A strength of the program is the strong personal and professional bonds that develop between students and faculty. Graduates of our program discover they are part of a deeply resourced alumni network that provides networking opportunities, on-line communications and mentoring programs.
The UVM Historic Preservation Program prepare graduate students for broad-based careers in the field of historic preservation. Our alumni are employed in the government, non-profit, and for-profit sectors as state and federal preservation officers, executive directors, faculty members at colleges and universities, and leaders of historic preservation consulting firms and cultural resource management companies.
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Combining the practical and theoretical
Before coming to UVM, Maureen McCoy ’18 earned a B.A. in humanities and art history and a M.A. in humanities from the University of Louisville. “My academic background up to that point emphasized the theoretical,” McCoy explained. “I wanted to do something practical in history or art, and I was intrigued with historic preservation. I was ready to go anywhere for the right program.” She was accepted to all three historic preservation programs she applied to. “Talking with UVM faculty and grad students in the program was really helpful—it gave me a sense of the variety of paths you can take with this degree.” McCoy chose UVM, and shortly after completing the program in December 2018, she began a position as an Architectural Historian for the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT). She believes her UVM experience gave her the tools to make a seamless move into the working world. “What I liked about the program was the hands-on experiences, doing the kind of work I’m doing now. As a student I did research, wrote National Register nominations, and tax credit applications.”
Read more of Maureen's story
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Alumni in the Field
The following is a sample of employment positions of UVM Historic Preservation alumni:
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Charlotte Barrett (1983) is Historic New England’s full-time Community Preservation Manager for Western New England. Charlotte has previously worked for the Preservation Education Institute in Windsor, Vermont, and as a field representative for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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Meghan Bezio (2011) has been hired as an architectural historian by EBI Consulting of Burlington, Massachusetts.
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Amanda E. Ciampolillo (2006) has taken a position as an Environmental Protection Specialist with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) based in the Boston area. Amanda heads to FRA from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Amanda spent over eleven years at FEMA, most recently as the Regional Environmental Officer in Region III, Philadelphia. While at FEMA, she served as the senior technical advisor to all of FEMA’s grant programs, ensuring projects complied with environmental and historic preservation laws.
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Devin Colman (2006) has the position of State Architectural Historian by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation in Montpelier, Vermont.
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Caitlin Corkins (2008) has a position as the Tax Credits and Grants Coordinator for the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation in Montpelier, Vermont. Previously, she worked for Historic New England.
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Adrienne Dickerson (2018) is serving as an architectural historian with the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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James Duggan (2008) is serving as the Historic Preservation Review Coordinator by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation in Montpelier, Vermont.
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Jeff Emidy (2000) has been appointed to the Deputy Director and Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, where he has been employed since 2005.
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Matthew Goguen (2015) has a Research Historian position with History Associates, Inc. in Rockville, Maryland. After graduating from UVM, Matt’s first position was with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation in Montpelier.
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Fran Gubler (2015) is serving as a Preservation Associate at the Preservation League of New York State in Albany, New York.
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Kaitlin Hovanes (2015) has been hired by SWCA Environmental Consultants, a major environmental planning, regulatory compliance and natural and cultural resource management consulting firm, to serve in a Cultural Resource Management position in their Salt Lake City, Utah office.
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Daniel Leckie (2014) has a new position as an associate architectural historian with the California Department of Transportation - Central Region based in San Luis Obispo, California.
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Jacquelyn Lehmann (2016) was hired to serve as an Architectural Historian for Weller & Associates in Columbus, Ohio, doing compliance planning work. Jackie is a January 2016 graduate who finished her studies in December.
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Tracy Martin (2009) is serving as the Historic Sites Section Chief at the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation in Montpelier, Vermont.
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Maureen McCoy (2019) has accepted an appointment with the Delaware Department of Transportation Cultural Resources Archaeology/Historic Preservation section.
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Anna Mod (1996) has a new book, Building Modern Houston, published by Arcadia Publishing. Anna works in Houston, Texas as a historic preservation specialist with SWCA Environmental Consultants. She serves on the board of The Heritage Society and is a co-founder of Houston Mod, a nonprofit organization that focuses on modern architecture and design.
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Elizabeth “Lizzie” André Tisher (2006) received her J.D. Law degree from the Vermont Law School. While there, she was awarded the prestigious national Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award for her article titled, “Re-Stitching the Urban Fabric: Municipal-Driven Rehabilitation of Vacant and Abandoned Buildings in Ohio’s Rust Belt.” She has been working at the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.
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Liz Warburton (2012) was hired as a Senior Architectural Historian at the Rhode Island State Historic Preservation Office in Providence, Rhode Island
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Mark Wolfe (1990) serves as the Executive Director of the Texas Historical Commission, the state historic preservation office in Austin, Texas.
Study: trends of preservation job openings
An ongoing study of professional career openings in historic preservation in the U.S. has been conducted by Professor Thomas Visser, director of the University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program. A special report on this study was published in Preservation Education Research journal. His findings also have been presented at preservation conferences in the United States and Canada.
The study has shown that professional historic preservation career opportunities in the commercial sector have included jobs with cultural resource management consultants, contracting and development companies, and architectural firms. In the government sector, positions at the federal level included those with the National Park Service and various federal agencies; at state levels with state historic preservation offices (SHPOs), state transportation departments and other state agencies; and at local levels with municipal planning departments and preservation commissions. Historic preservation positions with non-profit organizations included openings with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, with statewide and local preservation advocacy organizations, with community development and main street organizations, and with historical societies and historic sites. In the education sector, a small number of preservation-related positions have been offered for faculty openings, for contract-based research, and for administration and planning jobs.
The following chart shows annual trends of preservation job openings posted on PreserveNet tracked by economic sector (commercial businesses and consulting firms; governmental offices; non-profit organizations; and academic institutions). Although PreserveNet has been one of the most active historic preservation job listing services in the U.S., its process for gathering and posting job announcements may have varied through this period.
