Tag: announcements

Yellow Springs Update

Community Pulse from YELLOW SPRINGS – compiled by CG

Students: There is an effort being made by Tim Eubanks to connect
students and their families with Antioch Alums in their areas. This
has been posted on the Antioch College Online Network, as well as on
more informal online networks. This networking is just getting
started and we are hoping to get people connected soon.

Faculty: The faculty has lost a good amount of their support staff
this week with the staff positions that have been cut. In AdCil a
faculty plan was presented by Steve Lawry. The plan stated that the
tenured faculty will be hired for the period of Fall 2007 and Spring
2008 and will teach courses covered by their regular teaching load. It
was discussed and advised that tenure track faculty and visiting
faculty be issued contracts that will hire them for the period of Fall
2007 and Spring 2008 in the same manner of the tenured faculty.
Originally these contracts would have been issued for the period of
fall until December 31, 2007. The intent of these revisions is to
assist all faculty in the work overload, which is expected this coming
year.

There is interest from Faculty to start soliciting testimonials from
Alums to raise awareness and motivation for the Antioch community.
These testimonials would include pictures, and information about what
the alums are doing now.

Staff: There were a lot of staff cuts this week, which will be
continuing into next week.

8 union positions were cut, 7 full-time positions, and 1 part-time position.

13 full-time non-union, administrative positions were also cut. These
positions were in the Library, Admissions, Academic Support Center,
Office of Institutional Advancement, Dining Services, Student
Services, Coretta Scott King Center and the Gym.

Yellow Springs Villagers had a meeting as planned on June 27th.
This meeting was to discuss future plans to support the effort to stop
the suspension of the college. There is a town meeting planned for
either July 10th or 11th. At this meeting they hope to plan
committees and start organizing. Committees were formed to plan
advertising and organizing for the Town Meeting. A question sheet was
passed around for the townspeople to have an opportunity to have their
questions asked at the meeting with Emeritus Faculty and the
Chancellor.

Emeritus Faculty met with the Chancellor, Toni Murdock, on June 28th.
A list of questions was presented from the Yellow Springs Community
Members and the Emeritus Faculty had the opportunity to have their own
questions answered as well. The meeting lasted for about an hour and
a half.

Update from Communications Team

COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
as of 7/2/2007

– held first conference call 6/29 to coordinate activities and revise contact list
– next conference call 7/6

Priorities:
1. Antiochians.org site functionality
– Frequently Asked Questions
– Alumni Board mission and bios
– Support action groups and alumni chapters through list serve creation

2. Create press releases
– Create mechanism for Alum Board content approval (M. Heffernan)
– Create support for people wanting to write letters to editor

3. Continue to channel people and information to appropriate venues/groups
– Update and expand contact list by finding out what groups are active and what gaps we have in communications, and trying to fill those
– Identify lead people for external communications and history groups

4. Continue collecting and analyzing news coverage

Video of Faculty Press Conference Online

Please set aside time to watch this video. With their jobs on the line, it took incredible courage for the faculty to speak up like this. For those hungry for information on how we got to this difficult position, this video is maybe the best source yet.

The Antioch College faculty press conference during reunion at 1:00pm Saturday, June 23. It is offered in its entirety, minus the first 5 seconds or so.

Alumni Board Press Release

For Immediate Release

Antioch Alumni Vow to Keep College Open, RAISE $424,000 IN 18 HOURS

Yellow Springs, Ohio, June 25, 2007 – More than 700 Antioch College Alumni spanning seven decades gathered to celebrate this past weekend and affirm their commitment to keeping Antioch College alive and open.

Galvanized by the Antioch University Board of Trustees’ June 12, 2007 announcement that the College would suspend operations as of July 2008, hundreds of alums dropped everything and made their way to their alma mater in Yellow Springs, Ohio to see how they could help.

In a series of passionate meetings over the course of alumni reunion weekend, an action plan was launched. The plan was developed through Antioch College’s characteristic and distinctive community governance process, which incorporates the voices of faculty, staff, students, and members of the Yellow Springs community, as well as alumni. On Saturday, June 23rd, Alumni Board treasurer Rick Daily challenged alumni to raise $40,000 by the end of the reunion weekend. Within 18 hours, the drive raised more than $424,000 for the initial contribution to the College Revival Fund.

The Alumni Board called for the creation of a College Board of Trustees that will be autonomous from the Antioch University Board of Trustees. Reunion attendees are returning to their communities to raise additional funds from alumni and friends. Antioch alumni have also launched a Website, www.antiochians.org to facilitate communications among far-flung alumni as well as students, staff, faculty and friends of the College.

If you are interested in making a donation to the Antioch College Revival Fund, please mail donations to: College Revival Fund, U.S. Bank, 266 Xenia Avenue, Yellow Springs, OH 45387.  Please indicate for deposit into account no. 130 110 698 524.  Contributions are tax-deductible.  Correspondence concerning your donation should be addressed to: Richard W. Daily LLC, 215 Union Boulevard, Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80228.

Contact Information:

Nancy Crow ’70 ncrow@penberg.com
Antioch Alumni Board President (303) 839-1204

Athena D. Turner-Frederick ‘82 kaarak@aol.com
Antioch Alumni Board Member (814) 644-7351

Kristen Pett ‘90 klpett@sbcglobal.net
Antioch Alumni Board Member (818) 774-1142

Seeking Legal Aid

Hey all,

This is Chad Johnston, graduate ’01, Community Manager 01-02.  The faculty are in a seriously tumultuous  situation right now.  Their jobs are on the line, they can be fired at will, and are devastated that they have spent the last two years implementing a new curriculum with the promise of being funding for five years, only to find they no longer have a job.  The alum and alumni board need to step up to the plate and put a stop to this thing; we need to seek legal action for an injunction or to hold the Board of Trustees legally accountable for the commitments they made to the institution.

There is precedent out there of alumni boards suing institutions for mis-management, and though I don’t know if we want to go that far at this moment, we do need to slow this decision and process down.  If you are, or know a lawyer who would be willing to discuss this issue, please contact me ASAP.  There are some fishy things going on with the Board of Trustees, and we have a right to protect the college.  If the Board won’t do it, we should.

Chad A. Johnston ’01

johnston (at) thepeopleschannel (dot) org

Announcement of Closing from Steve Lawry

Antioch College Community
Steven Lawry,
President
June 12, 2007

It is my sad duty to inform you that the Antioch University Board of Trustees decided on June 9th, 2007, that Antioch College would be closed from July 1st, 2008. The decision was taken in light of the College’s very fragile financial circumstances, resulting from low enrollments and insufficient funding from other sources, including endowment income and gifts. In making this decision, the Board declared the College to be in a state of financial exigency, which enables the administration to bring the operations of the College to an orderly conclusion by July 1st next year.

The University will begin to plan for the eventual possible reopening of the College by 2012. The new Antioch College would, if sufficient financial support is secured, have up-to-date facilities and a curriculum strongly attractive to larger number of students and based on Antioch’s traditional educational values.

The College will operate normally over the course of the coming academic year, with a view to graduating as many members of the fourth-year class as possible, and to ensuring the academic progress of first, second and third year students. Arrangements will be made to help qualified students complete their degrees at McGregor or at other campuses in the Antioch University system. We will do all that we can to help students transfer to other schools that they might wish to attend.

Faculty contracts will end from July 1st, 2008. The College will be retaining over the course of the coming year staff members necessary to ensure the College’s effective operations, being mindful that as programs and operations wind down over the coming months, appropriate staff reductions will be made.

The Dean of Faculty will be convening urgent meetings of the Curriculum Committee to plan academic support for students in the coming year. I have already met with our Community Managers and they will have key leadership roles to play in helping sustain a rich and rewarding campus life over the coming year.

Our staff in Human Resources will be distributing information on personal counseling resources available through the College’s Employee Assistance Program. Other forms of assistance to help faculty and staff manage their professional transitions are being looked into, and I hope to report back to you very soon.

I appreciate your hard work and commitment to Antioch College over the years. This is a vitally important institution. I am deeply distressed to have to share this news with you.