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January, 2023

Friends,

Mother Nature decided to wait until the New Year to deliver Vermont’s winter snow. Students have returned to campus for the spring semester and we share the sense of new possibilities as the days become longer and brighter.

Last month I shared the news that I have accepted a position as the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Policy and Governance at the University of Kansas. While I’m excited to take on this new role, I will remain connected to UVM, Vermont, and the Office of Engagement - which I’ve had the honor of leading during its first three years.

I learned pretty early in my tenure here first as a research professor, then as a professor in Community Development & Applied Economics, and most recently in this role as the Director of OOE that what you put into your time at UVM is what you get out of it. This goes for students, staff, AND faculty. Everyone who works and learns here has a role to play in making this place special. Make the most of it. And the same goes for UVM’s engagement partners: give us your time, attention and trust, and UVM will be at your service. I’ve been proud to work with such a fine group of people in helping to make such a promise a reality.

Before my departure, I have two important developments to share—the first is that my colleague Wayne Maceyka has been appointed Interim Director of OOE. As Senior Business Outreach Professional for the office, Wayne has played an integral part in the growth and reach of OOE over the past year-and-a-half. Along with the OOE team, he has developed relationships with economic development professionals and business leaders all over Vermont, from Brattleboro to St. Albans and many points in between. I depart UVM knowing OOE is in the hands of a talented leader.

The second announcement is the Office of Engagement, while continuing to serve as the university’s “front door” for Vermont businesses and communities seeking access to UVM knowledge and resources, will be aligned with the new Institute for Rural Partnerships. This venture, made possible through funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and leadership provided by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., brings new depth and dimension to supporting UVM’s land grant mission. Stay tuned for additional information about this exciting development.

Sincerely,

Chris Koliba

Welcome! As Chris related, OOE is excited to continue working closely with many other campus entities as part of the new Institute for Rural Partnerships that share the goal of building an economically vibrant and sustainable Vermont. This newsletter touches on several initiatives that demonstrates UVM’s impact in service to our land grant mission.

UVM is an incubator for technological development, and the second feature focuses on the UVM startup Verde Technologies that has a simple but profound mission: to create the lowest-cost clean energy the world has ever seen.

At the same time, UVM attracts outside funding through grants and contracts that benefit Vermont and Vermonters. One such example is a new partnership aimed at helping protect vulnerable mobile homes against extreme weather events that accompany a changing climate.

Another feature describes how UVM students are providing vital local content to the Winooski News and many other economically distressed news outlets in the state, contributing to the important role of independent journalism in maintaining our democracy.

Vermont is home to many institutions committed to helping students gain valuable work experience in internships—read about how one UVM senior has used an internship with the ECHO Center to reimagine her career.

We hope you enjoy this issue, and let us know if you have story ideas that demonstrate we’d love to hear about them as we plan subsequent issues.

Sincerely,

Wayne Maceyka, Interim Director, Office of Engagement

Helping Vermont’s rural communities thrive—in the face of big challenges brought about by climate change and population shifts—will be the focus of a new institute at the University of Vermont. UVM’s Institute for Rural Partnerships is made possible by a $9.3 million award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, with leadership and support from U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

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One of the most promising technological leaps in the solar industry was developed right here at UVM, in a collaboration between Dr. Randall Headrick (physics) and Richards Miller (engineering). The duo launched the startup Verde Technologies which offers a thin-film perovskite solar panel that’s lightweight, flexible, affordable, and easily installable because of an adhesive backing.

Find out more

Mobile home communities are an important part of Vermont’s affordable housing landscape—they are also more likely to be impacted by high winds, flooding, and extreme temperatures that come with climate change. UVM is part of a new regional collaboration to study the climate-related vulnerabilities of mobile home park communities with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)’s Climate Adaptation Partnership’s program.

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The Winooski News, the local paper for the town of Winooski, Vermont, has been experiencing an increase in readership lately, thanks in part to a trio of UVM students participating in the university’s Community News Service (CNS), which pairs student reporters with local community papers and other media outlets to provide content at no cost. That’s no small deal. According to Richard Watts, director for the Center for Research on Vermont and CNS coordinator, many local news sources across the state have been forced to shut down. The CNS program helps students gain valuable work experience while providing local content for distressed newspapers.

Find out more

Sophie Regina ’23 found the perfect opportunity to marry her two passions—natural history and communication—during her senior year. She’s in the midst of a year-long internship in the development office of the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. The experience has her thinking about how the skillset she’s developing could apply to other business settings. ECHO is one of many community partners that offer internship opportunities to UVM students.

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A three-year U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Innovation Grant will fund a partnership to develop soil health peer learning groups for Vermont farmers. The UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program and the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts will help farmers benchmark soil health, evaluate soil health gaps and track changes in soil health on their farms. The project will help identify trends in soil health and ecosystem service benefits that the agricultural landscape provides to Vermont.

Learn more

In his thirties, Chris Kesler became a self-described ‘craft beer fanboy.’ “I realized there was a rich craft beer scene evolving in Vermont.” It wasn’t until Kesler turned 50 in 2015 that he began homebrewing. “I asked myself, ‘why didn’t I do this twenty years ago?’” The Business of Craft Beer Certification Program from UVM’s Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) helped him become a player in the industry. Learn more about the program.

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