Establish the truth.
Examine available cash, recurring deficits, fundraising assumptions, and realistic asset values. Separate what is hoped for from what is supported.
Financial & academic baseline
FOR HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERS & BOARDS
Before the
Options Narrow.
Your institution’s next chapter
begins with knowing its options.
A practical guide to consequential decisions in higher education—from a trustee and president who helped VCFA find a different path forward.
Your request is handled in confidence.
A clear-eyed starting point.
Not another plan to sit on a shelf.
Not another plan to sit on a shelf.
Written for the people
responsible for what happens next.
Presidents
Board chairs & trustees
CFOs & CAOs
Leadership teams
INSIDE THE GUIDE
Move from concern
to a credible next decision.
Know what you need to preserve, what you can change, and what it will take to act. This guide turns experience into practical questions and working tools.
Align the people.
Bring the president, CFO, CAO, counsel, and board into a clear decision process. Set expectations for preparation, availability, and authority.
Leadership & governance
Compare real options.
Test academic redesign, shared services, asset changes, affiliation, and responsible transitions against time, funding, and student commitments.
Options matrix & worked example
Prepare to act.
Open a digital work room on day one. Use the first-month sequence and board decision brief to put owners, evidence, and dates behind the next step.
Practical decision tools
Also inside: confidentiality, due diligence, campus capacity, and bounded uses of agentic AI.
FROM FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE
Six months of runway.
A different way forward.
When I assumed executive leadership of Vermont College of Fine Arts, we had approximately six months of runway before confronting closure.
Across my service as trustee, interim president, and president, the work involved selling a campus, navigating temporary residency locations, and affiliating with CalArts—with shared finance, HR, and IT services and a new residency home.
Each step demanded financial realism, academic judgment, and a board prepared to make consequential decisions.
VCFA’s size was not what made this work.
Clarity created speed.
COMPLIMENTARY WHITE PAPER
A private first step.
A more informed next one.
Receive the full 22-page guide by email, with the PDF attached and a private download link.
Your request stays in confidence.
Already have a decision in front of you?
Schedule a free, confidential first call
BEFORE THE OPTIONS NARROW
Email me the guide.
Only your name and email are required.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Ramsammy
Andrew works across institutional transformation, partnerships, media, and education. As a former trustee, interim president, and president of Vermont College of Fine Arts, he has experienced consequential decisions from both sides of the boardroom table.
He brings that experience to a practical question: what can an institution preserve, reimagine, and accomplish through a different operating model?
THE NEXT CONVERSATION
How will you define success?
First, determine what your options are.
That is a success in itself.
Book a free, confidential first call
No fee. No obligation. No expectation that you have all the answers.
The initial conversation is free. Any later Institutional Options Scan is a separately scoped, paid engagement.A FEW PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
Before you begin.
Is the white paper free?
Yes. The full 22-page PDF is complimentary. You do not need to book a call or subscribe to the weekly series to receive it.
Will anyone at my institution be notified?
Requesting this guide does not notify your institution or authorize contact with colleagues, trustees, or potential partners. We handle your request in confidence as described in the privacy notice.
What happens on the first call?
We discuss the decision in front of you, what your institution needs to preserve, your timing, and what information would help you evaluate next steps. The first conversation is completely free and confidential, with no obligation to engage Equimedia.
Is an options scan the same as a merger recommendation?
No. A scan compares credible paths. It does not assume that a merger, affiliation, asset sale, or any other single answer is right for your institution.
What happens if I choose the weekly emails?
After you confirm your choice in the delivery email, you receive three additional emails, one week apart. Each discusses a practical topic from the guide. Every follow-up includes a way to unsubscribe.