Behind the scenes of Otterbein University’s partnership with Antioch University

We’re excited to launch Tyton Partners’ new interview series, Five for the Future: Spotlight on Transformative Institutional Partnerships. This series is designed to elevate the voices of institutional leaders who are implementing partnerships with other institutions, ranging from shared services consortia to full mergers and acquisitions in higher education. We’ll feature short, candid interviews with presidents and senior leaders, from small, private institutions to state systems, who are forging innovative models to address financial sustainability, enrollment pressures, and student success. The series offers a practical look at what it takes to build mission-aligned partnerships. through the lens of those leading the charge.

Our first issue features John Comerford, President of Otterbein University, who shares the thinking and execution behind Otterbein’s pioneering partnership with Antioch University. This collaboration laid the groundwork for the Coalition for the Common Good, and John offers reflections on what drove the decision, the value of mission fit, and the regulatory hurdles they had to overcome. He also outlines how Otterbein focused on a partnership that would expand reach to new student audiences, which has resulted in a 23% increase in student enrollment, an early signal that the model is resonating. It’s a compelling example of what can happen when institutions think differently about change at the intersection of scale and student access.

Interview Questions

1. What prompted your institution to pursue a partnership?

Otterbein University is strong, but it fits the mold of an institution that needs a new business model. We had a modest endowment ($130 million), about 2300 undergraduates, and a dozen small in-person graduate programs with about 300 total students. There was no immediate crisis, but the writing was on the wall – we needed to reach beyond the traditional age undergraduate market, find some scale and efficiency, and/or add to our value proposition.

2. What factors did you weigh when considering the ideal partner?

We thought mission fit was most important. Otterbein has long “done the right thing before it’s popular.” That goes all the way back to being founded coed in 1847, recruiting students of color before the Civil War, and enrolling dozens of Japanese-Americans out of internment camps during World War II. Today, that means a focus on diversity, access, and affordability over rankings and prestige. We needed an institution with a similar value set.

Then, it was important to look at the business model. Would the collaboration give us access to new cohorts of students, efficiency of scale, and/or increased value in our undergraduate program? Once we understood the theory of the business model, we also sought to test it in the market.

3. What’s one thing you wish you knew before engaging in the partnership process?

We entered multiple collaboration discussions without truly understanding the regulatory requirements. We had good ideas, but no idea how to get them practically in place through new governance models, accreditation approvals, and federal review.

The key for us was great legal counsel. We could give them our concept, and they would frequently say, “Well, you can’t do it that way, but here’s another way that could work…” This led to several key breakthroughs.

The attorneys also had key relationships within the federal Department of Education, Higher Learning Commission, and sub-accreditors necessary to get the deal done.

Perhaps most importantly, this helped us create a structure allowing for additional institutions to join the system we named the Coalition for the Common Good.

4. What did you do to ensure everyone felt bought in throughout (i.e., faculty, administration, students)?

There were two key strategies that kept our campus, alumni, and community constituencies supportive.

The first was the early and often sharing of concepts. Our strategic plan, written through a collaborative campus process, included institutional collaboration as a goal. Of course, that could mean many things. But we were clear – we need to look to other institutions to explore new models.

The second strategy was to employ widening circles of knowledge and input. First, just the President and a few key VPs were under NDAs and aware of discussions. Then, Board Officers. Then the whole cabinet. Then the faculty leadership. Then the whole board. Then the department chairs. Etc., etc.

By the time our discussions with Antioch could be made public, we already had all key leaders read-in, supportive, and ready to engage with their peers.

5. What has been the outcome of the partnership?

While still early in our work, we are pleased with the progress being made. We have transferred most of Otterbein’s graduate programs in fields like Allied Health, Athletic Training, Business Administration, Education and Nursing to Antioch with plans to expand their footprint to include Antioch locations in Seattle and Los Angeles in the next few years. Antioch has also brought a number of its programs, like the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Masters and Doctorate of Education, to Otterbein’s location in Columbus, Ohio. Enrollments are modest as these new locations launch, but we are optimistic about their growth potential.

We have also created a Supporting Services Organization for the Coalition and are offering initial services like a joint Learning Management System. The LMS alone saved the institutions tens of thousands of dollars while creating a more seamless student and faculty experience.

Finally, we are pleased that the partnership has had a positive impact on traditional undergraduate enrollments at Otterbein. We have more than a dozen Graduate Early Admissions Pathways (GEAPs) allowing undergraduates to overlap up to nine credit hours of their senior year with Antioch graduate programs. This allows them to cut their time to degree by a semester or more.

Since announcing the Coalition, Otterbein new student enrollment has risen by 23% in just two years.

If you are considering a transformative partnership, we’d love to connect. Fill out our contact form below to learn more. And stay tuned; more spotlights are coming soon in our Five for the Future series.