Union Institute & University

Union Institute & University traces its origins to 1964, when the president of Goddard College hosted the presidents of nine liberal arts institutions at a conference to discuss cooperation in educational innovation and experimentation.[2] The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education[3] was established with Antioch College, Bard College, Goddard College, Chicago Teachers North, Monteith Masson, New College at Hofstra University, Sarah Lawrence College, Shimer College, and Stephens College originally forming The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education, later known as the Union Institute.[4][5] The "discovery" of the English open education movement may have played a factor in the interest in progressive education.[6]

From its inception, the institution had a continuing emphasis on social relevance and interdisciplinarity of research. The Union Graduate School's doctoral programs were based on the British tutorial system. The first doctoral students were admitted in 1970.[7] Samuel Baskin, a psychologist and educational reformer who served on the faculty of Stephens and Antioch colleges, was the founding president of the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, Union Graduate School, and the University Without Walls. Margaret Mead, an anthropologist and author, was one of the institution's first professors.[8]

Renamed in 1969 as the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, it focused on providing educational opportunities for non-traditional students whose needs were best served by a low-residency college experience, as well as those students who sought to conduct socially relevant research in an interdisciplinary manner. The institution is based on the Oxbridge educational model. By 1971, five more colleges and universities joined the Union, bringing the total consortium to 22 schools of higher education.[9] In 1975, the number of schools in the University Without Walls network reached 34.[10] The Union provided administrative support for these programs under the guidance of Samuel Baskin.[11]

The Union of Experimenting Colleges and Universities, or UECU, disbanded in 1982, but the University Without Walls remained in operation.[12]

The University Without Walls was renamed in 1989 as "The Union Institute".[13] The Union Institute acquired Vermont College in Montpelier, Vermont, from Norwich University in 2001.[14] The purchase of Vermont College added several master's degree programs and an adult degree program to the Union's existing undergraduate and doctoral programs. This enabled The Union to provide a progression of degree opportunities, along with certificates in advanced graduate study. In October 2001, the Union Institute was renamed "Union Institute & University". In 2008, fine arts programs from Vermont College were spun off from Union into the newly independent Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Union Institute & University's PhD program came under scrutiny by the Ohio Board of Regents, culminating in a reauthorization report published in 2002.[15] In response to the report, Union underwent major academic and structural changes, including dissolution of the Union Graduate School and restructuring of its PhD programs. The PhD in Arts and Sciences, for example, was redesigned to a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, with four majors: Ethical and Creative Leadership, Public Policy and Social Change, Humanities and Culture, and Educational Studies, and offers a specialization in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Studies.[16] In 2004 the U.S. Department of Education also raised concerns about the quality of the institute's PhD programs.[17]

In December 2022, the university began to publicly experience severe financial distress when salaries owed to university staff were paid late. Throughout 2023, the university continued to exhibit signs of financial distress including further delayed wages and being locked out of its Cincinnati headquarters since August 2023.[18] In addition, as of July 2023, the university was "in default to the tune of more than $367,000" with respect to rent on its headquarters.[19]

Some university staff filed a class action lawsuit against the university alleging that the delayed wages violate labor laws.[20] In addition, 50 doctoral students at Union signed a letter in October 2023 saying that the President of Union, Karen Schuster Webb, "should resign."[21]

The start of the fall 2023 semester was delayed from August 28th to November 6th,[22] and Union was also placed on "heightened cash monitoring status" by the U.S. Department of Education, a status that imposes oversight over its federal financial aid.[23] Christopher Miller, chief of the Atlanta School Participation and Financial Analysis Division of the United States Department of Education, wrote in a letter to President Webb that "few staff remain" as Union has failed to pay staff for three pay periods, and "[i]t is unclear if [Union] has the financial resources to resume educational instruction with minimal staff and resources."[24] In addition the Department of Education demanded that Union secure US$12,000,000 in credit or cash by October 13, 2023 in order to not lose access to federal financial aid.[25] They also noted that Union has yet to pay US$750,000 in federal loan refunds that were due in July 2023, and lost access to student data with the loss of its headquarters.

On October 17, "an email from Union Institute's VP for Academic Affairs Tom Frederick" claimed that "the school was able to receive an extension on its original deadline."[26]

As a consequence of being placed on heightened cash monitoring status, the Higher Learning Commission, Union's regional accrediting body, "assigned a Financial Distress designation to Union."[27][28] The Higher Learning Commission notes that "a Financial Distress designation is a consumer protection mechanism meant to apprise the public that current conditions at an accredited college or university raise serious concerns about its resource base to support its educational programs." HLC plans to visit the college on October 23, 2023 to see if further action is warranted.[29]