Vermont Technical College

Vermont Technical College (Vermont Tech) is a public technical college in Vermont with its main campuses in Randolph Center, Williston and Norwich. In addition, there are regional campuses in Brattleboro and Bennington, and nursing campuses in six locations throughout the state.

Vermont Technical College
TypePublic technical college
Established1866 (1866)
Parent institution
Vermont State Colleges
ChancellorSophie Zdatny
PresidentMike Smith
Administrative staff
100
Students1,335
Location
Randolph
,
Vermont
,
U.S.

43°56′19″N 72°36′17″W
CampusRural, 554 acres (224 ha)
Colors    Green and White
NicknameGreen Knights
Sporting affiliations
Yankee Small College Conference
Websitewww.vtc.edu
The administration building at Vermont Technical College's Randolph Center campus

The school is a part of the Vermont State Colleges, a consortium of Vermont's four public colleges, governed by a common board of trustees, chancellor and council of presidents, each college with its own president and deans.

In April 2020, Vermont State Colleges proposed to close the Vermont Technical College residential campus in Randolph as well as Northern Vermont University.[1] The proposal was scrapped after facing public opposition, leading the Vermont State Colleges to instead announce it would merge Vermont Technical College and its other four-year colleges into the new unified Vermont State University in 2023.[2]

Academics

VTC offers master's, bachelor's and associate degrees.[3] Its five schools include: Agriculture, Plant, & Animal Sciences; Engineering & Computing; General Education; Nursing & Health Professions; and Professional Studies & Management.[3] The schools offer degrees in over 50 majors, which are varied and include automotive technology, nursing, business management, dairy farm management, and computer engineering.[3]

Athletics

The Vermont Tech athletic teams are called the Knights. The college is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), primarily competing in the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) since the 2011–12 academic year.[4] The Knights previously competed in the Sunrise Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2006–07 to 2010–11.[5][6]

As of 2021, Vermont Tech competes in nine intercollegiate varsity sports: men's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, track & field and volleyball.[4]

Student radio station

WVTC, Vermont Tech's 300-watt fully licensed radio station, broadcasts online and locally at 90.7 FM and can be heard online at www.wvtc.net.[7] The station is located at Morey Hall on VTC's Randolph Center campus.[7] WVTC is operated and maintained by the students of VTC through the school's Radio Club, and is financially supported by VTC Student Council.[7]

CubeSat Lab

The Vermont Tech CubeSat Lab launched its first satellite, the Vermont Lunar CubeSat, a 1U[lower-alpha 1] CubeSat on November 19, 2013.[8] Intended to orbit for three to five years, the satellite was fully functional until reentry on November 21, 2015.[9] Vermont Tech's CubeSat was the first successful satellite launched by a New England college or university.[10] Vermont Tech subsequently aided in developing the flight software for the Lunar IceCube, a satellite intended for deployment as part of the NASA Space Launch System's first flight in 2022.[11]

History

In 1806, the Vermont House of Representatives passed a law creating the Orange County Grammar School in Randolph.[12] The school provided education through the high school grades and by the 1850s its state mandate had expanded to include teacher training.[13] In 1866, Edward Conant, the principal of the Orange County Grammar School, expanded its course offerings to make it a full-fledged normal school for the education and training of teachers.[13] Later that year, the Vermont General Assembly passed legislation making the change official, and the school became the Randolph Normal School.[13]

In 1910, the Randolph Normal School was selected by the legislature as the location for the Vermont School of Agriculture.[14][15] In 1957, technical courses were added to the curriculum, and the Vermont School of Agriculture was renamed the Vermont Agriculture and Technical Institute (VATI).[14][15] In 1962, VATI was authorized by the state to award associate degrees and became Vermont Technical College (VTC).[14][15] VTC began awarding bachelor's degrees in 1993 and master's degrees in 2015.[15]

For many years, the Vermont public colleges have experienced financial stress and chronic underfunding. Exacerbated by COVID-19, in April 2020, Vermont State Colleges system Chancellor Jeb Spaulding recommended closing the Vermont Technical College residential campus in Randolph as well as all operations/campuses of Northern Vermont University. Under the proposal, some of the Vermont Tech academic programs would be consolidated in Williston.[1] The proposal was abandoned after public opposition, with the Vermont State Colleges instead announcing it would merge its four-year schools as Vermont State University.[2] Vermont Technical College's Randolph and Williston campuses will become the Vermont State Institute of Technology.[16]

Notable people

Alumni

Faculty and administrators

See also

Notes
  1. 1U is the smallest CubeSat size; it measures 10 cm × 10 cm × 11.35 cm, or 3.94 in × 3.94 in × 4.47 in.

References
  1. Jane Lindholm; Matthew F. Smith; Abagael Giles (April 20, 2020). "Chancellor Jeb Spaulding On His Proposal To Close Three State College Campuses". Vermont Public Radio.
  2. October 07, Staff | on; 2021 (2021-10-07). "'Vt. State University' Moniker Lands in '23 - The White River Valley Herald". The White River Valley Herald - Serving the Communities of Vermont's White River Valley Since 1874. Retrieved 2022-07-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. "Vermont Tech Programs". Catalog Table of Contents. Randolph, VT: Vermont Technical College. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  4. "The Intercollegiate Varsity Athletic Program". Athletic Information. Randolph, VT: Vermont Technical College. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  5. Mahoney, Larry (June 17, 2011). "UMFK, UMPI, UMM leave NAIA for new association". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  6. "Sunrise Conference - Members". Archived from the original on April 11, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  7. "WVTC Officially Over the Hill: The College Radio Station celebrates its 50th". News & Events. Randolph, VT: Vermont Technical College. April 19, 2017.
  8. "Vermont Tech Launches A Cube Satellite Into Space". Vermont Technical College News. Randolph, VT: Vermont Technical College. November 19, 2013.
  9. Vondrasek, Sandy (December 3, 2015). "Earth's Pull Ends Two-Year Orbit: But Work Begins On Lunar Model". Herald of Randolph. Randolph, VT.
  10. "Vermont Tech Student On A Mission to launch Lunar IceCube to the Moon". Vermont Technical College News. Randolph, VT: Vermont Technical College. January 25, 2017.
  11. "CubeSat Laboratory, Software Components". CubeSat Laboratory. 17 October 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  12. Thompson, Zadock (1824). A Gazetteer of the State of Vermont. Montpelier, VT: E. P. Walton. p. 225.
  13. Harris, W. T. (1900). Circular of Information of the Bureau of Education No. 4: History of Education in Vermont. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. pp. 204–205.
  14. Praeger (2010). American Universities and Colleges. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 1370. ISBN 978-0-313-36611-6.
  15. "Time To Celebrate: VTC Turns 150 in November". Herald of Randolph. Randolph, VT. September 29, 2016.
  16. "Our Locations – Vermont State University". vermontstate.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  17. "Charles Adams, Retired State Supreme Court Justice, Dies". Rutland Herald. Rutland, VT. February 7, 1961. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Biography, Harry H. Cooley" (PDF). Secretary of State Harry H. Cooley Papers. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Secretary of State. Vermont State Archives. p. 1.
  19. "Demise of Alexander Dunnett". The Evening Argus. Montpelier, VT. September 15, 1920. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Weymouth, Caroline B., ed. (1885). The Normal Register: A History of the First Vermont State Normal School Its Instructors and Alumni. Montpelier, VT: Argus & Patriot Steam Job Print. p. 55 – via Google Books.
  21. Vermont Senate (2015). "Biography, Senator Norm McAllister". legislature.vermont.gov. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly.
  22. Vermont Senate (2017). "Biography, Senator Robert A. Starr". legislature.vermont.gov. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly.
  23. Brown, Tom (July 1, 2013). "Randolph lawmaker Larry Townsend dies at 66". VT Digger. Montpelier, VT.
  24. "Commentator Biography, Cary Brown". VPR.org. Colchester, VT: Vermont Public Radio. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  25. Ullery, Jacob G. (1894). Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. pp. 243–244.
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