Union Institute & University

This article is about the Union Institute & University in Ohio. For other institutions with a similar name, see Union University (disambiguation).

Union Institute & University
File:UI&U logo square.png
Location
Cincinnati , Hamilton , Ohio 45206 United States
Information
Established	1964
President	Roger H. Sublett
Color(s)	Green and Yellow
Accreditation	The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.
Website	www.myunion.edu

Union Institute & University (UI&U) is a non-profit private college, specializing in limited residence and distance learning programs. With the main campus in Cincinnati, Union Institute & University operates -from Ohio- "satellite campuses" located in Montpelier, Vermont; Brattleboro, Vermont; North Miami Beach, Florida; Los Angeles, California; and Sacramento, California.

Union Institute & University received regional accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in 1985 and currently enrolls approximately 2,000 students from across the country. Union Institute & University currently has a first year persistence retention rate of 79%; approximately 66 percent of undergraduate students earn their degrees from the university.

History

Union Institute & University traces its origins to 1964, when a group of ten liberal arts colleges established The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education. The consortium, headquartered at the campus of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, included a number of schools experimenting with alternative education philosophies during the period, including Antioch; Sarah Lawrence College; Bard College; Hofstra University; Goddard College; Franconia College; and Nasson College. Renamed The Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities in 1969, The Union directed its focus toward 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 consortium provided administrative support for a number of programs run by its member schools under the title The University Without Walls. It also formed a graduate school called The Union Graduate School, which offered a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences. The consortium filed for bankruptcy in 1978. Emerging from its bankruptcy, the institution renamed itself The Union Institute in 1986. As the Union Institute, the school continued to operate its graduate school. After acquiring Vermont College in Montpelier, Vermont from Norwich University in October, 2001, it was renamed Union Institute & University.[2] The purchase of Vermont College added several Master’s degree programs and an Adult Degree Program to Union Institute & University’s existing undergraduate and doctoral programs. This enabled The Union to provide a progression of degree opportunities, along with certificates in advanced graduate study. Since its inception in the 1960s, The Union has a continuing emphasis on social relevance and interdisciplinary programs.

The Union Institute & University's Ph.D. program came under scrutiny by the Ohio Board of Regents in the late 1990s early 2000s, which scrutiny culminated in its 2002 Reauthorization Report. The report was critical of the Union Institute's Ph.D. program, noting in particular that " ... expectations for student scholarship at the doctoral level were not as rigorous as is common for doctoral work ... " (OBR 2002 Reauthorization Report, page 13). The Union Graduate School was dissolved and the Ph.D. program was restructured. Formerly it had been a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences. A new Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in good standing was established, and the former Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences is no longer accepting students. The new program offers three areas of concentration.

Since 2002, Roger H. Sublett serves as Union Institute & University’s fifth president.[3] Under Sublett, who was director of the Kellogg Foundation from 1991–2001,[4] The Union has undergone major academic and structural changes, designed to respond to the issues identified during its reauthorization process.[5]

Academics

Union Institute & University awards the following degree programs:

• Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, with concentrations available in:
  • Arts, Writing & Literature
  • Education
  • Environmental Studies & Sustainability
  • Global Studies, History & Culture
  • Psychology & Human Development
• Bachelor of Science, with majors available in:
  • Business Administration
  • Business Management
  • Child Development
  • Criminal Justice Management
  • Early Childhood Studies
  • Elementary Education
  • Emergency Services Management
  • Exceptional Student Education
  • Leadership
  • Maternal Child Health: Lactation Consulting
  • Public Administration
  • Secondary Education
  • Social Work

• Master of Arts
  • Clinical Mental Health Counseling (licensure track)
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Counseling Psychology (licensure track)
  • Creativity Studies
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Education (non-licensure track)
  • Educational Psychology
  • Health & Wellness
  • History & Culture
  • Industrial & Organizational Psychology
  • Leadership, Public Policy & Social Issues
  • Literature & Writing
  • Psychology (non-licensure track)
• Master of Education (M.Ed.)

• Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.)
• Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology
• Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies, with concentrations in:
  • Ethical & Creative Leadership
  • Humanities & Culture
  • Public Policy & Social Change

Notable alumni

• Tania Aebi, youngest person to circumnavigate the globe, in a 26-foot sailboat, age 18–21, author of Maiden Voyage and I've Been Around.
• Rita Mae Brown, author of Rubyfruit Jungle.
• Danny K. Davis, Congressman for Illinois 7th District.
• Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run With The Wolves.
• Sidney Harman, owner of Newsweek magazine and founder of harman/kardon, Inc.
• Michael T. Klare, Five Colleges Professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Hampshire College.
• Phillip Lopate, film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet.
• Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica, first female prime minister of Jamaica, 2006–2007; 2012-Present.
• Gary Null, talk radio host and author on alternative and complementary medicine and nutrition.
• Lincoln Ragsdale, member of the Tuskegee Airmen, and real estate developer in Phoenix, AZ.

Further reading

• Fairfield, Roy P. (1972). "To Bury the Albatross?" Journal of Research and Development in Education 5(3): 107-18.
• Hungerford, Arthur and Fairfield, Roy P.(1973). "University Without Walls and Union Graduate School: New Frontiers in Humane Learning." Engineering Education 63 (7): 505-511.
• Kirkhorn, Michael. (1979). "Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities: Back from the Brink." Change 11 (3): 18-21.

External links

• Official website