The University of Findlay and Bluffton University have announced a merger. They’ve announced a decision by both boards to pursue a merger, which both academic institutions hope will be effective in time for the 2025 fall semester. The announcement was made public with an email blast and the launch of a new website on March 20th around 3:30 P.M., meanwhile, staff and faculty of both universities were informed of the merger earlier that day. We’re a little bit late covering this announcement as Easter and our Friday routine have put us off sync with UF and BU’s messaging.
The website, called FindlayBlufftonFuture.com has all of the key information, as well as new artwork and a slogan design specifically for the merger. The new artwork, a silhouette of a tree with orange and purple leaves, represents the colors of both UF and BU growing together on a new, single tree. Likewise, the new slogan reads “Strong Roots. Brighter Future.” The messaging is pretty clear, UF and BU want their students, employees, and surrounding community to believe this merger will keep all of the best parts of both institutions, including their religious heritages, while setting each school up for a more successful future. There are a lot of reasons to believe this is true.
Dr. Katherine Fell and Dr. Jane Woods, the respective presidents of UF and BU, sat down on Tuesday March 25th in Findlay and Wednesday March 26th in Bluffton for town hall meetings with a time for QA. The presidents both talked about the need to innovate and to secure their futures now, as they foresee challenging times ahead given current demographic trends, namely that student populations are shrinking, and the next 5 to 10 years will see a precipitous drop in student enrollment if things stay the same. The Chronical for Higher Education calls this an “enrollment cliff” and based on figures from the United States Census Bureau, the population of 18-year-olds is likely to decrease from the peak 4.4 million in 2020 to around 3.8 million by 2039. Currently, standard models and estimates suggest that the population of 18-year-olds in the U.S. won’t reach over 4 million for the rest of the century. The merger, then, is a means to make both universities more attractive to students, and therefore draw in a high percentage of students. Given that Universities all around the nation will be fighting for student enrollment, it seems like a prudent strategy.
Both presidents made it clear in their Q/A sessions that this isn’t a move of financial desperation or because either institution is somehow unstable. Instead, the merger should be seen, the presidents believe, as a means to move from strength to strength. They described this merger as on the leading edge of the education business, and they anticipate that we are going to be seeing many more mergers and cooperation in higher education in the future.
During the QA sessions, questions about the identity of both schools were brought up. The presidents made small jokes and quips about whether or not the new mascot would be called “the boilers”, a combination of the Findlay Oilers and Bluffton Beavers, but in more serious responses, it was communicated that maintaining identity was a crucial part of the merger, and the website presents examples of other institutions that merged and yet have maintained school colors, mascots, and other key identifying traits.
As much as both institutions are trying to present this merger in the best possible light, there are still unanswered questions, like BU's name, for instance. The FAQ section of the website says that “University of Findlay and Bluffton University will continue to operate as independent institutions, until legal approval is granted. No decision regarding Bluffton University’s name has been made at this time.” This reflects how much of the website’s language was initially crafted. There is a lot of talk about what won’t happen until the merger finalizes, seemingly to reassure people who might be anxious about the future. Meanwhile, the website has much less to say about what will happen once the merger is finalized. In fact, the presidents shared similar sentiments, saying that there were many unknowns at this stage of the merger, and that it will be up to UF and BU staff and faculty to help answer some of these questions in the coming weeks and months.
One question likely at the forefront of many staff and faculty, is whether or not there will be layoffs as the merger finalizes. Undoubtedly, there will be some redundancies, and in fact, the most high-profile job on either campus is going to be cut. Bluffton University President Jane Woods will step down from her role once the merger goes through, making Dr. Fell the president over both campuses. If the role of the president is getting cut, it’s hard to imagine that there aren’t other similar redundancies across the campuses. When asked about this, Dr. Fell responded by saying that there would be some “disruption”, but doubled back and clarified saying that it would be “good disruption, not bad”. Given that the question was explicitly about job cuts, it’s hard to understand what “good disruption” might mean, but the posture of the campaign has been to focus on the positives. On the other hand, it was made clear that both institutions would be honoring tenure, so tenured professors won’t have to worry about job loss.
At the Findlay town hall meeting on March 25th, one English professor from Bluffton stepped up to the mic and said, “I’m really concerned about a number of faculty that feel that this has been a kind of situation that creates distrust, as opposed to trust... have you thought at all about how to rebuild that trust?” Dr. Fell of Findlay took the question and recognized that a merger like this is historic, and because of the nature of the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that both boards were placed under, very few people could know about the merger in advance of this announcement, and so it was a shocking revelation to many. “How are we dealing with it?” Dr. Fell posited, “by offering to answer questions that we know the answer to, and asking faculty and staff on both campuses to create the answers that really belong to all of us, not just two presidents... I think it is inevitable that you will learn to trust one another on both campuses and trust your leadership again.”
Both presidents, and other leaders we’ve spoken to, are excited about the merger. There is no denying that the communities of Bluffton and Findlay share a lot in common. Values, beliefs, culture are similar in many ways. Yet, there are many differences to be worked through. Everyone involved wants to see both institutions continue to flourish. Over the next year, as more details come to light about the merger, and as more concrete decisions are made, we are eager to see the new opportunities that this merger will bring to students.
CGGC eNews—Vol. 18, No. 14
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