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McGregor president
says village must embrace vision
Antioch University McGregor has grown in recent years
to an average of 740 students and 81 employees. But it dreams of becoming
something bigger.
“I’m here to tell you I’ve got
a vision, and…it’s not a small vision,” McGregor’s
president, Barbara Gellman-Danley, said to a room full of receptive community
leaders at last month’s strategic planning conference, sponsored by
the Yellow Springs Men’s Group.
McGregor’s leaders want to pick the best place
to create their renewed institution, and Yellow Springs is a strong possibility.
But the village needs to present the school with strategic incentives to
make the possibility a reality, Gellman-Danley said.
When Gellman-Danley goes to the Antioch University
Board of Trustees in June, she said she needs concrete plans and the support
of the community to convince the board that staying in Yellow Springs is
the best option for Antioch. The deal needs to smack of such success that
the board can’t help but sit up and take notice, Gellman-Danley indicated.
“They want a tight package with no financial
risk, and the more partners the better,” Gellman-Danley said in an
interview last Friday. “I need to get in front of the board and have
something so attractive they’ll say, ‘OK, go.’ ”
One of McGregor’s envisioned identities is
to become a chatauqua institute, a lifelong learning center that mirrors
Antioch College’s past. A chatauqua would attract continuing education
adults from all over the country to experience living in a community devoted
to intellectual stimulation. Visitors would come for weekend programs or
extended stays to attend lectures, discussion groups, arts performances
and recreation, Gellman-Danley said.
McGregor also wants to build an interpretive center
that would communicate the Antioch philosophy, and feature a reading room
for relaxation, an amphitheater for concerts and a conference center for
its guests. A trolley that runs from the campus through downtown and to
the Glen or John Bryan State Park would minimize parking and traffic, Gellman-Danley
said.
In addition, McGregor intends to expand and revamp
its current programs. A strategic planning study the college conducted predicts
that McGregor could grow by 50 percent in the next five years, Gellman-Danley
said, and the school wants to add new degrees and certifications to its
management, conflict resolution, professional development and weekend college
programs.
In order to create an experience, the community
needs to embrace the concept, put forth at the strategic planning forum,
that Yellow Springs is an education village with housing, restaurants, transportation,
retail stores and recreation options, Gellman-Danley said.
“But we can’t become what we’re
trying to be without the community behind us,” Gellman-Danley said.
The question is, “what is the community willing to do to embrace us?”
she said.
Villagers who attended last month’s planning
conference voiced unified support for keeping McGregor in town. Community
Resources, the local community improvement corporation, has identified three
potential commerce park locations at the western edge of the village where
McGregor could serve as an anchor to attract other businesses.
The Village has been working with McGregor for several
months to develop a plan that allows the school to meet its needs and complement
the village’s overall goals, Village Manager Rob Hillard said on Monday.
“I see only positives with the growth of McGregor,”
Hillard said.
Denise Swinger, who is a member of Village Council
and the president of the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce, also voiced
enthusiasm for McGregor’s plan to expand, saying it would support
small business growth in the village as well.
“My sense is that we’ll do all that we
can to enhance the growth of this commerce park,” she said Monday.
Gellman-Danley said that McGregor has also received
calls from Fairborn, Tipp City, Dayton and Beavercreek. “I’ve
kept them all at bay while seeing what we can create as a win-win situation
in the village,” she said.
Over the past six months, since Gellman-Danley announced
interest in expanding the adult college, McGregor has conducted a series
of market research studies looking internally and externally to find out
what its students, staff, alumni and support organizations want and need
to help the college thrive.
The results, which Gellman-Danley shared with the
News, show students are satisfied with McGregor’s programs but that
they need classrooms and an environment that cater to adults. Students also
said they needed more limited-residence housing and better access to local
businesses, which often close too early or open too late for students to
patronize.
Antioch College and McGregor share some resources,
but the two schools serve different populations and operate different programs,
thereby having different needs, Gellman-Danley said.
McGregor is also growing at a faster rate. Last
year McGregor’s enrollment rose by 11 percent and faculty salaries
rose by 19 percent. The budget has also shown a substantial surplus for
the past two years. Surveys of current students show over 90 percent think
the faculty and educational programs are good to excellent.
The early results of an economic study conducted
by McGregor consultants indicate that Yellow Springs leaders were right
when they said that Yellow Springs could not afford to lose McGregor, Gellman-Danley
said.
Antioch University, the largest employer in the
village, provides the area with 743 jobs. Of those workers, McGregor employs
108 and has a total payroll of $2.97 million. The economic study estimates
the college contributes $12 million to $14 million annually to the region’s
economy through construction activities and the purchase of materials and
services, Gellman-Danley said.
—Lauren Heaton |
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