Latest news with #BlufftonUniversity
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Bluffton professor presenting on university history
Mar. 24—BLUFFTON — Dr. Steve Harnish, professor of mathematics at Bluffton University, will present the Colloquium, "The Mennonite and the Quantum Physicist: An Early Slice of Bluffton College History" at 4 p.m. Friday, March 28 in Centennial Hall's Stutzman Lecture Hall. As 2025 marks celebrations for Anabaptism (500), Bluffton University (125) and quantum mechanics (100), Harnsih will share an early slice of Bluffton College history from 1913 to 1946 in which the personal lives and rural Mennonite roots of four Ohioans (Otelia, Olga, Herbert and Arthur) intersect major world events and scientific developments of the era. Images and documents will be shared from archives at Bluffton University, The University of Chicago and The College of Wooster. The event is free and open to the public. Featured Local Savings
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Not a do or die moment: Despite failed merger, Bluffton University remains financially stable
Mar. 15—BLUFFTON — News of a planned merger between the University of Findlay and Bluffton University shocked the campus communities last spring. The Bluffton campus is now reeling from the sudden termination of the merger and departure of its president in February. The college's interim president still says its future likely lies in collaborative agreements with Northwest Ohio colleges, an increasingly popular alternative for colleges and universities to remain open as fewer people pursue a higher education, even if a full merger with the University of Findlay is no longer an option. An enrollment cliff for higher education Six hundred undergraduate students and 60 graduate students are enrolled at Bluffton University this term, making it one of the smallest universities in the area. A forecasted college enrollment cliff threatens the school's future as Ohio is expected to experience a 13% decline in high school graduates by 2041, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Colleges and universities are already contending with a decade of stagnant or declining enrollment, which has forced schools to pivot away from the humanities toward in-demand degrees and flexible courses. Ohio Northern University cut jobs and eliminated 21 low-enrolled majors and minors in subjects like youth ministry, physics and public health last summer to stay ahead of a budget shortfall. The university launched an online law degree and committed to strategic investments in its health sciences and engineering programs the same year. Ohio Northern President Melissa Baumann justified the changes in a statement last June, saying the school cannot rely on significant enrollment growth nor tuition increases to balance its budget. 'We believe in this merger' Bluffton University officials initiated merger talks with the University of Findlay to stay ahead of enrollment trends. The university already partners with nearby schools like Rhodes State College to train registered nurses to earn their bachelor's degrees, and offers a dual-degree in engineering with The Ohio State University-Lima, which allows the schools to share students and teaching staff. Administrators say Bluffton University was financially stable when it pursued the merger with the University of Findlay. Still, the school's cash flow in recent years made it difficult for the college to hire for vacant jobs, offer raises or fund faculty research, then-President Jane Wood said on a podcast recorded in January. "We just didn't see that margin doing anything but continuing to get smaller and smaller" over the next decade, Wood said on the podcast. The private Christian colleges, located a mere 20 miles apart, would remain separate campuses but would share resources under the proposed merger, which presidents of both institutions initially expected to be complete by the fall. Unexpected delays in the federal regulatory approval process proved too costly for the University of Findlay trustees, who voted to discontinue the application process on Feb. 27. University of Findlay President Katherine Fell hinted at those frustrations when she and Wood recorded a podcast with Wood about college mergers and aquisitions weeks earlier. "We believe in this merger," Fell said at the time, though she lamented that the approval process could take 18 months to three years to advance to the second phase, and that the schools would be "very limited in the early stages of this process." 'Not a do or die moment' Wood's sudden resignation on Feb. 26 surprised her colleague J. Alexander Sider, the university's vice president of academic affairs and academic dean, who became acting president upon Wood's departure. The University of Findlay trustees voted to terminate its memorandum of understanding with Bluffton the following day. Then Bluffton trustees voted for Sider to become interim president as they begin the presidential search. Sider said university officials always knew the merger may not be successful. "This was not a do or die moment for Bluffton," he said. "We'll continue to remain open. We'll continue to remain responsible to our community's and students' needs." Bluffton University remains financially stable and will continue seeking strategic partnerships, Sider said. Its graduate degrees in dietics, business administration, social work and alternative teacher licensing remain popular, said Claire Kleman, interim vice president for advancement and enrollment management, who said the university regularly reviews its academic portfolio to stay relevant with market trends. "We have been nimble and flexible enough to change and revise our curriculum to meet the needs of our students," Kleman said. "Bluffton has been in uncertain times before, as has every other institution of higher education, and that will continue to be the case," Sider said. "What every institution needs, and what we are committed to providing, is a context in which we can face our uncertainty with hope, with compassion, with trust and with stability." Featured Local Savings
