The head of the Vermont State College system is retiring. Meeting in Castleton on Thursday, the trustees of the college system granted Tim Donovan’s request to retire on Dec. 31, six months before his contract ends next June.
The 63 year-old Donovan was appointed Chancellor of the five state colleges in 2009. At the time he was President of Community College of Vermont.
He says he is retiring for personal reasons, which he declines to discuss.
“The timing is really dictated by life throwing me some curve balls and having to change my batting stance a bit,” says Donovan.
In a press release outgoing board Chairman Gary Moore praised Donovan for his leadership and 38 years of service in the college system.
"I hope to stay active in some way. I just know that I'm not going to be able to work this much and this hard with this amount of stress in my life." State Colleges Chancellor Tim Donovan
Moore said Donovan had indicated to him last July that he might not be able to fulfill a new two year contract but he was urged to sign it and continue for as long as possible.
Donovan says when he was appointed five years ago he had hoped to increase the state’s support for higher education. In a recent national ranking of state funding Vermont was near the bottom.
Donovan took office just as the recession hit.
“The economic circumstances in the country conspired against that and I think we’re seeing the results of this,” he says. “It’s been a 30 year decline. In the mid 80s, half the cost of attending a public institution in the state was borne by the taxpayers in the state and now its 18 percent.”
Donovan says he’s pleased the colleges were strong enough to weather the recession without enrollment declines but recently Johnson State College and Vermont Technical College have seen student numbers drop.
Last week Johnson State announced it is cutting five positions because of a $1.5 million gap in the fiscal 2015 budget.
At the same meeting in which Donovan announced his retirement, trustees approved a request from Vermont Technical College for a second $2.5 million dollar loan to address an ongoing budget shortfall.
He says his retirement is not tied to those problems.
Donovan says colleges of all sizes, public and private, are faced with similar situations and it’s likely that in the future the Vermont state colleges will have to downsize in some academic areas.
Donovan says he has no future plans at this point but would like to continue to stay involved in issues he’s worked on.
“I’ve been very active in the Vermont community around education and economic development issues. I hope to stay active in some way. I just know that I’m not going to be able to work this much and this hard with this amount of stress in my life,” he says.
Although Donovan’s contract runs through June 30 he says he will receive no compensation after he steps down in December.
The chancellor’s annual salary is just over $202,175.
The Board of Trustees will hire his replacement.
The board also elected Martha O’Connor of Brattleboro as its new chair. Outgoing chair Moore will leave the board next year after serving for 24 years.
