was a board member before he received the call to step into the interim president role. And I will say it's just been a pleasure to work with him and help shepherd the college into this next phase of our life. So with no further ado, I'd love to have Andrew come up and just give a chat about the state of the college. Thank you everyone for coming out this evening. I know, you know, it means a lot when you take time out of your busy schedules to come and talk about the future of ECFA. And, you know, having been a board member since 2021, you know, I know the news about the school and the school deciding to, you know, sell its campus was a very hard, you know, a hard story and hard news to hear. So I really want to make myself available and accessible to as many of you as possible to talk about the future of our school. And, you know, while, you know, the decision to move forward was something that we continue to do. And I will update you in terms of where that is headed. You know, the real important thing for me and what I've seen. And, you know, since I became a board member and I told Katie this, you know, the very first board meeting that we were supposed to attend was supposed to be in person and Omicron hit. And there was a COVID outbreak, which forced us to all go virtual. And in that process, I was literally sitting in my hotel room, you know, down here in downtown at the Hilton. And I said to Katie, I said, Katie, I really have to see the buildings. I can't, as a board member, tell folks that it's time to sell and not see what these buildings were all about. So Katie gave me a tour. We came down here by ourselves and she gave me a tour of the entire campus and pointed out all the buildings and shared with me her own personal stories of having literally grown up on this campus, having danced on this stage. And clearly, you know, I got a very strong sense about the sense of place and why the sense of place is so important to this community. And when we initially made the decision and when we initially discussed selling this campus, you know, board members who had attended VCFA obviously had a very strong connection and desire to these facilities and to these spaces. But it became very clear that after doing an assessment and looking at the actual use of this campus, which based on our low residency model, pretty much sat empty close to 60% of the time, if not more. And also the age of these buildings, while beautiful and majestic, just they were adding up in terms of, for all of you that are homeowners, you know, this term deferred maintenance. It was millions and millions of dollars of work that needed to really happen. We were all in the middle of the pandemic. So also there was that also added level of uncertainty. And we heard from students more and more while yes, going to a place is important. Also access in a hybrid model is also equally as important. So, you know, it was a decision that wasn't made lightly. Our board chair, Mike Goldstein, likes to say that we arrived at the decision unanimously. I don't like the word unanimous because it kind of sounds like it's like a feet of complete. It was really more of a decision around a consensus. So when my goal has been since taking on the role of interim presidents to truly build consensus with all of our constituents, our students, our faculty, our alumni, our staff and our community. So that to me is why we're here tonight is to really talk about that, what the next steps are. You might have seen a seven days article that just came out talking about VCFA and its future. I want to just go on record by saying that I believe the headline is completely misleading. We're not looking for a buyer. I never use the word buyer. I've worked in journalism and corporate communications all my life and I'm very intentional with the words that I use. So the word that I use was partner. And the reason why VCFA is seeking a partner is that quite honestly, no one is really looking to buy a college. Has anyone heard of any really good colleges that have gone on for sale and have done really well? Not a lot. We want VCFA to continue to maintain its identity, its pedagogy, its mission to keep as much of our faculty and our constituents and our students as together as possible. But as someone who has worked in journalism now for several years, one of the things that we all look at in terms of what are the ways in which we can save money is looking at what's called back-end infrastructure services. So it's the stuff that powers the car. It's the engine that drives all of this. And in doing so, what you begin to do is to identify what would be redundancies if there was a merger or a connection of things that were brought together. So in doing that, what that really has led to is in our discussions with partnerships is about the future of the staff that works out in this building, as well as our staff that is spread across the United States. What are those services that unfortunately in a new model become redundant? And the reason why we're talking about this is that the challenges of running a college today, a modern college, the infrastructure support services that are needed, everything from the Bursar to student records to what students require, health services. I mean, all the needs that students require today is the greatest that it has ever been. So a small college like ours really struggles to continue to provide those services. And then on top of that, all the technology things that we think about that we all take for granted in perhaps our jobs at work. But imagine a school trying to deliver that consistently across the board. So we're taking great care to ensure that as we move down this path of a partnership that we're thinking about our staff, we are placing ourselves in a financial position to be able to make sure that when we do identify staff that are going to be impacted by this. And this is the discussion that we've already had with staff. So this is not like they're hearing this for the first time. This is not breaking news to them, but certainly probably to you that obviously we will offer them severance. But in order to continue to do that, we need to place VCFA in a financial position that allows us to be able to do that. And that is the continuation of the sales of our campus assets. So when the school was first acquired, it was acquired with millions of millions of millions of millions of dollars in loans. And every year those loans needed to be paid. And so there was a debt service that was required to do that in addition to the service that is required to maintain these buildings. So again, when you add all those things up, you know, most schools today that even as they try to make a transition, or they try to merge, or they try to be acquired, or even if they try to partner, they have millions of dollars of debt on the balance sheet. So Katie will share with you in a little bit about where we're at in terms of the continued sales of our buildings. But what I'm happy to say is that not only have we eliminated our debt, which makes us really attractive for a partner, we're also making sure that the future of these buildings and the surrounding community remains in the community's hands. So while we no longer have a daily need for this campus and for these buildings, we definitely have identified partners that want that, wish to continue to do that. So it's not falling into, you know, bad hands. There's no developer that's coming in that's going to bulldoze stuff. We've already done work to create a condo association that allows for infrastructure services to be shared amongst the buildings. So again, I feel like we've placed the building in good hands in terms of the community and where we're going. But overall, right, the state of higher education is very challenged. We, you know, we continue to see challenges across not just MFA programs, but bachelor's programs, you know, aging populations. So despite some of the negatives, there are actually a lot of positives that VCFA brings at the table, right? The fact that we are low residency allows students to be able to come to us twice a year, either in a winter residency experience or summer resident experience, both those experiences together, which means that they don't have to necessarily leave their community 100 percent. But there are some students who can't and we continue to offer digital only or remote options for students to be able to partake in our classes. Many of these students have disabilities. Many of these students are caregivers. Many of these students are required to stay in their community. They're ER doctors. So we continue to serve a really wide swath of folks and another constituency of groups of students that are beginning to come back to higher ed and to attain their master's programs are women over the age of 60. Women who have put on hold their own educational careers for the sake of being able to serve their families and their homes are now setting themselves, the kids are out, the husband's good, now it's time for me. So VCFA, to me, in my opinion, is in no better position to be able to do that. But truly, the only way that we're going to be able to do that is to partner. So we are in active discussions with partners, some as you might think of or consider, but we have already rented Colorado College, we've been to Susquehanna and we continue to talk to others. And obviously, this is a decision that our board will make in terms of where we go and where we head. But we have a lot of information that we're processing right now in terms of what that direction looks like. But I feel really confident that at the end of this process that we will become an affiliate of an institution that will provide us with the necessary services so that VCFA can continue to move forward. And that was my commitment that I said during commencement to our students that the piece of paper that they get with their degrees, with VCFA printed on it, that it will continue to have value and actually grow in value as we continue to go forward. So that's, I think, everything, right, Katie, that I wanted to cover. But in terms of priorities, we're looking at our partnerships, we're looking at the continued sales of our buildings, we're looking at our fundraising, which our fundraising continues to remain strong and then also to ensure that we have strong enrollment. So I'll take any questions. And if you wouldn't mind using the mic because we are live streaming. Andrew, it's a pleasure to meet you. Nice meeting you. Joe Castellano, I live over on Saban Street. So I am within two blocks. Yeah. Just a couple of questions. One of the things that has occurred to me is obviously we're in a period of transition here with campus. I guess one of the things that has come up as a topic of discussion is what's the value proposition with VCFA to students with this new format that you have and what's your enrollment looking like for the next semester? Yeah. So the value proposition continues to remain strong, which is the low residency model, which means that students are not having to go to a physical campus for eight or nine months out of the year. Also, the individual approach that we provide to each one of our students and each one of our programs is unlike any other program that I've seen. That customization, that personalization, that support system, that ecosystem that they're afforded continues to remain strong. Our community is a word of mouth community. It is a very strong word of mouth community. It's the reason why that many of you are here tonight. Many of our students continue to engage in lifelong partnerships with faculty, with staff, and with other students. So we see that as a very valuable thing. In terms of our enrollment numbers, our enrollment numbers continue to, I would say, trend in the direction that the overall kind of ecosystem of higher ed continues to trend in a downward direction. But we're doing very specific things to ensure that we don't dip below kind of a threshold number, which would be below 200 students. Right now, this semester, we're at about 213.5. We had originally budgeted for 243. So that's 30 students less than we anticipated. But I'm happy to say that we've taken no draconian measures. We've not done any layoffs. We've used actually the proceeds of our buildings, which Katie will talk about in a little bit to be able to offset some of those losses as well. So there are lots of levers that we continue to play with in terms of the continuation of the repayment of our debt, the use of these buildings, including College Hall. You know, we continue to talk about what is the future of College Hall, what is our use of College Hall, and what do we hope that this building will become in terms of the future of the community as well. So every day, it's a constant conversation. We're literally looking at the numbers as they come in and to really have a better understand and a grasp to be able to really inform the board in terms of where we need to go and where we need to head. Yes, sir. Hi, my name is Phil Dodd from McKinley Street. Thank you so much for coming. This is great. Thank you for reaching out to the neighborhood. I've you touched briefly on this building and the conversations about what might happen. I wonder if you could speak to that a little bit more as well as the green, which is a great asset for Montpelier. And many of us hope that could be retained in its present form. Yeah, I'll let Katie answer that question more directly. But I will say in terms of the use of this building in terms of VCFA, we have a very small footprint in it currently now. There are tenants that are in the building. I believe Senator Welch is moving in as well. So but again, there there continues to be a lot of unused space that is not being leveraged. And, you know, we have to make a determination in terms of how we continue to use this. What I will say, though, is that VCFA as it currently stands right now wants to have a long term commitment to the Montpelier community. One of the things that makes VCFA very attractive and it goes back to your previous question about the kind of value proposition about our school is our accreditation. So we are accredited by Nechi and that accreditation allows us to be able to teach anywhere in the United States. There are some schools that don't have that what's called NCSARA status to be able to do that. So that makes us a very attractive partner. So so yes, but one of those things would be is to continue to maintain our physical presence in the state of Vermont. And obviously we would want to continue that physical presence here. So with that, I'm going to toss it over. I'll come back. I'm going to toss it over to Katie, who will ask some answer some questions about the continued sales of our campus and I'll be available to answer more questions as well. All right, thank you. Now back to Katie. So I just really wanted to give folks the play by play in terms of where things stand. So we sold the first building back in mid October to an individual who is part of a health and wellness group. So that's Vermont physical therapy and they purchased Martin House. And then our second closing was with Greenway Institute. They were leasing noble from us over the summer and the early part of the year. But right at the end of October, we closed on Noble and Glover with them. The next building was Crowley 150 Main Street, who many of you may have met at their community meeting with us when they were originally interested in three of our buildings. That didn't end up working out for them, but they eventually came back around to just purchase Crowley. So again, that's a health and wellness group that will be in that building. The new school, one of our long term tenants in alumnics and Bishop Hatch, we closed on that January 5th. And then our most recent closing again was with Greenway for Stone and Shulmire, and we closed on that January 9th. So we've really made great progress in terms of disposing, I don't like that word, but giving over the assets to other organizations that we feel like it's just a wonderful outcome that so much of this campus is remaining in educational use. That Stone and Shulmire, which are and have been locations for commercial tenants for years, will continue to be used that way until Greenway gets so big that they might need that space for their programs eventually. And so finally, then we are under contract for Dewey and anticipate the closing at the end of March for that building with Greenway. And the only building at this point that's not under contract is Gary Library. And I'm really pleased to let folks know that there is a brand new nonprofit that is called the Montpelier Performing Arts Hub that is being spearheaded by Keanna Bromley, who people might know as a wonderful teacher at Montpelier High School. She's actually here tonight, and she's going to say a few words about her. She's going to join me up here and talk a little bit about. We're really excited to, you know, again, so much of the campus remaining in educational use, a couple of buildings for health and wellness services, and now this sort of final crown jewel of this possible arts organization. The college is really hoping. We don't have a signed agreement yet, but we're hoping too soon. But we've had many, many visits in terms of looking at the space to see if it's viable and, you know, hope to have more concrete news to share in the near future. But this is such a worthwhile organization that Keanna and I thought it would be a great time to introduce her and this idea to the neighbors. So I'm going to turn it over to her for a minute to talk a little bit about that, and then we will come back and answer any additional questions that folks have. She's so nice. She's so nice to me. Thank you so much. I am really excited to be here. It's a little last minute, so I quickly tried to get myself prepared, but I am just really excited. It's been really lovely just to work with the college. I, it's been, it's rather new, this journey, but it isn't a new journey for me. I have been looking for a space to expand the performing arts opportunities here in central Vermont. I am a performing artist myself. I teach performing arts. I have kids in the district. I work with all sorts of people. I've been doing community theater with other adults, and I sing and I'm always looking for more ways to do that. And I have found that there's room and space and that there's a lot of opportunity. And so one of the things that I have been looking for is a space to open a professional black box theater that is fully equipped with ready-to-go professional lighting and sound, and so that the space, it can be used by a multitude of people and performing arts groups and companies in the area to come host the event that fits in that space, and it's kind of a niche size. So if you've been into the Gary Library, it's absolutely gorgeous. It has beautiful architecture. And the space is, I mean, I walked in, Katie brought me in, and I was like, oh my gosh, it's already here. I just need a little change of scenery and the performing arts space is here. So if you walk in, you imagine there's a big open, beautiful, tall ceiling room already there that would become a professional black box theater space, which would mean, what I mean by black box theater is it's flexible, that there's no permanent seating and that it can be rearranged and that seats can be moved to the needs of the different groups that are hoping to bring something to that space, whether it's an event or a performance or production. And the basement, my favorite part of the building actually is the basement. And I always say that I love the theater, but I see theaters all the time, so I'm like a little disenchanted, but the basement has this amazing space that I am hoping and that we're hoping the nonprofit to turn into an educational suite with studios for rehearsals and spaces to practice and to host classes in for all ages. The way that we're looking at the space right now would be three classroom spaces and then a waiting room for people as they're getting ready for classes. And so we're looking at that. We have Freeman French Freeman in Burlington, which is an architect firm. They're helping us look at the space. And we have so many wonderful people that are already starting to be involved, but we're very new and we're looking to find others that are very excited about this idea too and want to partner. And the space really is meant to, it's not a company that produces performances necessarily in that space, but primarily it is a professionally managed performance space that is going to work with local partners. Like we really want to embrace the local talent here and have a space for them to grow and develop skills and work with high quality equipment and get that experience for youth and for performers like me who would love to perform in a space like that with a size audience that matches a lot of our community's needs and our size. So I'm really excited. I don't know if I mentioned everything I was supposed to, but you feel free to reach out to me and I will leave things and I have an email address and you can people those that are on the live stream if you're welcome to reach out and ask questions and yeah, thank you. I don't know if I got everything, but okay, thank you. Oh, I'm so sorry, we never said the name. Well, Montpelier Performing Arts Hub and you can find me at Keana at mpa-hub.org. So really we'll take some Q and A on any of us if there are any remaining questions. Susan. Hi, I'm Sue LeBarth. I live right behind Dewey Hall, oh for I don't know, 36 or 37 years, but my knowledge of the college and the campus goes back to 1960 when two of my high school classmates attended the junior college here. So I have some sadness, change is hard for all of us, but out of that arises a question as to do you maintain any contact or continuity with alumni groups going back through Vermont College when it was part of Norwich, the previous junior college, whatever other iterations there might be. Do you have any relationship with those folks, input or donations or concern of any kind? Just a question. Yeah, no, it's a great question. We do have, I think it typically comes by way of Norwich and when they have reunion classes come in they will sometimes contact us and have groups that were here on this campus. I also think there's an even sort of further back version before this campus was associated with Norwich and Sarah Hooker who's a longtime BCFA employee has had regular contact with folks from as far back as the junior college and folks will come through and do a tour. It's probably been two years, I don't know if we did one last year, but we regularly have groups or individuals come through and tour and just sort of see the place where they were all those years ago. So you were talking about partnering with other educational institutions and I would just like to know a little bit more about your vision, whether you will retain or you will be a graduate type of college or if you'll do undergrad as well and will you stay with the arts? We're going to start a pickleball team. No, we're not doing that. No, our goal is obviously to continue to maintain our six programs and that our programs partner with that partner institution. There are lots of different models that we're looking at and what we're discussing but the goal is to really land the institution with another partner to be able to provide us the support services that we need to be able to continue. And again, some of them are, I mean, they're all within the educational space that we're talking to, there's not a lot more specificity that I can really provide and we won't make any formal announcements about a partner institution until we get to what's called a definitive agreement. That is an agreement where both parties have agreed to specific stipulations. We've all done our due diligence from both sides and it pretty much is a close to, as a done deal as possible, pending accreditation approval. So our creditor is Deci and depending on the partner institution, they have their creditor as well too. Our creditors will work together to ensure that we are serving the best interests of students because that really is what accreditors are about, is protecting students and their investments. But, you know, it's the goal is to maintain VCFA. Obviously, when we talk to partner institutions, there are opportunities for pipeline. Many of our students who come to VCFA come to get what's called their badge, which is to become teachers. So, you know, being able to go to a school that has potentially a BFA program already in place would allow them to become teaching assistants. So again, we're trying to look at ways in which we can expand a lot of our services to our students and to be, to prepare them for the, for the world, you know, the modern world, everything from artificial intelligence to, you know, robotics and everything in between and all of our different disciplines. But that, you know, that is the goal and where that goes from there, honestly, is kind of the sky's the limit. And it really depends on who that partner is. You're hired, Sue, you're hired. Yeah, I can't. Yeah, no. So the future of the continuation of VCFA in terms of its ownership of this building continues to be something that we look at on a almost daily basis in terms of our actual use of the building and then in terms of our need to maintain what's called, you know, again, our accreditation with Nechi. So I'm really not, it's something that the board will consider and take into consideration as to how we use this building. But our goal would be in an ideal scenario that we continue to maintain a presence here in this building, whether or not we are the actual owner of this building, I think is, is completely up for discussion. Got it. Yeah. I think now it's working. And the green, can you talk about the green? Because I think that's because I would say preserving that because I know that means a lot to this community. And I can't answer that. Katie, can't. Yeah. So right now, I would say the most recent update about the green is that the condo association, those owners have a recreation easement on the green. And so, you know, we're really looking at it as a community resource. As I think most folks know, on universe soccer, uses it regularly. And, you know, we we haven't done anything to do anything different, right? Like it's it's there. And both news. Well, I guess it's all the owners of the condo association will have that recreation easement to the to the green. So is is that a long term protection of the green? Or is it something that we as a community could help support that protection? Which I think many of us are concerned about sure. I mean, it's really open. Yeah, it's written into the condo association like founding documents. So I unless the condo association decided to undo that somehow, it's, you know, that's I think the best that we can say is a forever arrangement. Sure. I mean, so Greenway, again, is a college. So they in terms of their future needs will need it as their school grows. And I think in the meantime, and I don't mean to like speak for them, but my understanding is they're really interested in looking at that in that at that building in a way to do it a little bit different than the sort of way the old school dormitory spaces were set up so that it's a little more flexible that it could be used for workforce housing. So people that are interested in efficiency units, whether it's their students or, you know, people in the surrounding community that need sort of a not maybe not a whole house or even a whole apartment, but are interested in efficiency living. So again, that's not the CFA's project. So I'm hesitant to say much more than that. But that is what I understand their vision is for that building long term. Yeah. Yeah, we can review the question. Yes. That was an oversight. If I didn't mention new school purchase both alumnus hall and Bishop Hatch. Yeah. Yeah. You don't have to get up now because the microphone is dead. So we'll just repeat your question and we forgot to repeat the question. The question was what about alumnus hall? And I either forgot to mention it when I was going through the list of buildings that had sold and it has in fact sold to the new school. Hello. It's on my list. Let's just put it that way. It's on my list. And that and before we move any further forward because again, we're not in an official spot or anything. Unfortunately, you know, it's headed that direction and that's what we're here for. But that is on the list of the next stages. But absolutely, I concur. I do know about that. Hi, I'm Phyllis Rubinstein on College Street and I thank you for this opportunity to meet with with both of you. I was wondering if you know whether any of the buyers intend to request. Changes in in the the neighborhood like the need for additional parking. Because at one point there was some talk about additional parking around the green. And is any of that going to have to go forward? Not right now. I mean, certainly that could be something down the road, but nothing in the works at the moment related to changes to the parking. My second question has to do with the green. And you did explain, Katie, that the recreation assessment is for the condo owners. So what is the sense of the community's access to the green? I mean, I think we all know those of us who have lived here. We essentially use it as a public park. It's not technically it is, you know, the college's property, but we're really happy to work with whether it's the farmers market or whether it's onion River soccer or people who call up and, you know, want to have, oh, there was something just recently. There are some legislators staying and they want to have a meteor watching party. You know, we really are here to facilitate, you know, the the uses that people want to within reason use it for. So I think we we have tried really hard to maintain it as, you know, one of our assets, but sharing it really willingly with with people in the community. Thank you. Yeah, I would I would say that. Having grown up in New York City, I now live in Arizona, but becoming here and seeing how the space gets used, everything from, you know, what is it like that outdoor igloo hut that was being built and, you know, people walking their dogs and clearly, you know, for as long as VCFA continues to own this building and own the green, we want it to be in the community's hands. And what I would say to you all is, you know, at any point at which if something were to change in terms of the ownership of this space in this building, that the community remain completely involved and engaged, right? And I would definitely say that part of our due diligence in talking to an owner, future owner, is how do you intend to use the space and how will you be able to share that and explain that to the community who, you know, finds this space so beloved, right? So it's I will say the person who is doing that has been Katie. Katie has been stewarding this entire real estate process on top of her day job, right? Of running the school as our RCFO, HR, title nine. She also wears the hat of real estate agent and she has done a really phenomenal job. So I really want to thank Katie for her leadership and her commitment to this community because it has been a very hard job to be able to continue to do this work under duress, trying to focus on the future while also keeping focus on the present and also trying to honor and celebrate the past of this community and what this community has meant. And again, as someone who has herself grown up here and danced on this stage, I'm sure she would want nothing more to make sure that that this campus falls into the right hands. And I would say thus far, Katie Gustafson, you've done an amazing job in doing that. So thank you. So I'm actually here the rest of the week and my official capacity as interim president. So if I see you out there, wave at me, please don't throw any lemons. I would appreciate that if you didn't do that. But it truly means a lot for the community to come out. And as I've said with everyone that I've spoken to, my door, either virtual or real, is open. My email address is andrew.ramsammy at vcfa.edu. Students, faculty, staff, community members, alumni, anyone can reach out and ask any question. I will do the best to my ability to answer that question as best and as transparently as I can. And then as we continue to move forward with our with our partnership plan, our goal is to continue to to be open and transparent with all of our constituents. So again, there there's nothing. There's no question that you can't ask me. And if there's anything that you wanted to ask me tonight, but you feel like it's more of a private conversation, I'd be more than willing to have that conversation with you. And please let folks know in the community that when they hear anything that seems like rumor or speculation that if they didn't hear it from us officially, it's in all likelihood not true. So, you know, I know it's been really hard the last couple of months and and certainly, you know, post announcement to see, you know, stuff that has been posted and shared about VCFA that is really not true. And my hope is in the spirit of being open and transparent that we can begin to tamp down some of that rumor and speculation stuff that happens out there. So, again, thank you for coming tonight. I truly appreciate all of your support. And if there's anything that we can do, please let us know. But have a safe walk home for most of you.