Burlington College confirmed today that its president, Christine Plunkett, resigned last week.
Plunkett told a group of students who surrounded her car last Friday and demanded that she resign that she would leave the college. The president then drove away.
Neither she nor the college’s spokesperson, Coralee Holm, would confirm last week whether her impromptu statement constituted an official resignation. Reached by phone Friday, Yves Bradley, chair of the board of trustees, said he thought Plunkett had likely been trying to extricate herself from a difficult situation.
In a press release sent Monday evening, the board of trustees announced that Michael Smith, who was most recently the state president of FairPoint Communications, will serve as interim president. Joining Smith is City Councilor Jane Knodell, who will serve as interim provost, and David Coates, a prominent businessman, who will serve as interim financial adviser.
Smith has twice served as Vermont’s secretary of administration. In between terms, he was human services secretary. Born in Rutland, Smith graduated from the University of Vermont and was a U.S. Navy SEAL before starting his career in business and public service.
Knodell and Coates have similarly deep resumes. In addition to being a longtime Progressive city councilor, Knodell is an economics professor at UVM. In 2009, she was appointed interim provost there; she held the position permanently until resigning in the fall of 2012.
Coates, who is currently a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers, was a managing partner of the accounting company KPMG. At different points in his career, he also served as the director of National Life, the Green Mountain Power Company and the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund.
None of the “transition team” members were drawn from the college’s board.
Burlington College is facing severe financial problems and prior to Plunkett’s resignation, a number of students, faculty and staff had suggested that her leadership was making the situation worse. Both the faculty and staff union and the student union, which isn’t formally recognized by the school, took votes of no confidence in her.
Smith, Knodell and Coates did not immediately return calls Monday evening. The board is holding a press conference tomorrow; Holm indicated questions will be answered then.
Updated 7:12 p.m. on Sept. 1 with additional information on transition team members.
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As an alumni of Burlington College, Mr. Smith sounds like a fantastic choice! Burlington College needs a dramatic shift in culture if it plans to compete with higher education programs.
I hope the Burlington College kids are being taken to school this morning. No Doubt Ms Plunkett will demand her severance package, the remainder of her contract and the 403 b money owed and she will sweep the last 8 dollars out of the Colleges account and another 200k just for good measure.
Time to call in the responsible Republicans the union buster will be in charge of and Knodell the money loving “progressive” and Coates the local millionaire who spends his time living on a private island with his familys money pot. Que the millionaires and Billionaires, kids you are being used as useful idiots how fast will they ram rod the development through the planning and zoning commission?
Will Knodell be able to save the free endless pool of cash? Or is the college dead in the water? Who knows but that was the last best place for our community to build a new high school . not on that crappy piece of rock out cropping it is built on now. Instead the millionaires boys club who love having their little Senator Sanders in side the belt way they can yank on to mint them money.
Good luck kids as your accreditation goes away and access to the pell grants and federal loans dries up faster than a summer rain in Mexicali.
Good luck to Smith, Knodell and Coates. Burlington College is fortunate to have your talents in this time of dire need.
“As an alumni of Burlington College, Mr. Smith . . .”
First, is Mr. Smith an alumnus of Burlington College? I think you meant to write, “As an alumnus of Burlington College, I think that . . .” Check your english grammar.
Second, whether you are referring to yourself or to Mr. Smith, the word you are looking for is “alumnus,” not “alumni.” Alumnus is the male singular form of the noun. Alumni is the male plural.