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Antioch University

Type	Private university system
Established	1852[1]
Chancellor	Bill Groves
Location	Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States
Website	www.antioch.edu

Antioch University is a private non-profit university system in the United States with five campuses located in four states. All campuses of the university are regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.^[2] Campuses are located in Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; Keene, New Hampshire; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. Antioch University uses the system of narrative evaluation as a substitute to the conventional grading system of A-F letter grades. Additionally, Antioch University houses two institution-wide programs, the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change^[3] and Antioch Education Abroad.^[4] While it originated from the historic college, Antioch University should not be confused with Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which gained its independence from the University in 2009, and has since had no affiliation with the University.^[5]

Overview

Antioch University serves more than 4,000 adult students around the world and across the country, online and from its five campuses in four states. The Los Angeles campus offers an MFA in creative writing; the Santa Barbara campus offers an MA in education with an emphasis in social justice; the Midwest campus offers a program in conflict analysis; the Seattle campus offers integrative drama and art therapy programs; and the online campus offers a BA in Human Services Administration as well as a BA in Liberal Studies with various concentrations.^{[citation needed]}

Background

Antioch University grew out of Antioch College. Antioch College was founded in 1852 as the result of American educator Horace Mann's dream to establish a college comparable to Harvard but with some notable differences. Antioch College was to be completely nonsectarian and co-educational, and with a curriculum that would include the traditional treatment of the classics, but would emphasize science and the scientific method, history and modern literature. Students would not compete for grades, but would be encouraged to pursue issues of interest to them, read what they considered worthwhile and present papers on topics of their own choosing. Horace Mann became the first president in 1853.

Antioch College began a period of rapid expansion in 1964 with the acquisition of the Putney School of Education in Vermont. That campus has evolved and moved several times to become Antioch University New England now situated in Keene, NH. By 1972, another 23 centers had been opened, and the College By-Laws were revised to define Antioch as a "network", not a college. Even as centers began to close, new centers continued to open; 38 centers would be opened by the end of 1979, including the ABA accredited Antioch School of Law located in Washington, D.C. In 1977, the Antioch College Board of Trustees voted to change its name to Antioch University, and in 1978, Antioch University Corporation replaced Antioch College Corporation as owner of all institutional assets, tangible and intangible.

In 1986, the University decided to close 32 of its units around the country, including the School of Law. The law school now operates as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. By 1989, the University consolidated to 6 campuses including: 1) its original campus, Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio; 2) Antioch University New England in Keene New Hampshire; 3) Antioch University Los Angeles; 4) Antioch University Santa Barbara; 5) Antioch University Seattle; and 6) Antioch University McGregor, an adult, graduate degree program in Yellow Springs, Ohio, now known as Antioch University Midwest.

In 2008, citing financial exigency, Antioch University closed the Antioch College campus in Yellow Springs. Antioch College alumni came together to found the Antioch College Continuation Corporation and purchased the College name and campus back from the University. The newly independent Antioch College reopened in 2011 and purchased its remaining assets back from the University in 2012. Since then, Antioch University and Antioch College have operated as wholly separate, non-affiliated institutions, although the University continues to retain the transcripts of all College alumni who entered prior to the 2008 closure.

From its inception, racial and gender equality, independent study and independent thinking were integral parts of Antioch College. Six students were accepted for the first quarter: four men and two women who came to share the same college classrooms for the first time in the U.S. The notion of gender equality extended also to the faculty. Antioch College was the first U.S. college to designate a woman as full professor,^[6] and the original faculty included seven men and two women. Then, in 1863, the college instituted the policy that no applicant was to be rejected on the basis of race.

In the early 1850s, Rebecca Pennell offered a course on teaching methods which was the first of its kind, while John Burns Weston, class of 1857, established a long-standing precedent by being both student and faculty simultaneously. He taught Greek language and literature for 20 years and remained a lifelong student.

While Antioch College never diverged from the philosophy of Horace Mann, the final form of an Antioch education traced its roots from the election of Arthur Morgan as President of the college in 1920. Morgan, like Mann, believed in the development of the individual as a whole. Having seen the difficulty encountered by ivory-tower academicians attempting to participate in the business world, he resolved to change the cloistered educational experience by providing students with work experience in their field. He wrote “The Plan for the New Antioch” which was his vision for the future of the school. This was the beginning of Antioch's unique program of work and study, what Morgan termed, “industrial education.”

Morgan initiated the practice of student government. He also changed the nature of the admissions procedure. Rather than relying on entrance examinations, Morgan opted for more personal information on prospective students. In addition, senior exams were graded "honors" or "pass", and students who failed could retake the exam. Morgan remained at Antioch until 1933, when President Roosevelt requested that he assume directorship of the Tennessee Valley Authority Project.

College expansion and university founding

In 1964, Antioch College took over the Putney School of Education in Vermont (now Antioch University New England in Keene, New Hampshire). During the next decade, other adult learning programs were instituted: among them, Antioch Seattle; Antioch Southern California with campuses in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara; and the Antioch Education Abroad Program (with centers in London, Germany and other locations).

In 1978, Antioch College became a university system. From 1978 to 1994 the President of Antioch College also served as the Chancellor of Antioch University.^[7] In 2002, Antioch University’s Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program was founded. The program is designed to educate professionals from a wide range of fields to understand and lead organizational change. The program’s low-residency model offers students interdisciplinary study with a practitioner focus that teaches and encourages applied research.

In 2009 Antioch College became entirely independent of Antioch University.^[8]

Campuses

Antioch University New England

Founded in 1964, Antioch University New England is located in Keene, New Hampshire, a small city with a strong tradition of civic, cultural, and environmental activism, in the heart of the state's Monadnock Region. It is Antioch University's largest branch, with over 1,200 graduate-level students. Master's degrees are awarded in areas of Clinical Mental Health Counseling (with specializations in Addictions Counseling & Dance/Movement Therapy), Marriage and Family Therapy, Environmental Studies, Organization & Management ("Green MBA"), and Education. Doctoral degrees are awarded in the areas of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D), Marriage and Family Therapy (Ph. D), and Environmental Studies (Ph. D). Antioch-New England is one of only three schools in the United States to offer Waldorf teacher training and has gained critical acclaim for its annually published environmental literary journal Whole Terrain.

Antioch University Los Angeles

Established in 1972 and with more than 8,000 alumni, Antioch University Los Angeles serves the diverse communities of the greater Los Angeles area. The core values of social justice, service to community, and lifelong learning comprise the heart of the BA degree completion program and master's degree programs in organizational management, education and teacher credentialing, psychology, and creative writing.^[9] Partnerships with community organizations provide students with unique experiential learning opportunities. The low-residency MFA in creative writing was named among the top five programs in the nation by The Atlantic,^[10] and the graduate clinical psychology specialization in LGBT studies is the first of its kind. The MA in urban sustainability was developed in response to the growing awareness of the interconnections among environmental, economic, and social issues. The interdisciplinary program prepares well-trained, well-informed scholars, community leaders, and activists to advocate for sustainable urban policy and social change in the face of the growing global environmental crisis. The current student body consists of approximately 1000 learners, and supports a collection of faculty who are arguably in the top echelon of their fields. The school also offers a B.A. in Liberal Studies as well as Masters of Arts in Psychology, Organizational Management, and Urban Sustainability.

Antioch University Midwest

Founded in 1988, Antioch University Midwest (AUM) is located in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Antioch-Midwest helps adult learners achieve their educational goals through programs designed to make social change. Students have an extraordinary degree of responsibility for shaping their education in small classes and online study; coursework is collaborative and experiential. This campus offers NCATE-accredited graduate degrees in education that lead to Pre-K-12 licensure or endorsements, graduate certificates and master's degrees in conflict analysis and engagement, and an individualized graduate program for students who seek a unique degree. The undergraduate program for adult learners builds on students’ prior learning to complete a bachelor's degree in management, health and wellness, humanities, human services administration, and early childhood education.

Antioch-Midwest offers bachelor's degrees in Humanities, Management, Human Development, Liberal Arts, Health and Wellness, and Human Service Administration through an academically intensive cohort model of on-campus classes offered in the evenings and on Saturdays. They also offers the M.A. in Conflict Analysis and Engagement, Management, Community Change and Civic Leadership, as well as a number of M.Ed. programs and endorsements certified by NCATE. The M.A. in Individualized Liberal and Professional Studies provides a self-designed major where students work with Antioch University faculty as well as specialized academic professionals who agree to mentor the student through their studies. Many of the graduate programs are available with limited residency in an on-line format. Antioch University Midwest was previously known as Antioch University McGregor and was founded in 1988 as the School of Adult and Experiential Learning at Antioch College.^[11][12]

Antioch University Santa Barbara

Founded in 1977, Antioch University Santa Barbara enrolls approximately 270 adult students from Santa Barbara and surrounding counties, as well as assorted students from other regions of the United States and some foreign countries. The campus offers a BA in liberal studies with seven possible concentrations, MA in clinical psychology with two possible concentrations, a Psy.D in clinical psychology, an MA in education and teaching credential program, an MBA program, and a Women and Leadership Certificate program.

Antioch University Seattle

Antioch University Seattle (AUS), founded in 1975 in Seattle, Washington, offers master's degrees, a B.A. completion program, and a Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy. D.). Between 800 and 1000 students attend AUS, with an average age of 35. The School of Applied Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy is the largest and longest running program with close to 3,000 graduates since 1976. The School offers master's degrees in mental health counseling, integrative studies, child, couple and family therapy, art therapy and drama therapy in addition to the Psy. D. program. The Center for Programs in Education offers teacher preparation at the graduate level, plus a master's in education for experienced educators. The Center for Creative Change features a low-residency, interdisciplinary approach to learning and offers master's degrees in environment and community, management and leadership, organizational development, and whole systems design. The B.A. in Liberal Studies program attracts students who like an individualized approach to completing their undergraduate degree. Students can receive credit for life experience and may pursue subjects of particular interest to them.

University-wide programs

Graduate School of Leadership and Change

A low-residency, cross-sector Ph.D. dedicated to engaging working professionals in the interdisciplinary study, research and practice of leading positive change in workplaces, schools, organizations, and communities, across the country and world.^[13]

Antioch University Online

Antioch University Online is a 100% online learning environment offering bachelor's completion degrees and graduate programs.^[14]

Antioch College separation and reorganization

In June 2007, the Antioch University Board of Trustees announced that they would suspend operations of Antioch College the following year, and that they intended to re-open the college in four years. It was their belief that four years would give the university the necessary time to develop and execute a plan for re-building Antioch College in a manner that would both honor its legacy and secure its future.^[15]

There was considerable controversy among members of the Antioch College alumni group and the administration, suggesting that the university should not close the college. During this time – 2007-2009 – two different organizations (the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [NCA] and the American Association of University Professors [AAUP]) conducted audits and investigations into the university’s actions,^[16] with a response from the university.^[17]

Subsequently, a group of Antioch College alumni, headed by the Antioch College Alumni Board, expressed interest in purchasing the college from the university and re-opening the college as an independent institution. The alumni group formed the Antioch College Continuation Corporation as the vehicle for negotiating and owning the college. After two years of negotiations, the parties agreed to terms and, on September 4, 2009, the parties conducted a signing ceremony that ratified their agreement. Mark Roosevelt, a well-known senior education administrator, previously the superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, was appointed President. A reopened and separate Antioch College welcomed its first class of students in the fall of 2011.^[18]

References

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 39°48′12.6″N 83°54′25.8″W / 39.803500°N 83.907167°W / 39.803500; -83.907167