Still one of the best independent papers in the land, the Yellow Springs News continues its deep and thoughtful coverage of the situation at Antioch College. Their motto: The Tyrant’s Foe, The People’s Friend.
Further coverage from the July 5, 2007 edition.
Antioch College staff anticipated layoffs, but grieve anyway
A link has been added to the main menu above to http://antiochians.org/forum.
We’re working on getting the existing mailing lists integrated and archives possibly imported ::crosses fingers:: But several people have asked what we’re waiting for, and the truth is that the forums have been there for several days now and patiently waiting for people to make use of them. So… they are there. Please make use of them!
The forums are self-register (http://antiochians.org/forum
Lots of thanks to Alicson for taking the lead on getting these up so quickly!
Published July 5, 2007 in the Yellow Springs News
By Diane Chiddester
A contributing factor in the Antioch University Board of Trustees decision to suspend operations of Antioch College was the distribution, at the trustees’ June 9 board meeting, of a report from the Gateway Consultants Group, an independent consulting group.
The report reviewed three options for addressing the college’s fiscal emergency, and ultimately chose the third option, which was to close the college and reopen at a later date. According to some persons present who requested anonymity, the report, which they had not seen before the meeting, carried considerable weight.
Although the Gateway Group was identified in the board’s June 9 resolution as a “respected higher education and business consultants,” its principle consultant, Thomas Chema, had never before been asked to determine whether a college should close. And in a recent interview Chema said that for the report he was paid $3,000 plus expenses, a very small fee in the world of consultants.
“I have not done this sort of study before,” he said.
While his consulting group has been in existence since 1994, it has only in the last year performed “due diligence” work for entities such as businesses and colleges that are in financial distress, identifying financial concerns and strategies for turnaround, Chema said. He declined to say how many colleges he has counted among his clients.
Asked this week about Chema’s relative inexperience as a higher education consultant, Antioch University Vice Chancellor Mary Lou LaPierre stated he was chosen because he is president of Hiram University, which several years ago faced a similar financial crisis to that of Antioch. Chema has been credited with successfully turning around that college, she said.
Before taking the helm of Hiram College in 2004, Chema, a graduate of Harvard Law School, had worked as the executive director of the Gateway Economic Development Corporation of Greater Cleveland, chairman of the Ohio Building Authority, and chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, among other positions.
“He’s a very sophisticated business person,” LaPierre said.
According to Chema, he and an associate, Lisa Thibodeux, were the principle contributors to the Antioch University report, to which Stan Hales, past president of Wooster College, also contributed. Chema visited the college for a day in March, during which he spoke with college employees in admissions, took a tour of physical facilities and reviewed financial information, according to Chema, who said he worked on the report for about a month.
In the seven-page report, the consultants first identify Antioch College’s “situational overview,” including the college’s drop in enrollment over the past few years, the need for additional funds of $6 million for 2006/7 and 2007/8 to balance the budget, and the other university centers’ subsidy of the college for $920,000 in 2006/7.
This section of the report states that the university’s current cash flow analysis shows the system “running negative” by May 2009 due to significant losses at the college.
The report also includes a “macro higher education context” which states that demographers forecast 2010 as the date of the peak number of 18-year-olds, after which those numbers begin to decline. It also states that the number of 18-year-olds in Ohio heading for college is below the national average.
“Consequently, the local cohort of students, as well as the expected national pool, in the relatively near future, presents a significant challenge to growth for any small liberal arts college,” the report states.
In the report’s situational evaluation, the Gateway Group states that the college currently accepts about 85 percent of its applicants, “leaving little room for expanding student numbers through changes in selectivity.”
The report also identifies the college’s two-year old Renewal Plan as “not sufficient to stimulate substantial prospective student growth in the short term. There is clearly only a limited number of students who are interested in the Antioch context and the Antioch program.”
The school’s deteriorating physical plant also contributes to its challenge in attracting new students, the report states.
Three options
The Gateway report presents three options, beginning with attempting to turn the college around. Increased enrollment would have to happen quickly, the report states, but it would take at least “two years of consistency and excellence in the admissions program before results are likely to be seen.”
The second option, discussed in a single paragraph, is that of combining Antioch College with Antioch University McGregor.
“While the merger might provide additional savings in the cost structure which would buy time, this option also assumes substantial increase in philanthropy to carry the college until the enrollment changes resulted in substantially greater tuition revenue. We are as skeptical about the success of this strategy as with just continuing an incremental approach toward improvement,” the report states.
The third option, that of suspending the college’s operations for several years, is identified as “the one preferred at this time by the university’s management team.”
That option, addressed in two paragraphs, states that during the suspension period, the university would have the opportunity to “develop new entrepreneurial approaches to providing an Antioch College experience,” including the development of a “new urban village on the Antioch College site.”
The suspension would also give university officials time to “identify the program that a reinvented college needs to present to perspective students in order to be relevant to them,” and the period would allow for a “cleansing of the ghosts that have plagued Antioch’s recruitment efforts since the 1970s.”
The consultants did not know at the beginning of the consulting process that the university officials’ preferred option was closing the college, but became aware of that preference sometime during the process, Chema said. Asked if he would have made a different recommendation had the university expressed a different preference, Chema said, “I don’t know if we would have or not. We would have given them the same data.”
The university administrators were charged with finding an outside consultant after the trustees’ February meeting, when the extent of the college’s financial crisis became clear, according to LaPierre.
The administrators worked with bankruptcy attorney Jack Pigman of the Columbus firm of Porter, Wright, Orris and Arthur to examine university and college finances, LaPierre said, and that firm contacted the Gateway Group to “broaden the study out,” and provide a national and situational context.
The Pigman report is not available to the public due to “confidentiality and nondisclosure” between attorney and client, LaPierre said, adding that she had not seen a copy of the report personally.
Antioch University Chancellor Toni Murdock was not available to talk to the press this week, and all questions were channelled through LaPierre. Antioch Board of Trustees President Art Zucker was on vacation and did not return phone calls.
It has become necessary for the university to funnel press contacts through a single spokesperson due to the volume of press contacts in the past several weeks, according to LaPierre.
“I had no idea that this would be the national story that it is,” she said. “I miscalculated it, totally.”
Minutes taken and submitted by Corri Frohlich
Operations Manager/Community Manager
cfrohlich@antioch-college.edu
Tuesday July 3rd, 2007
Welcome
Chelsea welcomed everyone to the 3rd community meeting of the summer. She explained that the purpose of this meeting is to regroup after Reunion and
to foster transparency of operations and information within the College.
Announcements
Rory, the CG Events Manager, announced she is looking for suggestions for activities/events for faculty and staff this summer.
Milt Thompson will now be overseeing Physical Plant due to recent lay-offs.
Department Updates:
CG: CG held a community meeting this past Saturday during Reunion weekend. The Community Meeting broke into 3 break-out groups (Governance/Legal, Communications, and Finance) designated by a group of past and present CMs. From the Community Meeting the CMs created an Action Items document. From this document, The Alumni Board created 3 committees: Governance, Communications and Development. The Action Items document produced from Community Meeting is available on first class. Governance Committee Update: Chelsea, the CG Liaison, reported that this committee is currently looking into the possibility of creating a new governance board for the College and researching the history of the governance structure between the College and the University.
Communication Committee Update: Rory, the CG Liaison, reported that she would send out weekly updates to alumni about campus happenings via www.Antiochioans.org. CG is delivering pledge cards to local businesses in Yellow Springs for the revival fund. The committee is also working on a possible alumni music festival in conjunction with some sort of fundraising event. Dennie Eagleson is working on a testimonials project with alumni about their time
here at Antioch. CG is also working on bringing alumni back to campus to participate in themed panel discussions, such as past Record Editors, SOPP and RDPP advocates. The committee is also discussing a possible welcome back committee for when students return to campus. This welcome back committee could use the alumni music festival to do this.
Development Committee Update: As of Monday (July 2nd, 2007) evening the efforts of the Antioch community members raised $525,000.00 for the Antioch Revival Fund. Corri, the CG Liaison, reported that this committee is functioning in a few subcommittees including Individual Giving Subcommittee and
Foundation Raising Subcommittee. Alumni are participating in several phone conferences to brainstorm their connections to foundations and
potential donors to Antioch College and in the process of soliciting donations.
Office of Transition: John Smith, of the Academic Support Center, reported on the newly formed Office of Transition (OT). This is a new
office put together quickly after the announcement of the suspension of operations. The OT has ended up overlapping with already existing offices
including Admissions, Housing, Dean of faculty, etc. It started out as a help-line via a cell phone which Janice Kinghorn staffs from 10am-10pm 7
days a week. The number for the OT is (937) 681-5924. There is now an OT first class conference under Community Forum. You can email the
conference directly at transition@antioch-college.edu. John confirmed that all of the incoming first years have been contacted. Angie Glukov from Admissions reported that the number of confirmed first years entering Antioch this fall changes daily. All current and incoming students have now been contacted. Students should now know what their options are and be in the process of making these decisions. OT is currently figuring out who can graduate due to the changes in the Walker Petition requirements. More information concerning this can be located on the official OT webpage which can be found via the main college website, www.antioch-college.edu. Admissions is working very hard to connect Antioch students with the consortia of colleges to which students can transfer. The OT will work with students one on one for the rest of the year. Eli Nettles is the point lady for this undertaking. The OT is aided by John Smith, Janice Kinghorn, Joyce Morrissey, Angie Glukov and Jen Rhyner in Admissions, Robin Heise in Financial Aid and many other College employees who are offering their services on a daily basis. The
best estimate of total numbers of students here in the fall is roughly 175-228. Admissions is currently monitoring Facebook as a channel for communication about Antioch. John also reported that there would be one learning community this fall. Classes for fall semester will be posted next week, so students can start registering as soon as next week. Students might want to be on campus before registering for courses online and talk with their advisors about the courses they need. New students are scheduled to arrive on August 23rd and returning students on August 26th.
Financial Aid: Robin Heise reported that Financial Aid is currently trying to find out who’s coming back and which students they have to package for financial aid. All returning students need to let a College administrator know whether or not they are returning in the fall and the administrator will see that this information gets passed on to the appropriate offices.
Admissions: Angie informed the community that the first College Fair would be Friday afternoon September 14th. Presently, Admissions is working on an announcement for the Community regarding the College Fair.
Yellow Springs Residents in Support of the Antioch College Revival Resolution:
Judy Wolert-Maldonado, a representative from the Yellow Springs group, reported on their recent meetings. The Yellow Springs residents started organizing after the community meeting during reunion and have had ongoing meetings since then. They are currently organizing an emergency town meeting for this Tuesday, July 10th at 7:30pm in the
Presbyterian Church in Yellow Springs. They are presently contacting different constituencies in the College to have representation from the entire Antioch and Yellow Springs community at the meeting. Antioch College President Steve Lawry and University Chancellor Toni Murdock will be out of town and Antioch College Public Relations representative Lynda Sirk will be sent in Toni Murdock’s place. The meeting is open to all and the media will be there. Currently, they are forming an agenda. There is also a letter writing committee that came out of the Yellow Springs group. So far there are 155 signatures.
Development: Aimee Maruyama, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, reported on the Alumni Office’s recent activities. They are working on establishing new alumni chapters. They are currently putting alumni lists together for 30-40 chapters all over the country. Aimee will get a list out of the new chapters as soon as they are finalized.
President’s Office: Steve Lawry could not make the meeting today due to a scheduling conflict. Corri, the Operations Manager, briefed the community on CG’s recent meeting with Steve. Steve attended two alumni
events recently, one in Boston and the other in DC. A BOT member was also present for each of these meetings to field questions about their decision to close Antioch.
Pulse:
Survival Guide: Due to the very specific nature of this year, a typical Survival Guide won’t necessarily be the best way to serve the community. CG will meet with Departments individually to discuss what information they want in the Survival Guide. CG will also move this discussion onto Pulse online next week so students and other community members off campus have a chance to discuss what they want/need from this year’s Survival Guide.
Lay-Offs: Many concerns were raised about the recent lay-offs. CG will be posting the positions that were cut later this week. Questions were raised about who made the decisions on the positions that were cut, the
challenges that different categories of employees are facing (specifically in regards to non-union staff), and in general how the College will function with the lack of support and work due to the recent lay-offs.
From the Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog:
“Antioch College alumni are circulating a resolution that calls for splitting the college away from Antioch University, which operates five nonresidential campuses from Seattle to New Hampshire…”
Our resolution has received more notice.
by Margaret Kamara, for Issues in Diverse Education, July 6, 2007
Antioch College alumni have come up with a plan to keep the college open by having it sever ties with the Antioch University system and stand on its own.
Separating the Yellow Springs, Ohio, college from the larger system would free the college from the authority of the system’s board of trustees, says Rick Daily, the alumni board treasurer. The trustees recently decided to suspend the private liberal arts school until 2012.
Instead, the college would form a separate board, overseen by current president Steven Lawry. While the idea has been promoted before, Daily says he hopes this time they will reach an agreement, given the pending closure of the college. The Antioch University system consists of six colleges and universities, located in California, New Hampshire, Ohio and Washington.
Trustees issued a “declaration of financial exigency” and cited declining student enrollment and subsequent loss of tuition revenue as the primary factor behind its decision to suspend the college.
Lynda Sirk, director of public relations and communications for the system, says the college relies on income from the other five institutions.
“From the very moment [Antioch College] was founded on the principle that it would be able to succeed based on tuition and not endowment, it has struggled financially,” she says. “At the current state of education today, [this principle] doesn’t work.”
The four-year suspension is necessary, Sirk says, to ensure that Antioch College is able to reopen as a stronger and improved institution.
More than 700 Antioch College alumni attended a reunion last month, which turned into “Operation Save Antioch.” Daily says he challenged his fellow alumni to raise $40,000 at the event. Within 18 hours, they had raised 10 times that amount; $424,000. The alumni also launched the College Revival Fund and created a Web site, www.antiochians.org. As of Tuesday, the group had raised $525,000 to help save the school.
According to Sirk, the college needs $50 million by this fall to overturn the suspension
Since the reunion meeting, alumni have also been hosting meetings in their home towns.
Karen Mulhauser, the former president of the alumni board and a former trustee, hosted one such meeting last Sunday in her Washington, D.C., home. More than 80 alumni attended, including Lawry. The attendees reflected the sentiments of Antioch alumni around the country, expressing frustration about the late notification to alumni about the school’s financial troubles.
The suspension is to start June 1, 2008 and it will be the fourth time that the college has closed.
Antioch College was found by the Christian Connexion in 1852. It was the first college within the Antioch university system, built under the sentiment of equality for all.
Some of the college’s noteworthy alumni include the late civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, women’s right activist Olympia Brown, Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy and Washington, D.C.’s Congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.
– Margaret Kamara