18 March, 2024

Collaboration: The Key to Strength

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by | 23 August, 2014 | 0 comments

By John Derry
President, Hope International University,
Fullerton, California

In 2008, I wrote an article for CHRISTIAN STANDARD called “The Future of Christian Church Colleges.” At that time, I anticipated challenges for our schools as they responded to changing demographics, new technology, and increasing accountability demands from government regulation and accreditation agencies.

Hope International University President John Derry walks across campus with students.

Hope International University President John Derry walks across campus with students.

Shortly after the article appeared that March, our country entered the Great Recession. Virtually every industry was affected: banking, automotive, manufacturing, housing, retail, construction, health care, social services, and many others, including higher education. It created a new pressure point exacerbating financial challenges that were already severe.

A 2012 study found as many as one-third of the colleges and universities in the United States are on a financially unsustainable path. Even prestigious schools that typically have enrollment waiting lists are feeling financial stress. After two decades of growth in college enrollments, there are now fewer high school graduates. One survey of institutions with fewer than 4,000 students found 83 percent had experienced a decline in freshmen and overall enrollment.

Small private schools with limited program offerings and no endowment are the hardest hit. Some analysts see this as a “perfect storm” and have predicted as many as 25 percent of the colleges and universities in the U.S. will either merge or close within the next 15 years. These disruptive changes are reshaping higher education. With such a gloomy outlook, many think about the hardships our Christian colleges have faced in the past and are reminded of their resilience.

I recall the circumstances Dr. Marshall Leggett shared with the campus community at Milligan College, where I served as vice president for student development for 13 years. His leadership brought the school out of one of its most difficult eras. Leggett recounted how the summer before he arrived as president, the trustees had voted on whether or not Milligan would open for classes in the fall. Within a few weeks, the business manager came to him to explain the condition of their finances. There were no funds to pay the electric bill, and all available resources, including loan options, had been exhausted.

Milligan survived and today is a thriving, top-rated school, the result of excellent leadership, quality academic programs, generous donors, and faithfulness to the mission of Christian higher education. Can such a turnaround be replicated by other schools facing similar challenges? I believe it”s possible, but it will require a different mind-set than what has been our historic custom””where we brought a school out of a financial crisis by desperate, last-minute fund-raising.

I envision at least two paths that may meet the challenges facing colleges and universities in our fellowship of churches, and both will require a greater degree of collaboration.

 

Mergers and Acquisitions

The corporate world uses this strategy to capitalize on strengths of similar companies and to establish synergy with efficiency for the purpose of making greater profit. The concept has been proposed many times over the years, and a number of our schools have engaged in serious conversations about the possibility. The benefits are obvious, but for a variety of reasons it is difficult to achieve a merger between schools.

Financial pressures, as unpleasant as they are, can be a great motivator, as seen in the merger of bankrupt US Airways and American Airlines, and the mergers of dozens of other companies. We are beginning to see the impact of shrinking enrollment and revenue shortfalls on Christian church colleges and universities. Some have cut staff, faculty, and trimmed budgets so much that further reductions are not possible.

A college”s best course of action may be strategically to form an alliance with a school that shares its mission and can enhance its offerings. Such endeavors are underway between Milligan College and Emmanuel Christian Seminary, in a manner that reflects a kingdom-minded spirit and excellent planning.

 

Consortiums and Partnerships

Every college administrator who has sat through a budget meeting knows there are always more requests for funds than are available. No one is being extravagant or unrealistic when he or she identifies needs that will improve the learning experience of students. Increases in such necessary items as minimum wage, insurance, utilities, and technology are allocated first. These costs are then passed on in the form of tuition increases or covered through contributions from churches and constituents who are faced with growing competition for their gifts. Even with gallant efforts to control the cost of higher education and reduce student loans, prices continue to increase as available financial aid decreases.

As a matter of Christian stewardship, our schools must figure out ways to collaborate and stop duplicating services. The infrastructure in place to serve a school of 1,000 could easily accommodate an additional 500 to 1,000 students with minimal expense. For example, Hope International University has invested several million dollars over the past 15 years to purchase and implement technology to make excellent distance learning and student services available anywhere in the world. It costs only $17,000 to add 100 students to a system that is likely unaffordable to many small institutions.

For the past 10 years I have observed how National University, a nonprofit private school in California, has developed a university system that now has 11 very diverse schools as part of its system. The chancellor described to me how sharing resources has led to improved efficiency and cost savings. The result has been higher-quality education and an endowment of several hundred million dollars. Many states have university systems that coordinate program offerings and support services. For-profit corporations have acquired a number of schools and operate them cost effectively.

Some in our colleges may fear a loss of identity or mission if they were part of a merger, but there are ways to ensure that does not happen by requiring individual colleges to maintain their strategic focus and build on their unique strengths. After Florida Christian College”s loss of accreditation, Johnson University assumed operation of the school and established Johnson University, Florida. The mission of Florida Christian College continues, and the region will be served well as a result of this acquisition.

Collaborative efforts must include the churches within our fellowship, from the smaller to the largest. Many of our colleges have formed partnerships with churches to offer classes on-site, but we”ve barely scratched the surface of the potential.

At least five colleges are participating in an extended residency program at Christ”s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona, where students engage in a rigorous schedule of practical ministry experience combined with online classes.

HIU has established several institutes at churches in the United States and Canada, where members of a congregation can complete an accredited ministry leadership certificate for undergraduate or graduate credit. Because it is a partnership with the local church, the cost of the program for 12 credit hours is just $1,200, and in some cases the church is able to generate revenue to cover the salary of a staff member.

Christian churches own these colleges and universities, and we need a stronger partnership with greater accountability now than at any time in our history. We must think beyond the next three years and consider what will be happening 10 to 25 years from now.

Disruptive change can be a good thing if we embrace it and identify innovative ways to respond. Surely we have the capacity and will to do so.

 

John Derry served as vice president at Milligan College in Tennessee for 13 years, president of Dallas (Texas) Christian College for 5 years, and now is president of Hope International University, Fullerton, California, where he has served for 11 years.

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