The University of Vermont’s administration laid off at least eight employees affiliated with its Center for Health and Wellbeing this week, cutting positions from the university’s substance abuse recovery program, health and sexuality outreach, and counseling and psychiatry services.
The restructuring of the center —- which provides a range of health services aimed toward UVM students — occurred on the same day the university announced the appointment of a new executive director for the center starting July 22. Currently, the position is vacant.
Particularly hard-hit was the center’s education and outreach department, colloquially referred to as “Living Well.” Five of its eight staff were let go, according to affected employees. The three other positions were managers in other areas of the center.
Jenna Emerson, a health and sexuality educator who was among those laid off on Monday, emphasized the department’s importance as a “space to heal, and to learn, and to grow.”
“I have students, hundreds of students writing to me right now,” she said, adding that some say the education and outreach department “saved their life.”
Adam White, a university spokesperson, said by email that the staffing changes were made “to ensure the center can best meet the needs of students today.”
“No positions fully dedicated to direct student care (whether individual or group) were eliminated,” he added.
But those affected by the cuts said otherwise.
“I want to be clear that we were direct service,” said Emerson.
She said she ran nearly a hundred public-facing workshops and events annually to promote sexual wellness and to provide education around consent.
Emerson said she came to work Monday morning expecting to begin another normal week. She was pulled into a meeting almost immediately and informed by her supervisor that she was relieved of her duties, effective immediately.
“Nobody had any inkling of anything,” she said.
Annie Valentine, a manager for 21 years with the center, resigned on June 10, citing cultural issues. She said she was not told of plans to restructure her department the following week.
“It is no longer the place that I have given my heart and soul to,” she said of the university.
She called the cuts “shameful,” especially in a time where she says the need for mental health services is growing at universities. Recent research indicates that mental illness among college students nationwide has increased by 50% since 2013.
“It’s no longer just on our clinical staff to be providing supports for students,” Valentine said. The need for “upstream efforts” and preventative measures against sexual assault, mental illness, and other cultural issues is paramount, she added.
State Rep. Troy Headrick, P/D-Burlington, said the layoffs removed positions that were “critical for student support services.”
“Budgets are value statements,” he said. “When you suddenly cut off…money to education and outreach around mental health and wellbeing, that’s a statement.”
Headrick, who is also an employee with the university’s Center for Student Conduct, added that the Living Well department included “the folks on campus who I turned to, to remain informed about how (we) interact with students.”
“We are losing so much institutional knowledge,” he said.
Headrick posted a blog criticizing the decision on his website Tuesday night, which has circulated widely.
Kara Williams, a union steward for UVM Staff United, called the administration’s stated rationale “self contradictory.”
A petition circulated by the union on Wednesday received hundreds of responses from students, alumni, and staff in support of the education and outreach department.
No psychiatric counselors were affected by this restructuring, though two have recently resigned citing dissatisfaction with salary, according to staff union representatives.
Williams said Thursday that the union is still investigating possible breaches of contract with Monday’s layoffs. White, the university spokesperson, said the restructuring was executed in careful compliance with all relevant policies and contracts.
Ellen Kaye, the union’s co-president, added that the layoffs came in the middle of a protracted negotiation process. “I don’t think it’s a good practice to do that in the middle of contract bargaining,” she said.
The three remaining employees in the education and outreach department will be transitioned into the Center’s counseling and psychiatry services department, according to White.
“We are planning for continuing mental health support and programming for students in recovery,” he added.
For Emerson, whose position has been discontinued, it doesn’t seem possible to maintain the same level of care.
“There could be other people who have some of this knowledge,” she said. “But they don’t have the capacity.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: UVM lays off majority of ‘Living Well’ health education and outreach staff.