Building a college up from scratch
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Bill Kaplan and Tom Greene in College Hall at Vermont College in Montpelier. Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/Times Argus |
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By Patrick Joy Times Argus Staff - Published: March 30, 2007
MONTPELIER – With three novels under his belt, Thomas Greene knows a thing or two about bringing vision to reality. The task requires an unlikely blend of creativity, discipline and logic – the ability to dream large and work small, developing complex themes with minute detail.
Perhaps that is why his current project seems so familiar to him.
"When you're writing, if you think of the entire thing – 100,000 words, 300 pages – it can be a really daunting task," said Greene, the current director of Union Institute's and University's MFA program in writing for children and young adults. "But, you just write a few words and you have a sentence; a few sentences become a paragraph; a few paragraphs become a page, then pages become a chapter and then chapters become a book. This process is a lot like that."
Greene's present ambition will not end up on bookstore shelves, but instead, writ large over the cultural landscape of Montpelier.Greene, his partner Bill Kaplan, and a handful of current faculty at Union Institute and University and community members are working to build a new college from the ground up. The nonprofit group has formed a board of directors and is already in exclusive negotiations to buy the Vermont College campus from Union.
Greene and Kaplan say the deal could be done by July and a newly minted Vermont College of the Fine Arts up and running in time for the fall semester.
"Early on, it seemed a little unreal," said Kaplan, a local businessman with development experience. "Then, once we began to start to believe it could become reality, there have been ups and downs."
Lately, there have been far more ups than downs.
After winning the right to exclusive negotiations, the group received approval from Montpelier's City Council two weeks ago to use part of the city's tax-exempt borrowing capacity – $4.5 million for 2007 and $5.5 million for 2008 – for purchase of the Union Institute property.
The tax-exempt bonds are more attractive to banks and will allow the college to obtain a more favorable interest rate, but do not put the city on the hook for the loan in any way.
If the purchase of the property goes through, Greene and Kaplan say they plan to build the college around the three successful Master of Fine Arts programs already running on the campus.
"We have a base of about 350 students right now," Green said. "We hope to expand into new degree programs and eventually build to 700 to 1,000 students."
The group envisions new programs in everything from screenwriting and illustration to graphic design, theater, dance and music. In the end, it hopes to have established a nationally recognized fine-arts institution, drawing top-notch artists, dancers, actors and authors to the city.
Those involved also plan to work to maintain the other programs on campus, which include the Community College of Vermont, some functions of the New England Culinary Institute and the T.W. Wood Art Gallery.
In addition, the founders envision offering noncredit programs, including a residence program for artists and writers.
Montpelier Mary Hooper, vice president of the group's board of directors, said she is excited to watch the college grow.
"It's definitely something worth getting excited about," she said. "I think this will be a large, vibrant thing. I can imagine really impressive music program there."
The group and Hooper's long-term dreams and goals are tempered by the demands of the moment. Before the group can even call itself a college, it has to buy the land and buildings, be approved as a higher education institution by the Vermont Department of Education and secure accreditation.
"We're moving in the right direction," Greene said. "It is a lengthy process."
Hooper says the success of the city is in some ways connected to the fate of its colleges. With Woodbury College, Union Institute, Community College of Vermont and the New England Culinary Institute, education is one of the largest employment sectors in the city. And the city, she said, feeds off the culture and the economic climate that higher education generates.
"It's amazingly important," Hooper said. "We have five independent bookstores in Montpelier – why do you think that is? We have wonderful artists that make this city their home. It all goes together. These are the pieces that make a city successful. It's hard to overstate from a community-development and fate-of-Montpelier standpoint."
Kaplan said he stays focused on the next step.
"We're getting that momentum now," he said. "We just keep going until we hit a red light and it feels like we're out on the highway now and there are no more lights."
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