Union Institute & University (UI&U) was a private online university that was headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to being a pioneer in distance learning, it operated satellite campuses in California, Florida and Ohio.[1] It was founded in 1964 and closed in 2024.
 | |
| Type | Private online university |
|---|---|
| Active | 1964–2024 |
| Location | Online-Hybrid , OH, CA, FL |
| Colors |
|
| Website | myunion |
History
editCreation and growth
editUnion Institute & University traced its origins to 1964, when the president of Goddard College hosted the presidents of nine liberal arts institutions at a conference to discuss cooperation in educational innovation and experimentation.[2] The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education was established by Antioch College, Bard College, Goddard College, Chicago Teachers North, Monteith Masson, New College at Hofstra University, Sarah Lawrence College, Shimer College, and Stephens College.[2] The "discovery" of the English open education movement may have played a factor in the interest in progressive education.[3]
Samuel Baskin, a psychologist and educational reformer who served on the faculty of Stephens and Antioch colleges, was the founding president of the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, Union Graduate School, and the University Without Walls. Margaret Mead, an anthropologist and author, was one of the institution's first professors.[4]
Renamed in 1969 as the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, it focused on 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 Union Graduate School's doctoral programs were based on the British tutorial system and the first doctoral students were admitted in 1970.[5] From its inception, the institution had a continuing emphasis on social relevance and interdisciplinarity of research.
By 1971, five more colleges and universities joined the Union, bringing the total consortium to 22 schools of higher education.[6] In 1975, the number of colleges in the University Without Walls network reached 34.[7] In 1976, the offices moved from Yellow Springs, Ohio, where Antioch College was located to Cincinnati.[8]
The Union of Experimenting Colleges and Universities, or UECU, disbanded in 1982, but the University Without Walls remained in operation[9] after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1984.[10] In 1989, the University Without Walls was renamed The Union Institute.[11]
Vermont College acquisition and spin-off
editThe Union Institute acquired Vermont College in Montpelier, Vermont, from Norwich University in 2001.[12] The purchase of Vermont College added several master's degree programs and an adult degree program to the Union's existing undergraduate and doctoral programs. This enabled The Union to provide a progression of degree opportunities, along with certificates in advanced graduate study. In October 2001, the Union Institute was renamed "Union Institute & University". In 2008, fine arts programs from Vermont College were spun off from Union into the newly independent Vermont College of Fine Arts.[13]
Early 2000s academic issues
editUnion Institute & University's PhD program came under scrutiny by the Ohio Board of Regents, culminating in a reauthorization report published in 2002. In response to the report, Union underwent major academic and structural changes, including dissolution of the Union Graduate School and restructuring of its PhD programs. The PhD in Arts and Sciences was redesigned as a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, with four majors: Ethical and Creative Leadership, Public Policy and Social Change, Humanities and Culture, and Educational Studies, and offers a specialization in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Studies.[14] In 2004 the U.S. Department of Education also raised concerns about the quality of the institute's PhD programs.[15]
2023 financial distress
editUnion Institute began to publicly experience severe financial distress in March 2023 when salaries owed to university staff were paid late.[16]
Throughout 2023, the university continued to exhibit signs of financial distress including further delayed wages and being locked out of its headquarters. Some university staff filed a class action lawsuit against the university alleging that the delayed wages violate labor laws.[17] The lawsuit was settled in March 2024 for $110,000.[18]
The start of the fall 2023 semester was delayed from August to November,[19] and then cancelled completely on November 15.[20][21] In October, fifty doctoral students at Union signed a letter saying that the president of Union, Karen Schuster Webb, "should resign" and that the entire board of trustees should be replaced.[22]
Union was also placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 by the U.S. Department of Education, a status that imposes oversight over its federal financial aid.[23] In late November, they revoked Union's ability to receive federal financial aid and also fined the university $4.3 million, alleging that Union collected more federal funding that it was supposed to collect and failed to refund the federal government.[24][25][26] In addition, the Education Department reported that the Institute had failed to refund more than $750,000 in student financial aid that had been required.[27]
As a consequence of being placed on heightened cash monitoring status, the Higher Learning Commission, Union's accreditor, "assigned a Financial Distress designation to Union."[28][29]
In December 2023, a teach-out plan was announced between Union and Antioch University for two master's degree programs and a doctoral program.[30][18] An additional teach-out plan was signed with Lasell University in Massachusetts.[28]
Closure
editIn May 2024, the institute was placed on "Administrative Probation" by the Higher Learning Commission for failure to pay annual dues to the accrediting body.[28] Shortly thereafter, Union's leaders announced that the institution would resign its accreditation effective June 25, 2024[28][31] and close entirely on June 30.[32][33]
Despite its June 30, 2024, closure, Union Institute is still attempting to collect past due tuition payments and withholding transcripts of students who refuse to pay.[34]
In November 2024, former students reported that months after the closure they were still unable to get transcripts from the shuttered institution.[35]
In April 2025, Union Institute filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing liabilities of more than $28 million and assets of less than $200,000.[36]
Locations
editOriginally, instruction was provided as a low-residency model at the constituent colleges of the organization.
In 1996, the college acquired two buildings in Cincinnati, Time Hill and the Procter and Collier–Beau Brummell Building. It sold Time Hill in 2008 to Lighthouse Youth Services and the Procter and Collier-Beau Brummell Building to the University of Cincinnati in 2021 and released its satellite campuses in California and Florida.[37]
In 2021, it moved into a rented building at 2090 Florence Avenue in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati to serve as its headquarters, which by July 2023, the university was behind on rent "to the tune of more than $367,000."[37][38] In August 2023, the university was locked out of its Cincinnati headquarters and was evicted on November 9, 2023.[22][39]
Presidents
edit- Samuel Baskin (1965–1976)[8][40]
- King Virgil Cheek (1976–1978)
- Kenneth W. Rothe (1978)[41]
- Robert Conley (1982–1999)[42]
- Judith Sturnick (2000–2003)[43]
- Roger H. Sublett (2003–2018)
- Karen Schuster Webb (2018–2024)
Notable alumni
edit- Stanley Aronowitz (PhD 1975), trade-unionist, social critic, and scholar[44]
- E. M. Broner, novelist, professor and feminist. Author of A Weave of Women and Her Mothers. Taught for Wayne State University and Sarah Lawrence College[45]
- Brother Blue, street performance artist, and instructor[46]
- Rita Mae Brown (PhD 1976), poet and author of Rubyfruit Jungle[47]
- Joseph Bruchac, writer, educator, and storyteller; Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas[48]
- Danny K. Davis, congressman, Illinois 7th District[49]
- Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, New York[50]
- Lez Edmond, civil rights activist, author, and professor at St. John's University[51]
- Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Jungian analyst and author of Women Who Run With The Wolves[52]
- Joan Halifax, Zen Buddhist teacher, activist, and author. Founder and abbot of Upaya Zen Center[53]
- Gerald Haslam, author, Workin' Man Blues, Straight White Male, Coming of Age in California[54]
- Carl Hausman, professor of journalism at Rowan University[55]
- Jean Houston, author and lecturer, co-founder of the Foundation for Mind Research[56]
- Barnet Kellman, theater, film and television director[57]
- Michael T. Klare, professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Hampshire College[58]
- Bernie Krause, bioacoustics authority[59]
- Elizabeth Kapuʻuwailani Lindsey, actor, filmmaker, and anthropologist[60]
- Aurora Levins Morales, Puerto Rican writer and poet[61]
- Phillip Lopate, film critic, essayist, fiction writer, and poet[62]
- James P. Lyke, Roman Catholic prelate; auxiliary bishop of Cleveland (1978–1990) and archbishop of Atlanta (1991–92)[63]
- Karyl McBride, psychotherapist and author[64]
- Portia Simpson-Miller, first female Prime Minister of Jamaica, 2006–2007, 2012–2016[65]
- Scott Douglas Miller, President of Virginia Wesleyan University, former president of Bethany College, Wesley College, Lincoln Memorial University[66]
- Gary Null, radio personality, alternative medicine practitioner, nutritionist, and HIV-AIDS denialist[67]
- Antonia Pantoja, educator, social worker, civil rights leader, and founder of ASPIRA, Boricua College, and Producer[68]
- Ellen Jane Lorenz Porter, composer and editor[69]
- Lincoln Ragsdale, member of the Tuskegee Airmen and real estate developer[70]
- Jane O'Meara Driscoll Sanders, Interim President of Goddard College, (1996–97) president of Burlington College (2004–2011)[71]
- Éléonore Sioui, Wyandot teacher and activist and first Indigenous woman in Canada to earn a PhD[72]
- James Turner, founding Director of Cornell University's Africana Studies and Research Center[73]
- Clayton Valli, poet and linguist[74]
References
edit- ↑ "Locations - Union Institute & University". February 9, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2024.[dead link]
- 1 2 Barrett et al. 1972, p. 1.
- ↑ Smith, Lydia A. H. (1988). 'Open Education' Revisited--Americans Discover English Informal Education, 1967-1974. OCLC 1062873300. ERIC ED304043.[page needed]
- ↑ "Obituary, Samuel Baskin Ph.D.", The Antiochian, 2002, archived from the original on March 3, 2016, retrieved January 11, 2016
- ↑ Fairfield, Roy P. (Spring 1972). "To Bury the Albatross?". Journal of Research and Development in Education. 5 (3): 107–118. OCLC 425483663. ERIC EJ060984.
- ↑ Barrett et al. 1972, p. 2.
- ↑ Marienau, Catherine (May 1975). University Without Walls Handbook. p. 19. ERIC ED146834.
- 1 2 "History - Union Institute & University". April 22, 2021. Archived from the original on July 23, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ↑ Grady, J. (October 20, 1989), The Union Institute acquires a new name, a national historic landmark as its permanent home., Cincinnati, OH: The Union Institute
- ↑ Tate, Skip (May 1996). "A Contemporary School Rebuilds the Past". Cincinnati Magazine. Vol. 29, no. 7. pp. 72–74. Archived from the original on January 23, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ↑ Grady, J. (October 20, 1989). "The Union Institute acquires a new name, a national historic landmark as its permanent home". Cincinnati, OH: The Union Institute.
- ↑ Bates, D. (2002), A Brief History of the Union Institute and University, archived from the original on March 4, 2016, retrieved January 14, 2016[self-published source?]
- ↑ "History". Vermont College of Fine Arts. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ↑ Ohio Board of Regents (2002), Minutes of the meeting of September 19 (PDF), retrieved January 11, 2016
- ↑ Tortora, Andrea (February 23, 2004). "Union PH.D.s under scrutiny". Cincinnati Business Courier. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
- ↑ Monk, Dan (August 24, 2023). "Feds intervene as financial turmoil worsens at Union Institute". WCPO 9 Cincinnati. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ↑ Moody, Josh (August 24, 2023). "Union Institute & University Mired in Financial Woes". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
- 1 2 "Union Institute & University employees reach settlement over unpaid wages". WVXU. March 14, 2024. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
- ↑ Moody, Josh. "Union Institute & University Delays Start of Semester Again". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on September 11, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ↑ @chelseasicknews (November 14, 2023). "NEW INFO: Students at the Union Institute and University tell me the fall semester has now officially been canceled, the university says classes will resume in January. This after the Institute postponed fall classes, claiming it needed more time to disperse financial aid" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ WKRC, Chelsea Sick (November 14, 2023). "University in Walnut Hills evicted, faces uncertain future amid financial crisis". WKRC. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- 1 2 Monk, Dan (October 23, 2023). "When the going got tough, this president left town: As Union Institute spiraled, its president relocated". WCPO 9 Cincinnati. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ↑ Moody, Josh (August 29, 2023). "Union Institute & University Delays Start of Semester". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ↑ Bauer-Wolf, Jeremy (November 22, 2023). "Education Department fines Union Institute & University $4.3M, moves to cut off Title IV aid". Higher Ed Dive. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
- ↑ Monk, Dan (November 21, 2023). "Feds take 'emergency action' against Union Institute for 'serious, ongoing violations'". WCPO 9 Cincinnati. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ↑ Halperin, David (November 22, 2023). "Education Department Terminates Aid to Union Institute & University". Republic Report. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ↑ Katherine Knott (November 27, 2023). "Education Department Cuts Federal Funds for Union Institute". Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 "Higher Learning Commission". www.hlcommission.org. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ↑ Monk, Dan (September 11, 2023). "What went wrong at Union Institute? Enrollment declined, spending did not". WCPO 9 Cincinnati. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
- ↑ "Antioch University Announces Transfer Agreement with Union Institute and University" (Press release). Antioch University. December 14, 2023. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ↑ "Union Institute and University forfeits accreditation after probation, likely to close". Yahoo News. June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ↑ "Union Institute & University announces closure". WVXU. June 20, 2024. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
- ↑ Moody, Josh. "Union Institute & University Announces Closure". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on June 21, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ↑ "Union Institute is closing, but it still wants those tuition payments". WCPO 9 Cincinnati. June 28, 2024. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
- ↑ "Former Union Institute students say they can't get transcripts months after college's closure". Ideastream Public Media. November 5, 2024. Archived from the original on December 2, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
- ↑ "Cincinnati-based Union Institute files for bankruptcy; school still owes 235 people unpaid wages". WCPO 9 Cincinnati. April 25, 2025. Archived from the original on May 20, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- 1 2 "Union Institute & University Moves National Headquarters to New Cincinnati Location" (Press release). Union Institute & University. April 30, 2021. Archived from the original on November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
- ↑ WKRC, Chelsea Sick (October 18, 2023). "Questions mount as local university cancels fall term, citing financial distress". WKRC. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ↑ @chelseasicknews (November 14, 2023). "Union was facing an eviction from its building in Walnut Hills. According to the court document filed below on November 9, the landlord was granted restitution of the property" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ "Sam Baskin – Founder and First President of Union Institute & University | InsideUnion". January 12, 2016. Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ↑ Kirkhorn, Michael (1979). "Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities: Back from the Brink". Change. 11 (3): 18–21. ISSN 0009-1383. JSTOR 40163348. Archived from the original on November 14, 2025. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ↑ "Collection: Office of the President & Chancellor of Seton Hall University: Robert T. Conley records | Monsignor William Noe Field Archives at Seton Hall". archivesspace-library.shu.edu. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ↑ Green, Susan. "Perfect Union? In Montpelier and Cincinnati, Judity Sturnick puts Vermont College back on course". Seven Days. Archived from the original on May 27, 2025. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ↑ Roberts, Sam (April 21, 2021). "Stanley Aronowitz, Labor Scholar and Activist, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ↑ Woo, Elaine (June 29, 2011). "Esther M. Broner dies at 83; Jewish feminist, novelist". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
- ↑ "The Age-Old Teachings and Joyful Beseechings of Brother Blue | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ↑ Sickler, Linda. "Rita Mae Brown to discuss her work and literary world while in Savannah". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
- ↑ "Joseph Bruchac". Vermont College of Fine Arts. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Vote Smart | Facts For All". Vote Smart. Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Gary Dorrien". Archived from the original on November 24, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ↑ "Lez Edmond's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Archived from the original on January 28, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ↑ "Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. - Union Institute & University". August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2024.[dead link]
- ↑ "Upaya Zen Center". Upaya Zen Center. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
- ↑ "Gerald Haslam, Ph.D. - Union Institute & University". August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2024.[dead link]
- ↑ "Carl Hausman". ccca.rowan.edu. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Jean Houston, Ph.D. - Union Institute & University". August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2024.[dead link]
- ↑ "USC Cinematic Arts | Directory of SCA Faculty". cinema.usc.edu. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Michael Klare". Hampshire College. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ Pinguim, Astronauta (December 8, 2012). "Astronauta Pinguim: Five questions to Bernie Krause". Astronauta Pinguim. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Dr. Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey - Union Institute & University". August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2024.[dead link]
- ↑ "Aurora Levins Morales". Poets & Writers. June 13, 2020. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Philip Lopate". January 29, 2009. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Arch James P Lyke". Lyke Foundation. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Karyl McBride Ph.D." www.psychologytoday.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
- ↑ Aviva (October 17, 2017). "The Most Honorable Portia Simpson Miller To Keynote Her Cincinnati Ohio Alma Mater Commencement - Union Institute & University". Retrieved August 1, 2024.[dead link]
- ↑ "Presidents of Wesleyan". www.vwu.edu. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ kreidler, Marc (May 10, 2019). "A Critical Look at Gary Null's Activities and Credentials | Quackwatch". Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Dr. Antonia Pantoja - Union Institute & University". August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2024.[dead link]
- ↑ Batz, Bob (January 1, 1997). "HANDBELL ADVOCATE DIES AT 89". Dayton Daily News. p. 1B. ProQuest 254007792.
- ↑ "Lincoln J. Ragsdale, 69, a Pilot Who Broke Many Color Barriers". The New York Times. June 16, 1995. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Dr. Jane O'Meara Driscoll Sanders - Union Institute & University". August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2024.[dead link]
- ↑ Labelle, Kathryn Magee (April 1, 2017). "'Mother of Her Nation': Dr. Éléonore Sioui (1920–2006)". Ethnohistory. 64 (2): 167–189. doi:10.1215/00141801-3789097. ISSN 0014-1801. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ "James Turner, a 'giant' of Africana studies, dies at 82 | Cornell Chronicle". news.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Clayton L. Valli". www.deafpeople.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
Sources
edit- Barrett, Laurence; Bare, John K.; Hays, William L.; et al. (May 1972). Report of a Visit to the University Without Walls by the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities Yellow Springs, Ohio, May, 1972 for the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (Report). ERIC ED083909.