Sherry Kollmann is the new president of Vermont State University. Courtesy Vermont State University Vermont State University’s Board of Trustees appointed Sherry Kollmann as the university’s new president and system vice chancellor Monday. Kollmann, currently the chancellor of the New Mex ico State University Global Campus, will succeed outgoing President David Bergh, who announced his retirement last year. Since her 2020 appointment in New Mexico, Kollmann helped grow online enrollment and develop more robust degree and certificate programming, according to a press release. She previously worked in the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and prior to that worked in various roles at Southern New Hampshire University and at New England College. READ MORE Elizabeth Mauch, the chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges System, which oversees the Community College of Vermont and Vermont State University, said in a press release that Kollmann “brings to this role a proven record of expanding access to higher education and leading bold advancements that build and strengthen academic programs. “It is precisely what is required of VTSU at this critical juncture,” she said in the release. “Her experience developing new pathways for students of all ages and at all phases of their lives will be essential as VTSU continues to grow and as we deepen collaboration across the entire system” while protecting and enriching the institution’s rural campuses. Kollmann, in an interview Monday, said she was drawn to the role after meeting staff and faculty members on the university’s campuses. “Getting to meet the individuals around the various campuses, they have so much grit and determination and such a passion for what Vermont State University is and what it could be,” she said. Kollmann will join the university in its third year of an integrated statewide university system. The Vermont State Colleges System in 2021 merged Castleton University, Northern Vermont University and Vermont Technical College into a single institution. But the university, like many higher education institutions in New England, faces enrollment challenges. The university has bucked longer-term trends in recent semesters. VTSU enrolled more than 1,700 new students in the 2024-25 academic year –– a 14% increase from the year prior — while out-of-state enrollment rose by 13%. The university also saw a slight increase in enrollment in the fall 2025 semester compared with the previous fall’s enrollment. But the university has nonetheless tried to address longer-term enrollment declines by aligning the school’s programming and physical footprint to match its enrollment. That includes program consolidation, including in its environmental science program at the Castleton campus, according to the Caledonian Record. University officials also discontinued its associate’s degree program for the diesel and automotive mechanic training programs. Much of the institution’s building stock, meanwhile, is not being fully utilized. A facilities master plan completed for the university in 2024 showcases plans to shrink its physical footprint across its five campuses, according to The North Star Monthly. Kollmann said her goal is to shape the university as a leader in local online classes, and to “create an opportunity for Vermonters and our surrounding states to be able to help those adult learners, who have some level of college but no degree, achieve their baccalaureate degree.” She also wants to pursue more public-private partnerships. “We need to be able to partner with industry and look at, what are the careers of the future, and how are we supporting students (to) achieve those goals, and make sure that they’re leaving our institution with the right information to secure those positions,” she said. Kollmann will officially start in July, following Bergh’s planned retirement.  Read the story on VTDigger here: New Vermont State University president appointed. ...read more read less