Concordia University closes

[texasdiver]

Latest story in the Oregonian is that the Lutheran Church may have pulled the plug on Concordia because they were too nice to their LGBT students and didn't hate them enough: https://www.oregonlive.com/education...ay-rights.html

On the plus side for the students, it looks like other local religious colleges like Pacific University and George Fox are bending over backwards to attract Concordia students as transfers. It won't be convenient for them though as Concordia was in a fairly accessible location along transit lines in NE Portland while those other schools are way out in the outer suburban fringe. The other private schools within Portland proper such as Reed, Lewis & Clark, and Univ. of Portland are unlikely to take many Concordia students as those schools are considerably more selective and aren't generally hurting for students.

[StealthRabbit]

I would suggest it to be in the best interest of a large parent organization (with many campuses) that is throwing a 'life-line' to a 'fringe' operation, to be expected to retain the core values of the parent organization (Whatever those values may be).

In Portland, one can expect a 'diversity spin' from media and community. May have legitimacy, but CU-Portland had overstepped it's financial capabilities with dramatic and expensive growth, and relied on a marketing firm for transition to expand on-line offerings while obviously eroding the core revenue and capital investment of a B&M institution who is struggling with finances. Several 'bad-calls' by CU management.

The last I visited campus (Nov 2019) it was nearly a ghost town.

Turnover has been high in the Concordia management. The college is on its third president since 2018. It has also lost senior financial managers, admission and financial aid officials and others.

By fall of 2019, the school’s financial condition had further deteriorated requiring a major restructuring of its debt. Minutes from the synod’s Board of Directors meeting in November revealed that Concordia defaulted on certain bond covenants with Key Bank and with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Issuing bonds is a common way for governments and non-profit institutions like colleges to raise cash.

Many reasons for struggles, many wrong decisions (including closing doors on students and staff).

But... it's Portland, which has significantly changed as well. (Much outflow of 100+ yr old businesses and lifelong residents). +/- for all. Our friends who just had to close their LT Pearl business did not take the changes and decision lightly, but the conditions to operate as a business and be an employer in Portland has severely complicated an already difficult operation. Several friends have recently moved their families away from their lifelong Portland homes. I would expect more to follow as Portland goes with the flow of current disruptions. Universities and schools face the similar crisis as businesses do (internet erosion), coupled with increasing costs / financial obligations / capital investments. There is a point you have to 'pull-the-plug', and that hurts all.

[karlsch]

Apparently Concordia paid a student recruiting service a very large amount of money over about a 10 year period.

Over that same time period, KATU News learned the university paid more than $250 million to a company called HotChalk for “recruitment services.”: https://katu.com/news/following-the-...iding-to-close

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Best concise statement!

CU-Portland had overstepped it's financial capabilities with dramatic and expensive growth, and relied on a marketing firm for transition to expand on-line offerings while obviously eroding the core revenue and capital investment of a B&M institution who is struggling with finances. Several 'bad-calls' by CU management.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Best concise statement!

Stealth can be wordy, and has a rather unique deployment of punctuation, capitalization, and acronyms. But you can find some nuggets of wisdom in there if you look!

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Though living life, I have found that 99.9% of "words" are total BS, and a short brief "thoughtful and concise" statement is worth much more than ten paragraphs of subjective opinion.

Stimulates the "THINK" part whether you agree with it or not.






I do feel sorry for all those kids that paid all that tuition, had all those high hopes and future dreams, and now have to go through all that BS to get it back.

THAT WAS A REALLY CRAPPY THING TO DO!

[StealthRabbit]

We have a much more colorful word for that in my industry...

So... As CU alum (yet another of many degrees paid by my employer, good thing, for more worthless paper!), I have sent The Concordia University System (CUS), a very pointed and concise statement, on behalf of the current CU Portland students and community at large.

They are a very poor exemplification of their promoted values and commitment. I trust they will allocate resources to every effected individual student to align and assure a viable and successful transition and completion of their degree and certifications (nurses, teachers, JD).

Tho CUS encouraged and allowed CU Portland to be autonomous, they had the CU stamp, which meant far more than just CU Portland.

Time for them to stand up and deliver.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

We have a much more colorful word for that in my industry...

So... As CU alum (yet another of many degrees paid by my employer, good thing, for more worthless paper!), I have sent The Concordia University System (CUS), a very pointed and concise statement, on behalf of the current CU Portland students and community at large.

They are a very poor exemplification of their promoted values and commitment. I trust they will allocate resources to every effected individual student to align and assure a viable and successful transition and completion of their degree and certifications (nurses, teachers, JD).

Tho CUS encouraged and allowed CU Portland to be autonomous, they had the CU stamp, which meant far more than just CU Portland.

Time for them to stand up and deliver.

It will be very interesting to see how they respond to all the protests including your request. So far, it seems like they've simply tried washing their hands of the matter claiming to have made the difficult but necessary, tough decisions. And even if that was so (not necessarily agreeing), the execution was handled extremely poorly. Some might even argue willfully dishonest and criminal, hence the lawsuit.

I'm not sure if CUS will attempt to 'make it right' without external forces dictating what that will look like for the affected students. However, I would think any such lawsuit would not only seek damages for the monies given to the school in good faith for tuition, room and board, fees and books. But it would also include opportunities lost including the pain and suffering inflicted upon the students due to whatever mismanagement steps were taken. Attorneys will target the deep pockets of the parent organization and if successful could make a statement with total damages awarded to the affected parties. I can imagine some law firms just begging for the opportunity to get in there and set things right.

Ultimately, CUS stands to lose much more than simply the monies taken from these unsuspecting students. This can and will really damage their reputation as an academic institution claiming to abide by higher ethical standards.

Derek

[StealthRabbit]

I don't think CUS will be considered responsible of liable for any of this. (they had offered yet another bail-out that was rejected)

CU-Portland operated autonomously, (as do all Concordias) for legal and operational purposes.

Just handled extremely poorly by C_ Portland (for last 10 yrs). Not intentionally, as they were very community focused and served as a benefit for such, and quite a lot of their cost overruns were due to community focus and service benefit.

I only addressed CUS, because CU-Portland has issued their feeble response, and are walking away.
Their leadership are largely a 'replacement staff' who will close the doors.

I'm afraid this is the upcoming plight of many EDU operations in USA. (higher and lower).
Several reasons, but Not Delivering is a pretty common theme, as well as marginal management, finances, archaic programs, and falling enrollments.

It's a lot easier to hire better educated grads from international schools.

[jribe]

personally, not shocked at this news. I know someone that worked there and they said it was a complete joke- employees didn't care about their work and goofed off the majority of the time. Hence, this person I know left as they didn't feel it was a stable or good work environment. This was a non-teaching position btw, but saw a lot of "fluff" in the staffing.