Dive Temporary:
- The College of Findlay received’t transfer ahead with its deliberate merger with Bluffton College after a Wednesday vote by Findlay’s board.
- Findlay is terminating its memorandum of understanding with Bluffton, signed final March, in accordance with a information launch. The college cited time and bills required to finish the merger, in addition to the prices of preserving their respective NCAA groups at completely different divisions.
- “For us, due diligence on this case has demonstrated that partnering in key methods is a greater resolution,” Findlay President Katherine Fell stated in a press release.
Dive Perception:
Bluffton had no management over Findlay’s choice to not proceed with their joint merger utility with their accreditor, the Increased Studying Fee, in accordance with Cheryl Hacker, chair of Bluffton’s board of trustees.
The personal Christian universities, each in Ohio, introduced their deliberate merger in March 2024. On the time, each boards unanimously accredited the plan.
“From a vantage level sooner or later, we are going to look again at this second within the historical past of upper schooling as one which required new approaches and daring actions,” Findlay’s Fell stated then. “I consider this merger will show to be each.”
Findlay is by far the bigger establishment, with 5,057 college students in fall 2023, in comparison with Bluffton’s 678.
It’s the financially stronger one as properly, with $238.2 million in property and $84.7 million in whole income in fiscal 2023, properly over double what Bluffton reported on each counts. Though each establishments posted working deficits in fiscal 2023, Bluffton’s was bigger regardless that it introduced in much less income.
Their authentic plan referred to as for Findlay to take care of each of their campuses post-merger. They might additionally keep their athletic groups below their present NCAA divisions — Division II for Findlay, Division III for Bluffton. This was a “key” ingredient of the merger, Findlay stated Thursday.
“Nonetheless, rules necessitate separate processes for athletic monetary assist distribution and prohibit the sharing of assets and sports activities amenities, leading to fewer synergies in these areas than initially anticipated,” the college stated.
Following Findlay’s choice to terminate the merger course of, Bluffton’s Hacker stated that the college “continues to be financially secure, strategically unbiased, and well-prepared for the long run,” and that the termination wouldn’t detract from its mission.
Bluffton additionally famous that it’ll “proceed to discover strategic partnerships that assist the long-term targets of the establishment and the scholars it serves.”
Officers at each universities additionally maintained that the due diligence and preparation course of was helpful and academic, regardless that it wouldn’t lead to a merger.
In line with Fell, the method “resulted in a useful reflective course of for each campuses via the examination of strengths, areas for progress, and capability to innovate and alter inside the evolving panorama of upper schooling.”
The expense and complexity of merging increased schooling establishments are among the many key challenges in making a mix work, consultants say.