With a mutual understanding that student needs are changing, public perceptions are shifting, and higher education — especially across the small private landscape — is facing an existential threat, at least in its current form, the presidents of Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose universities in January 2023 met for breakfast.
With St. Ambrose President Amy Novak coming from Davenport, where her university boasts 2,706 students, and Mount Mercy President Todd Olson driving from his Cedar Rapids campus of 1,449, the two met each other part way at a Perkins in Iowa City — symbolic of the spirit of their conversation.
“It was really a conversation of possibilities and what-ifs,” Novak said. “What if we could think a little bit differently about how two universities, who have similar values and missions, could come together and really expand opportunity for students?”
What emerged from that and subsequent talks was both short-term programmatic collaboration and the prospect for a more significant and long-running “strategic combination.”
The immediate agreement — approved by the institutions’ respective boards in April — lets students take a range of in-person, online, or hybrid courses from either university starting in the upcoming fall of 2024. The goal is to create more flexibility and academic pathways for traditional and non-traditional students seeking a degree without debt and opportunities without obstacles.
“When we came together, it was really a conversation to say — are there ways, given our size, that we could be more agile, more responsive to the needs of our community partners, and build out a series of opportunities that we think improve access and affordability for students going forward?” Novak said.
In addition to that arrangement, the two private Catholic institutions — situated about 83 miles apart — are considering a more systemic “strategic combination” aimed at strengthening their position and their ability to meet student needs through a unified mission moored in tradition, innovation, and collaboration.
“We're announcing our exploration of that strategic combination, which — if it moves forward — would mean that we'd eventually join together to become one institution,” Mount Mercy President Todd Olson told The Gazette. “We're not announcing that that's a definite outcome today. But we are announcing that’s something that we're seriously exploring.”
Although not yet final, the vision of a union would be to maintain two separate campuses and two separate athletics programs — and even two separate names — while also trimming redundancies, creating more options for students, and streamlining operations.
“We are doing serious exploration, bringing in more stakeholders in the months ahead,” Olson said. “We anticipate that we may get some real clarity on that by sometime in midsummer, possibly end of June, possibly in July.”
Should the campuses move in that direction, Olson said, the union could take years, “given the regulatory environment, working with the creditors, making sure we're following all those policies and guidelines.”
“But we may get to a decision this summer,” he said.
When asked what combining could mean for the campus’ separate endowments, Novak said, those are things they’ll have to work through.
“But I don't think there's any intention of commingling those funds at this point,” she said. “We recognize donors have given to Mount Mercy to support particular scholarships for various programs and students, similarly at St. Ambrose, we would continue to honor donor intent.”
The discussion comes in the context of the high-profile closure last year of Iowa Wesleyan University — which had been Iowa’s second-oldest college, dating its founding back 181 years to 1842, before Iowa gained statehood in 1846.
Wesleyan — which also had pursued a range of partnerships and collaborations before its closure — was one of four private universities that together in early 2023 asked Gov. Kim Reynolds for a combined $48 million in COVID-relief funds to help navigate “significant obstacles” facing rural private institutions.
Reynolds denied Wesleyan the $12 million it sought — precipitating its closure. And she hasn’t yet answered the other campuses. Although St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy weren’t among those involved in the COVID funding request, they cited some of those same headwinds in sharing news of their collaboration.
“You've heard I'm sure some of the critiques leveled against higher education — about not being as relevant, being too costly, not connected to business and industry,” Novak said. “And we said, what if we just say, how can we do that collectively better? And it's easier to bring two people together than for us to each individually start a whole bunch of new programs.”
That ideation is what brought them to the agreement to cross-offer courses and to a possible second arrangement to “facilitate the seamless transition of qualified students from undergraduate into graduate degree programs.”
Collectively, that would encompass 18 separate graduate programs, along with other certificate and degree-completion options for adult learners.
“So this is the start of what we hope will be a more extensive strategic collaboration as we go forward,” Novak said, noting administrative plans to work this summer toward further developing all the options for the coming fall.
“We know there are some opportunities that our faculty are already providing that are hybrid or entirely online courses that we believe we can open up,” Mount Mercy President Olson said. “And all of this depends on the enrollment level in the course, the major that students are pursuing. So there's a lot that we're still working through.”
When asked whether duplication is something the campuses will consider as they unify and look for efficiencies, Olson said, “There certainly are programs that we both offer.”
“And there also are some really complementary strengths that we have both at the undergraduate and the graduate level,” he said, committing to work with faculty on determining the best academic offerings for each campus going forward.
“There still will certainly be a number of courses that are taught on both campuses; that that will be still a core part of our model,” Olson said. “But we believe we can both open up new pathways and opportunities for students and work to become more efficient.”
Both campuses — like many across the state — have seen their enrollment decline in recent years. Mount Mercy, founded in 1928, is down 22 percent from its 1,849 students in 2017. St. Ambrose, founded in 1882, is down 13 percent from its 3,118 student tally that year.
Public documents show Mount Mercy reported endowment funds over $39 million in 2022, the most recent year available. St. Ambrose reported an endowment of $194 million that year.
Both said one key aspect of their partnership — in some ways making it possible — is their common Catholic foundation.
“When we talk about the challenges facing both higher education and our larger community and world, the unique and distinct attributes of what both Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose value and embrace is a commitment to really developing students that are centered around Catholic ethics, that appreciate the values that both of our institutions hold dear as Catholic institutions,” Novak said.
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With St. Ambrose President Amy Novak coming from Davenport, where her university boasts 2,706 students, and Mount Mercy President Todd Olson driving from his Cedar Rapids campus of 1,449, the two met each other part way at a Perkins in Iowa City — symbolic of the spirit of their conversation.
“It was really a conversation of possibilities and what-ifs,” Novak said. “What if we could think a little bit differently about how two universities, who have similar values and missions, could come together and really expand opportunity for students?”
What emerged from that and subsequent talks was both short-term programmatic collaboration and the prospect for a more significant and long-running “strategic combination.”
The immediate agreement — approved by the institutions’ respective boards in April — lets students take a range of in-person, online, or hybrid courses from either university starting in the upcoming fall of 2024. The goal is to create more flexibility and academic pathways for traditional and non-traditional students seeking a degree without debt and opportunities without obstacles.
“When we came together, it was really a conversation to say — are there ways, given our size, that we could be more agile, more responsive to the needs of our community partners, and build out a series of opportunities that we think improve access and affordability for students going forward?” Novak said.
In addition to that arrangement, the two private Catholic institutions — situated about 83 miles apart — are considering a more systemic “strategic combination” aimed at strengthening their position and their ability to meet student needs through a unified mission moored in tradition, innovation, and collaboration.
“We're announcing our exploration of that strategic combination, which — if it moves forward — would mean that we'd eventually join together to become one institution,” Mount Mercy President Todd Olson told The Gazette. “We're not announcing that that's a definite outcome today. But we are announcing that’s something that we're seriously exploring.”
‘Significant obstacles’
Although not yet final, the vision of a union would be to maintain two separate campuses and two separate athletics programs — and even two separate names — while also trimming redundancies, creating more options for students, and streamlining operations.
“We are doing serious exploration, bringing in more stakeholders in the months ahead,” Olson said. “We anticipate that we may get some real clarity on that by sometime in midsummer, possibly end of June, possibly in July.”
Should the campuses move in that direction, Olson said, the union could take years, “given the regulatory environment, working with the creditors, making sure we're following all those policies and guidelines.”
“But we may get to a decision this summer,” he said.
When asked what combining could mean for the campus’ separate endowments, Novak said, those are things they’ll have to work through.
“But I don't think there's any intention of commingling those funds at this point,” she said. “We recognize donors have given to Mount Mercy to support particular scholarships for various programs and students, similarly at St. Ambrose, we would continue to honor donor intent.”
The discussion comes in the context of the high-profile closure last year of Iowa Wesleyan University — which had been Iowa’s second-oldest college, dating its founding back 181 years to 1842, before Iowa gained statehood in 1846.
Wesleyan — which also had pursued a range of partnerships and collaborations before its closure — was one of four private universities that together in early 2023 asked Gov. Kim Reynolds for a combined $48 million in COVID-relief funds to help navigate “significant obstacles” facing rural private institutions.
Reynolds denied Wesleyan the $12 million it sought — precipitating its closure. And she hasn’t yet answered the other campuses. Although St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy weren’t among those involved in the COVID funding request, they cited some of those same headwinds in sharing news of their collaboration.
“You've heard I'm sure some of the critiques leveled against higher education — about not being as relevant, being too costly, not connected to business and industry,” Novak said. “And we said, what if we just say, how can we do that collectively better? And it's easier to bring two people together than for us to each individually start a whole bunch of new programs.”
‘Catholic ethics’
That ideation is what brought them to the agreement to cross-offer courses and to a possible second arrangement to “facilitate the seamless transition of qualified students from undergraduate into graduate degree programs.”
Collectively, that would encompass 18 separate graduate programs, along with other certificate and degree-completion options for adult learners.
“So this is the start of what we hope will be a more extensive strategic collaboration as we go forward,” Novak said, noting administrative plans to work this summer toward further developing all the options for the coming fall.
“We know there are some opportunities that our faculty are already providing that are hybrid or entirely online courses that we believe we can open up,” Mount Mercy President Olson said. “And all of this depends on the enrollment level in the course, the major that students are pursuing. So there's a lot that we're still working through.”
When asked whether duplication is something the campuses will consider as they unify and look for efficiencies, Olson said, “There certainly are programs that we both offer.”
“And there also are some really complementary strengths that we have both at the undergraduate and the graduate level,” he said, committing to work with faculty on determining the best academic offerings for each campus going forward.
“There still will certainly be a number of courses that are taught on both campuses; that that will be still a core part of our model,” Olson said. “But we believe we can both open up new pathways and opportunities for students and work to become more efficient.”
Both campuses — like many across the state — have seen their enrollment decline in recent years. Mount Mercy, founded in 1928, is down 22 percent from its 1,849 students in 2017. St. Ambrose, founded in 1882, is down 13 percent from its 3,118 student tally that year.
Public documents show Mount Mercy reported endowment funds over $39 million in 2022, the most recent year available. St. Ambrose reported an endowment of $194 million that year.
Both said one key aspect of their partnership — in some ways making it possible — is their common Catholic foundation.
“When we talk about the challenges facing both higher education and our larger community and world, the unique and distinct attributes of what both Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose value and embrace is a commitment to really developing students that are centered around Catholic ethics, that appreciate the values that both of our institutions hold dear as Catholic institutions,” Novak said.
Mount Mercy, St. Ambrose considering becoming ‘one institution’
“When we came together, it was really a conversation to say – are there ways, given our size, that we could be more agile, more responsive to the needs of our community partners, and build out a series of opportunities that we think improve access and affordability for students going forward?”
www.thegazette.com
