Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont internship, for The North Star Monthly
CRAFTSBURY — Sterling College may be ending its degree programs, but Gwyneth Harris believes its doors aren’t closed for good.
Harris is a professor at Sterling, and she’s working with other faculty, staff and supporters to determine what comes next for the small, environmentally-focused school.
“We’re all glad to still be here, and many of us have real hope for the continuation of programming that preserves the Sterling spirit and mission,” Harris said.
For more than 50 years, Sterling College has been a pillar of the northern Vermont community. Low enrollment led the school to stop offering degree programs by the end of the year.
The college’s closure means Harris’s own future is uncertain. She said the saddest thing for her is the potential loss of Sterling’s team dynamic.
“We have this super solid team of people, and we all really are pulling in the same direction,” Harris said. “We’ve developed these systems that are working really well, and we know what we want and where we want to go.”
Harris’ connection to Sterling has spanned decades, “half my life, actually,” she said.
In 1997, she spent a summer as a farm intern at Sterling College while an undergraduate at the University of Vermont.
She returned to Sterling that fall for another independent study. After graduation, she became the college’s farm manager, a job she held for two years.
She worked several other jobs in agriculture, at the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and other farms, She returned to Sterling as adjunct faculty in 2010 and has been full-time faculty since 2012.
Harris found out about Sterling’s decision at an employee meeting, a few days before students were informed. She wasn’t surprised – the college had struggled with under-enrollment for several years – but it was still difficult to hear.
“Yes, it’s very sad, but the best thing is our students have stepped up to celebrate their final semester, and to take the best of what Sterling has to offer,” she said.
“We actually gained students for the spring semester, including one returning from a different institution to finish out at Sterling,” she said.
Students will be able to finish their degree or pursue a “teach out” agreement with another college, where that school will honor previous credits and the student will still graduate with a Sterling diploma.
Sterling also is working to offer extra classes, credits and internship opportunities to allow students to finish final requirements this summer, Harris said.
Harris said the ending of degree programs does not mean the end of educational programming. The goal is to continue making use of Sterling’s campus.
In its past, Sterling has been a boys preparatory school and an outdoor school. Harris says possible ideas for its future include K-12 education, teacher education and pre-college programming.
“Evolution is something we’re not unused to,” Harris said about Sterling’s potential trajectory.
Sterling faculty and staff have created focus groups to gather community feedback on what Sterling could look like as an organization moving forward.
“There are a lot of different ideas loading, and we don’t really know yet where we’ll end with that, but we’re continuing to have these focus groups to be a sounding board for what the community wants,” Harris said.
The faculty and board hope to have a more solid idea for the future sometime in March, she said.
While some staff have sought positions elsewhere, Harris thinks it’s unlikely people will move away from the area. Sterling employs seven full-time faculty, she said, though the extended staff is much larger.
“Much of what we do is really rooted in the place. And most of the folks who are here want to be here because it’s a great community,” she said.
Harris doesn’t plan to move herself, but will likely look for other teaching engagements in the coming year.
“There will likely be some decisions made soon about potential programming for the summer and coming year – so stay tuned!” she said.