University of Vermont officials this week laid off at least eight employees at the university’s health and wellness center and cut staffing from the university’s substance abuse recovery programs, health and sexuality outreach, and counseling and psychiatric services.
The restructuring of the center, which provides a range of health services for UVM students, came on the same day the university announced it would appoint a new executive director for the center, effective July 22. The position is currently vacant.
Particularly hard hit was the center’s education and outreach division, colloquially known as “Living Well,” where five of the eight staff members were laid off, according to affected employees, the other three being managers in other parts of the center.
Jenna Emerson, a health and sexuality educator who was fired on Monday, stressed the importance of the department as a “place to heal, learn and grow.”
“My students, hundreds of students, are writing to me right now,” she said, adding that some are saying the education and outreach department “saved their lives.”
University spokesman Adam White said in an email that the staffing changes were made “to ensure the center can best serve the needs of today’s students.”
“No positions dedicated to the direct care of students (individual or group) were eliminated,” he added.
But those affected by the cuts say otherwise.
“We want to be clear that it was a direct service,” Emerson said.
She said she runs nearly 100 public workshops and events each year to promote sexual health and provide education on consent.
Emerson said she went to work on Monday morning expecting another normal week, but was soon called into a meeting and told by her boss that she was being fired with immediate effect.
“Nobody knew anything,” she said.
Annie Valentine, who had been a manager at the center for 21 years, resigned on June 10, citing cultural issues. Valentine said she was not informed of plans to restructure her department the following week.
“It’s just not a place I have my heart and soul in anymore,” she said of college.
She called the cuts “shameful,” especially at a time when the need for mental health services on campuses is growing: Recent studies have found that mental illness among college students nationwide has increased by 50% since 2013.
“It’s no longer just about our clinical staff to provide support to students,” Valentine said. The need for “upstream efforts” and prevention against sexual assault, mental illness and other cultural issues is paramount, she added.
Democratic Rep. Troy Hedrick of Burlington said the cuts resulted in the loss of jobs that are “critical to student support services.”
“A budget is a statement of values,” he says, “and when you suddenly cut funding for education and advocacy around mental health and wellbeing, that’s a statement.”
Hedrick, who also works for the university’s Center for Student Conduct, added that the Living Well division also includes “people on campus that I relied on to know how they were interacting with students.”
“We’re losing so much institutional knowledge,” he said.
Hedrick posted a widely circulated blog post on his website Tuesday night criticizing the decision.
Kara Williams, a union official with UVM Staff United, said the rationale given by university officials is “self-contradictory.”
The petition circulated by the union on Wednesday garnered hundreds of responses from students, alumni and staff in support of the education and outreach department.
Mental health counselors were not affected by the restructuring, but two recently resigned over pay issues, according to a union representative.
Williams said Thursday that the union was still investigating whether Monday’s firings were a possible breach of contract.White, the university spokesman, said the reorganization was carried out in careful compliance with all relevant policies and contracts.
Ellen Kaye, co-president of the union, added that the firings come in the middle of a drawn-out negotiation process. “We don’t think it’s a good idea to do something like this in the middle of contract negotiations,” she said.
The three remaining employees in the education and outreach department will be transferred to the center’s counseling and psychiatric services department, White said.
“We will continue to provide mental health support and programming for students in recovery,” he added.
Now that he’s been fired from his job, it seems impossible for Emerson to maintain the same level of care.
“There may be other people who have some of this knowledge,” she said, “but they don’t have the capacity.”