Petition to Goddard College Trustees

July 15, 2024

                                        Mary Ellen McGuire-Schwartz 

Save Goddard College savegoddardcollege@gmail.com 

July 15, 2024 

Dr. Kenneth Macur and Jeffrey McMahan, Esq. 

Goddard College 

123 Pitkin Road 

Plainfield, Vermont 05667 

 

Dear Dr. Macur and Mr. McMahan, 

 

We thank you for a helpful discussion on Friday morning. In this cover letter, we would like to make several points: 

 

1.    For the right to carry the college forward, Save Goddard College is essentially offering to “pay” the Goddard College Corporation in the form of assuming its debts, as our representatives join its Board, so that it would no longer need to sell the campus in order to pay them off. This is one factor that distinguishes us as a group of bidders, not only in our approach to financing the transaction but also in our sympathetic plans to continue Goddard’s academic legacy on its campus.  

 

2.    We have just recently begun to request pledges of financial support. As an alumnus, our Director of Fundraising has been a professional college and university fundraiser for twenty years. It shows: So far, Save Goddard College has raised $165K for the next five years. When pledges earmarked for the current year reach $100K, it will trigger a secured matching gift of another $100K. At that point, likely within a month, we will have raised at least $265K in pledges.  

 

It’s important to note that this sum reflects outreach to approximately 5% of Goddard’s alumni— the only ones for whom we have e-mail addresses. If lists of various cohorts’ addresses exist, and are in the possession of the College, these would be one of the assets we would expect—and need—to acquire.  Our success so far predicts similar results as our donor list expands. 

 

Also requisite would be further documentation of the college’s assets and liabilities, including rental agreements, contractual obligations to the UAW, and any pending civil rights-based or other litigation not already resolved; and access to fully maintained data systems, including those pertaining to accreditation and other concerns of Academic Affairs, and those of the Business and Student Records Offices. We recognize that the transaction is meant to convey resources as is, but we are confident that this phrase has never been meant to imply blind. 

3.    A precondition for seeing this transaction through is the seating of at least four candidates, already vetted, as new Board members. They are Judith Holman, M.A., a retired mental health administrator who forged legislative partnerships and led a Vermont agency on the brink of closure to financial solvency and significant expansion; Peter Miller, M.A.T., C.A.S., D.D. (hon.), a musician and arts administrator long involved with youth orchestras and service on educational and community boards; Wayne Klug, Ph.D., a Goddard RUP alumnus who has taught in Massachusetts colleges for 40 years, created a successful psychology program at his current school, and served as a faculty union leader; and Mary Ellen McGuire-Schwartz, Ed.D.,  a Goddard RUP alumna, early childhood educator and administrator, and retired professor of education at Rhode Island College. 

Together, these Board candidates have helped shape numerous academic and social service programs and raised millions of dollars from state, federal, and private sources. Their 

confirmation process would need to be completed as only the first step in enlarging the Goddard Board to meet at least a minimum of the fourteen members required by the Corporation’s bylaws.  

We look forward to hearing from you.  

 

Sincerely yours, 

 

 

 

Mary Ellen McGuire-Schwartz, Ed.D. 

July 15, 2024. - Proposal

Proposal to the Goddard College Board of Trustees    

A viable plan to continue the College    and pull it out of closure    

    

Submitted by Save Goddard College, July 15, 2024    

    

 

 

I.    Administration, Development, and Governance 

 

1.    Seat five already-nominated Trustees to the Goddard College Board. These and other advocates will represent alumni, community, faculty, and staff, and work to stabilize the organization. 

 

2.    Increase Board of Trustees to include student, faculty, and alumni reps, and community  members with a minimum of 14 members in accordance with the by-laws.  

 

3.    For long term growth and support, fundraise a total of $5 million in pledges and gifts over the next five years, of which $500,000 will be needed to maintain operations during the first year.  

 

4.    Secure $250,000 of income from multiple sources by August 31, 2024, and a similar amount by January 10, 2025.  

 

5.    Identify, prioritize, and increase fundraising activities and other streams of revenue, e.g., rentals, grants, fundraising campaigns and events, Summer Institute Programs, retreats, and providing        continuing education, including that for re-licensing teachers and counselors. 

 

6.    Implement a Strategic Plan. Recruit staff, trustees, or alumni with finance backgrounds to review 990s and audited statements to create a 1- to 3-year reorganization plan.  

 

7.    Create Advisory Committees of volunteers drawn from alumni, past faculty, and other supporters of progressive education to support the Board in its first years of planning and operations. 

 

8.    Re-establish a Development Office and in-house Admissions Office with a robust plan for student recruitment and retention, including attendance at college fairs. 

 

II.    Academics 

 

1.    Identify, prioritize, and stabilize viable and sustainable academic programs. 

 

2.    Re-establish and maintain NECHE accreditation and that of other accrediting agencies.  

 

 

III.    Communications, Outreach, and Social Media 

 

1.    Develop creative community partnerships that build on Goddard alumni and tradition. 

 

2.    Build an inclusive and welcoming educational community through updated communications,                  i.e. Clockworks, newsletters, social media. 

 

3.    Establish regional alumni groups and hold alumni events at both regional locations and at      Goddard to increase alumni engagement and donations. 

 

IV.    Assessment of Infrastructure and Technology 

 

1.    Invite Preservation Trust of Vermont to evaluate conditions of campus historic buildings. 

 

2.    Inspect other campus buildings, grounds, and infrastructure to identify needed repairs and       renovations. 

 

3.    Assess the status of technology and needs for upgrades and improvements. 

 

4.    Assess viability of campus use by community organizations and groups.