Professor Justin joffe-- for seven years chair of the uvm psychology department-- joined dozens of his colleagues this morning talking about the school's future.

"I think we have the talent, the skill, and the history to actually make this a better institution-- to have higher quality products."

A goal, he says, that could be thrown out the window -- with the cuts of a hundred and fifty faculty and staff positions.

"it's this lack of faith in our own skills and our own younger faculty which is more disturbing to me than the fact that we have to lose some."

Economics professor Jane Knodell isn't so sure.

"number one: the reduction is large, and number two: it's very random in terms of its distribution across units. Those two things together could seriously undermine our ability to attract out-of-state students in the future."

Already a big concern when enrollment, both in-state and out- has been dropping substantially-- down four-hundred and fifty from a decade ago.

"to have even one faculty member step away is a loss, but we need to turn around and figure out how we're going to continue to provide high quality education to meet the students needs and to build our programs for the future."

Gamble says he and the board have just started working out solutions-- everything from merging departments to raising more money in the community.

"we're not the first institution in the country to downsize a little. There must be some good solutions out there. Let's find them and let's see what fits us, and let's go do the damn good job we're capable of doing."

Gamble says he's already received applications for early retirement from more than a hundred faculty and staff members, so he's well on his way to the goal of a hundred and fifty over the next three years...the full board of trustees will meet again first thing tomorrow.