RE: Faculty Senate Support for Resolution 06.10.26:11 and the Authorization of Strategic Review
To: Members of the Coalition for the Common Good Board of Directors
We, the Faculty Senate of Antioch University, write to formally express our support for the Antioch University Board of Governors’ recent passage of Resolution 06.10.26:11. As stewards of Antioch’s academic integrity and deeply invested leaders of our university’s community, the Senate shares the Board’s foundational commitment to the institution's mission, long-term sustainability, and the students we serve.
The Coalition for the Common Good (CCG) did not derive from, and has not garnered, the interests of Antioch University’s faculty as a whole. Instead, our previous Chancellor drove the arrangement and organization of the partnership with Otterbein University, even as he faced significant questioning and even rebuke from the Faculty Senate prior to his retirement. Nevertheless, over the past three years, Antioch faculty have navigated the complexities of the CCG with the hope that it would yield the promised academic expansions and financial stabilization. However, as the Resolution astutely notes, the Coalition has struggled to actualize a sustainable financial framework, operationalize shared services, or successfully expand academic programs. The ongoing drain on our institutional leadership and the financial uncertainties embedded in the current two-institution model have become palpable concerns across our campuses and academic departments.
It is not lost upon the Faculty Senate that, in the midst of any concerns the CCG might hold about Antioch University’s ability to carry out its plans effectively, a significant changeover in Antioch’s administration was required this year, with the university at a precarious time to onboard a new President, Provost, and Chief Financial Officer, as well as other positions–all of whom had no history with the university or the CCG previously. Our relations with Antioch’s new administration this year have felt like a sea change overall from the antagonistic relations the Faculty Senate devolved into with Antioch’s prior administrative team and so we seek continuity in these relationships that have been developed.
We therefore strongly endorse the Antioch University Board of Governors' decision to authorize Antioch University President Lori Varlotta and the leadership team to undertake a comprehensive, objective evaluation of all CCG strategic alternatives. The Faculty Senate possesses full confidence in the necessity of this review. Whether the outcome necessitates restructuring governance, renegotiating agreements, or a separation to restore an independent Antioch, we stand ready to collaborate. The preservation of our students’ success, our programs’ academic quality, faculty resources, and unique institutional identity must remain paramount.
The Faculty Senate expect to remain active participants and consultative partners as President Varlotta leads this critical assessment. We appreciate the Board's proactive governance and their clear directive that no organizational structure should supersede the lived mission of Antioch University.
In solidarity and service,
Faculty Senate
Antioch University