“Momentum? Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.”
Earl Weaver, Manager Baltimore Orioles
(This post continues my journey after my first 5 years at Regis. New Ventures had just been started with implementation of a RECEP model educational delivery for Lewis University. The quest now was to replicate this implementation process with additional private colleges.)
Taking the RECEP Model to New Partners
Building on the success of the first Regis partnership with Lewis University in 1990, New Ventures wasted no time to explore additional colleges and universities with which to collaborate. We hoped that the implementation strategy that we devised with Lewis could be replicated at other candidate colleges such as Emmanuel College in Boston and North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount.
At the time, we did not fully appreciate the magnitude of appeal that the RECEP model held. Before the end of the decade, New Ventures would be working with 22 colleges and universities across the nation (16 states) in addition to Puerto Rico and the Philippines. (These schools are listed at the end.)
Five years after our start with Lewis, New Ventures started a relationship with a Puerto Rican school, Ana G Mendez University System, to develop an accelerated degree completion program exclusively in Spanish. A future blog post will focus solely on this project, one that extended over 25 years.
In addition, the partnership with Ateneo de Manila, a top-notch Jesuit University, became our first venture internationally and it continues currently in 2021. The Ateneo faculty and administrators became colleagues and friends of Regis leaders and staff. Ateneo and the Filipinos still have a special place in my heart.
Learning From One Another
Once the New Ventures partner schools initiated their accelerated programs, it was natural to form systems and programs whereby a “learning network” could be established. The schools understood that they were not competing with one another but, in fact, could help each other. Each partner adapted the RECEP model within its college culture while experimenting with new ways to accomplish its goals.
In an effort to contribute to inter-college learning, New Ventures initiated annual conferences that created a “learning exchange” of ideas. Three-day events were planned and conducted in various cities in the country including Puerto Rico. It was a way for folks to become acquainted with their counterparts and enable them to pick up the phone and discuss common issues at any time.
The conferences also provided a support system for the respective staff members who were seen on their respective campuses as something less than real educators. Traditional education consistently judged anything non-traditional as lacking academic credibility. And perhaps a threat.
Staffing
New Ventures full-time staff grew correspondingly but was increasingly complemented by several internal RECEP practitioner experts and newly trained partner school staff. Thus, we had veteran practitioners from a large RECEP operation as well as younger experts who were attuned to start-up operations. It all seemed to work well.
We were also fully aware that our strategy of helping schools do become independent would ultimately result in New Ventures being phased out. Having become intimately involved with our partners, we started thinking about additional ways that could further advance their educational goals. How could they better serve their students and maintain their institution’s financial viability? (More on this later.)
What Was Happening to Private Colleges?
The 1990s was a period when small to medium sized private colleges were experiencing pressures from several external forces. They found themselves relying on tuition revenue from traditional 18-22 students who were dwindling in numbers and becoming less able to afford private higher education. This was a trend that had been mounting for several years.
There were external dynamics, such as:
- Decrease in state and federal aid to education
- Higher costs in running a college (technology, etc.)
- Competition from other local private colleges
- Competition from state universities and community colleges
- Endowments were minimal in most schools
- Institutional financial aid was increasing to maintain sufficient enrollments
- Demographics: more financially needy populations, fewer full payers
By 1990, it had become much more difficult to maintain a liberal arts college on a break-even basis. Additional revenue, from other than traditional programs, was needed. The question was: How?
Increasing Enrollments and Credit Hours
Confronted with declining enrollments and significantly higher operational costs, the colleges had two strategies for remaining in business: severely cut costs or increase revenue. Cutting costs meant significant reduction of services, delaying maintenance of physical facilities and grounds, and termination of faculty and staff. This path would probably mean that fewer students would be attracted to a demoralized institution.
Increasing traditional student enrollments might only mean adding more institutional financial aid which may contribute to a higher discount rate. Presidents generally took one of two paths to remedy the situation: 1) add more sports to attract additional traditional students (adding football, for example, with minimal scholarship aid), or 2) attract non-traditional students.
Adding more sports would have a downside of facility needs, travel, etc. In some cases, colleges increased the number of athletes with JV teams and simply added more spaces for existing sports. (A football team might have 90 student athletes, for example. This invariably would lead to high rates of attrition from the school.)
The advantages of incorporating a RECEP model program were many. There already was an adult population that had dropped out of college after a year or two and never completed a degree. Now in their late 20s or 30s, this population was eager to finally complete a bachelor’s degree that could be accomplished quickly and conveniently. They were eager to learn more and advance their careers.
Another advantage was the revenue-cost factor. The RECEP model took full and complete advantage of utilizing adjunct, or part-time faculty who were themselves practitioners in their respective fields. They practiced what they taught which meant that they were current in their fields. In addition, as adjunct faculty they were paid only for the few courses they taught. Most of them didn’t depend on their part-time pay to make a living.
Tuition could be set at a significantly lower rate because adult learners wouldn’t need all the student services that traditional aged students required.
Lesson Learned
I had not been aware of the urgent needs of small to mid-sized private colleges in the country until our work began in 1990. The 600+ member schools in the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) were becoming financially fragile and were edging toward closure in increasing numbers. Unless some basic changes were made, I could see many outstanding smaller schools in decline.
How could New Ventures continue to assist these schools? Whichever way you look at it, the days of “going it alone” and resisting change were gone.
Over the course of the ten-year period of working closely with partner schools, I found myself closely aligned with, and empathetic to, the plight of each one. Each had its own personality and culture. Each had dedicated staff that believed in the mission and the students. At times I felt a much closer kinship with them and my own team members than I did for the rest of my university. We were non-traditional adult education missionaries trying to serve the learning needs of a population that had previously been denied via traditional methods. And keeping our schools solvent.
Anticipating the Next Iteration of New Ventures
By the year 2000, it was clear that accelerated programs were becoming more common place in private higher education. It was time to think in terms of the next phase for working with private colleges. That next phase would include online learning and expanding the role of Ana Mendez University System into the continental United States.
Original Partner Schools
Emmanuel College, MA 1991, Detroit College of Business, MI 1992, Davenport College of Business, MI 1992, North Carolina Wesleyan, NC 1992, Rosemont College, PA 1994, Ana Mendez, PR 1996, Marian College WI, Walsh University, OH 1996, St. Ambrose University, IA 1996, Marian University, WI 1997, Spring Hill College, AL 1997, Jacksonville University, FL 199, Dominican College IL 1997, Avila College KS 1997, Woodbury College CA 1997, Waynesburg College PA 1997, Ursuline OH 1998, Spalding College KY 1998, Sacred Heart CT 1998, Mount St. Mary’s MD 1999, Ateneo PH 1999, U. Mary ND
Braidwood Beginnings 