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Vermont State University reports enrollment growth, employee pulse survey and hires; expands incident-reporting work
Summary
Chief diversity officer Paul Yoon told trustees VTSU is seeing increases in applications and deposits, ran an employee pulse survey with a 40% response rate, is developing a single reporting form for incidents and has hired an assistant director of DEI.
Paul Yoon, chief diversity officer for Vermont State University, briefed the Vermont State Colleges Board DEI committee on May 12 with updates on enrollment, an employee pulse survey and a plan to simplify incident reporting across the newly merged university.
Yoon said VTSU recorded about 5 percent growth in applications year-over-year, a roughly 15 percent increase in deposits compared with the same point last year and growth across first-year, transfer and internal-transfer populations — “the numbers speak for themselves,” he said. Yoon said the university is working to strengthen transfer pathways from Community College of Vermont (CCV).
Yoon reported an employee pulse survey this semester drew about 520 responses, a roughly 40 percent response rate. The university will administer the survey annually to track trends and Yoon said President Berg delegated him to lead follow-up actions based on the survey findings.
On campus safety and incident reporting, Yoon said VTSU is auditing its multiple reporting mechanisms and aims to implement a single reporting form to make it easier for students, staff and faculty to report incidents ranging from public-safety concerns to Title IX and code-of-conduct matters. He said public-safety professionals on VTSU campuses serve as first responders for law-enforcement requests and are being trained on procedures and legal boundaries.
Yoon also announced a hire for his office: Jen Hayden will join VTSU in June as assistant director of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice, coming from Middlebury College.
The committee asked follow-up questions about differences between VTSU and CCV responses to law-enforcement requests, and Yoon and CCV speakers described nuance driven by VTSU’s full-time public-safety officers and CCV’s model of regional centers where staff and local administrators are trained to follow specific scripts and call appropriate campus contacts. General counsel and campus leaders said they are coordinating internally and with state and sector partners to monitor federal developments that could affect campuses.
Ending: Yoon said the reporting work remains “a work in progress” and the university will pursue a single reporting portal while continuing inter-agency coordination and training for public-safety staff.
