Union Institute & University
Encyclopedia
Union Institute & University (UI&U) is a non-profit private college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

, specializing in limited residence and distance learning programs. With the main campus in Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, Union Institute & University operates -from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

- "satellite campuses" located in Montpelier
Montpelier
Montpelier or Montpellier is the name of several places:in Canada:* Montpellier, Quebec* Montpellier , a train station in Montreal, Canadain France:* Montpellier, a city in southern France** The University of Montpellierin Ireland:...

, Vermont; Brattleboro, Vermont; North Miami Beach, Florida; Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California; and Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...

, California.

Union Institute & University received regional accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission is part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Higher Learning Commission oversees the accreditation of degree-granting colleges and universities in nineteen Midwestern and South-Central states, including Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa,...

 of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , also known as the North Central Association, is a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states, that is engaged in educational accreditation...

 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
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

 colleges established a consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....

 called "The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education." The consortium, headquartered at the campus of Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...

 in Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and is the location of Antioch College and Antioch University Midwest. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census...

, included a number of schools experimenting with alternative education philosophies during the period, including Antioch; Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...

; Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...

; Hofstra University
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead, New York, United States, about east of New York City: less than an hour away by train or car...

; Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...

; Franconia College
Franconia College
Franconia College was a small experimental liberal arts college in Franconia, New Hampshire, United States. It opened in 1963 on the site of The Forest Hills Hotel on Agassiz Road, and closed in 1978, after years of declining enrollment and increasing financial difficulties.A small, eclectic...

; and Nasson College
Nasson College
Nasson College was a private four-year accredited liberal arts college in Springvale, Maine.It was founded in 1912 as Nasson Institute and changed its name twenty-three years later, in 1935 . It closed in 1983, after which its in-town campus sat vacant well into the 1990s.As the Nasson Institute,...

. 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,
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 occurred 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:

  • Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, with concentrations available in:
    • Arts, Writing & Literature
    • Education
    • Environmental Studies & Sustainability
    • Global Studies, History & Culture
    • Psychology & Human Development
  • Bachelor of Science, with majors available in:
    • Business Administration
    • Business Management
    • Child Development
    • Criminal Justice Management
    • Early Childhood Studies
    • Elementary Education
    • Emergency Services Management
    • Exceptional Student Education
    • Leadership
    • Maternal Child Health: Lactation Consulting
    • Public Administration
    • Secondary Education
    • Social Work

  • Master of Arts
    • Clinical Mental Health Counseling (licensure track)
    • Clinical Psychology
    • Counseling Psychology (licensure track)
    • Creativity Studies
    • Developmental Psychology
    • Education (non-licensure track)
    • Educational Psychology
    • Health & Wellness
    • History & Culture
    • Industrial & Organizational Psychology
    • Leadership, Public Policy & Social Issues
    • Literature & Writing
    • Psychology (non-licensure track)
  • Master of Education (M.Ed.)

  • Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.)
  • Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology
  • Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies, with concentrations in:
    • Ethical & Creative Leadership
    • Humanities & Culture
    • Public Policy & Social Change

Notable alumni

  • Tania Aebi
    Tania Aebi
    Tania Aebi is an American sailor. She completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 26 foot sailboat between the ages of 18 and 21, thus making her the first American woman and the youngest person to sail around the world...

    , youngest person to circumnavigate the globe, in a 26-foot sailboat, age 18–21, author of Maiden Voyage and I've Been Around.
  • Rita Mae Brown
    Rita Mae Brown
    Rita Mae Brown is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time...

    , author of Rubyfruit Jungle.
  • Danny K. Davis
    Danny K. Davis
    For other persons named Danny Davis, please see Daniel Davis .Daniel K. Davis is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:...

    , Congressman for Illinois 7th District.
  • Clarissa Pinkola Estes
    Clarissa Pinkola Estés
    Clarissa Pinkola Estés is an American poet, post-trauma specialist and Jungian psychoanalyst.-Biography:Similar to William Carlos Williams and other poets who also worked in the health or other professions in tandem, Estés is a poet who uses her poems throughout her psychoanalytic books,...

    , author of Women Who Run With The Wolves.
  • Sidney Harman
    Sidney Harman
    Sidney Harman was an American businessman active in education, government, industry, and publishing. He was the Chairman Emeritus of Harman International Industries, Inc. Harman served as the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce in 1977 and 1978. As of August 2010 Harman was also the publisher of...

    , owner of Newsweek
    Newsweek
    Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

    magazine and founder of harman/kardon, Inc.
    Harman Kardon
    harman/kardon is a division of Harman International Industries and manufactures home and car audio equipment.Founded in 1953 by Dr. Sidney Harman and Bernard Kardon — two men with a deep interest in music and the arts — the company helped create the high-fidelity audio industry. Their first product...

  • Michael T. Klare, Five Colleges Professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Hampshire College.
  • Phillip Lopate
    Phillip Lopate
    Doctor Phillip Lopate is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.-Early life and education:...

    , film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet.
  • Honorable Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica, first female prime minister of Jamaica, 2006–2007.
  • Gary Null
    Gary Null
    Gary Michael Null is an American talk radio host and author on alternative and complementary medicine and nutrition. On his talk radio show and in his books and self-produced movies, Null has criticized the medical community, promoted a range of alternative cancer treatments and dietary...

    , talk radio host and author on alternative and complementary medicine and nutrition.

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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