Miami University seeks distance from regional campuses

Highlights from Miami University’s regional campus report

Source: Miami University

Miami University leaders are considering renaming the regional campuses and handing out new diplomas in an attempt to distance the college’s main campus in Oxford from campuses located in Hamilton, Middletown and West Chester Twp.

University officials want to make a series of distinctions in the hopes of increasing enrollment and four-year degree offerings at the regional campuses, Miami University President David Hodge said in an exclusive phone interview Wednesday with this newspaper.

“We’ve had some declining enrollment on the regional campuses, we’ve got some budget deficits that are growing, and we’ve got some outcome measures that aren’t where we would like them to be,” Hodge said. “We’re trying to figure out how to get the best out of the regionals in the time of really big change.”

Enrollment at the regional campuses has stayed steady and, at times, even declined, during the last five years, according to Miami data. Last year roughly 7,000 students were enrolled at the Hamilton and Middletown campuses, which have been open since the 1960s.

Miami University …. Southwest?

A university report, which will be presented to Miami University Board of Trustees during a regularly scheduled meeting Friday, says “brand confusion” between the main campus in Oxford, which offers four-year degrees, and the regional campuses, which are better known for their two-year degree offerings, is hindering operations.

“… ‘Brand confusion’ is an institutional concern at Miami University that strains intercampus relationships and hinders the regional campuses, both academically and financially,” the report, compiled by a committee of faculty and staff hailing from the regional campuses, reads.

Miami’s Oxford campus has a reputation for enrolling students from out-of-state — last year, more than half of the students admitted to the school were from outside of Ohio — while Miami’s regional campuses typically recruit students living in Butler County.

“(The study) is about clarifying and differentiating two distinct missions,” Perry Richardson, a spokesman for the regional campuses, said. “We have a highly selective residential campus and right down the street we have an open-enrollment, commuter campus. … On the regional campuses, we need to do a better job in differentiating our marketing messages.”

The committee, which has been working since June to study campus “differentiation” at the Indiana University system, recommended regional campus students be given a notation on their diploma. Currently, all Miami University diplomas — whether earned at the Middletown, Hamilton, West Chester or Oxford campus — are marked in the same way.

Also up for consideration is renaming the regional campuses. Suggestions from the committees included “Miami University Regionals” or “Miami University Southwest,” according to the report.

Any of the recommendations still need to be vetted and approved by the university’s trustees before becoming reality.

How separate?

Hodge said a larger committee, made up of representatives from all of the campuses, will likely form following Friday’s meeting. The committee will be charged with developing a series of recommendations for the regionals, which will be decided on next year.

University officials are not considering having the regional campuses stand alone or separate entirely from the Oxford institution, Hodge said.

Mike Dingeldein, a Miami University graduate who sits on the Citizens’ Advisory Council for Miami University Hamilton, said he was relieved to see the committee’s report did not include recommendations to separate from the Oxford campus.

“You always worry if there’s a problem with distinction between the two entities, (will) anyone suggest that we separate the two of them?” Dingeldein said. “I’m hopeful (the regional campuses and Oxford) keep a relationship.”

The push to distinguish the campuses comes as the regional campuses also look to offer up more bachelor’s degrees to students. This year, the regional campuses will offer seven bachelor’s degrees and G. Michael Pratt, the regional campus dean, told this newspaper last month the schools are looking to add more degrees, including a master’s degree, in the future.

Those have been easy additions for Indiana University, where IU’s eight campuses — two of which are considered the flagship schools — are sprawled across the state, Mark Land, a spokesman for IU, said. In addition to the two main campuses in Bloomington and Indianapolis, the college oversees regional campuses, each of which bear their own name.

Indiana’s regional campuses have learned to develop niche degree offerings to stand out from the main campuses, according to Land. Indiana University Kokomo, for example, focuses on degrees in tourism and hospitality while Indiana University West, located in Gary, Ind., has a strong nursing degree program, he said.

“We’re trying to reflect the needs of the regions,” Land said. “(The students) get the IU education but one that is very tied into their communities.”

Miami may face a tougher challenge to distinguish its regional campuses, given that the four Butler County campuses are in close proximity, and they face competition from Ohio’s other colleges — all of which are competing for a share of the state’s dwindling high school graduate population.

“If we do not develop the degrees that we need here then ultimately we won’t have what we need to sustain the campuses long term. Many of the regional campuses have more bachelor’s degrees than we do,” said Daniel Hall, a regional campus professor who worked on the committee. “We’re trying to get caught up.”

The committee has also recommended the regional campuses get a separate accreditation as a division of Miami University.

That’s similar to how nearby University of Cincinnati handles its two regional campuses — graduates also get a notation on their diploma from the Blue Ash and Clermont campuses differentiating the regional degree from a main campus one — a spokeswoman confirmed.