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Union Institute & University

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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
Map
Cincinnati
,
Hamilton
,
Ohio
45206

United States
Information
Established1964
PresidentRoger H. Sublett
Color(s)Green and Yellow
AccreditationThe Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.
Websitewww.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 a consortium called "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 consortium directed its focus toward providing educational opportunities for non-traditional students whose needs were best served by a low-residency college experience, [1] 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 distance learning 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, it eventually renamed itself "The Union Institute" (1986). As the Union Institute, it continued to run its graduate school and some of the UWW programs it had administered directly. 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, providing 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 transformation of the UECU into Union Institute & University brought major changes to the "Union". It went from being a consortium to a private university during this period, building on the few programs it ran directly and its doctoral program. With the dissolution of the consortium, however, the resources available from the member institutions were no longer available. These included facilities, faculty, and administrative functions. Also, as a consortium, the Union received funding from the federal government and from foundations. Going forward as a private university without these resources created challenges.

Not surprisingly, 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 & University'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 was put on probation. Later, 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. The former program allowed students to choose any area of concentration they wished. Before the program was dissolved, the OBR required that the concentrations be limited to six.

One confusion that seems to have occured during this period and persists today is the titling of Ph.D.s. As with the current program, the Union offered a single Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences. However, many learners titled their Ph.D.s after specific fields, e.g., Anthropology or Cultural Studies, often reflecting their concentrations, including concentrations that were later excluded from the six that the OBR permitted. Despite these variations, a Ph.D. from the Union Institute prior to the dissolution of the graduate program is a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences.

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:

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ David Bates, “A Brief History of the Union Institute & University”(2002) < http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~hendra/Briefhis.html >

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.

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