Wednesday, October 19, 2011
By Karen Nugent TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
LANCASTER — While a planned merger with a fellow Seventh-day Adventist college fell through, Atlantic Union College will not close, according to church and college officials.
Donald G. King, president of the South Lancaster-based Atlantic Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said talks have recently concluded with the state Department of Higher Education for plans to reopen. The plan has not yet been approved by the state agency.
Mr. King said there are no plans to sell the campus.
“Instead, we intend to continue to improve the campus even as we prepare to restructure and reopen at a later date,” he said in an email.
Earlier this month, trustees of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md., voted to suspend further negotiations after the two colleges were unable to reach an agreement about operating a WAU branch campus on the Lancaster site. The vote followed months of talks.
After that vote, AUC trustees also voted to discontinue plans to form a partnership.
The decision to merge with the larger Maryland university was made last year, after AUC learned its accreditation with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges would end as of July 31, mainly for financial reasons.
A branch campus was scheduled to open for the fall semester, but was put on hold after the state Higher Education Department did not approve the satellite plan by September. College officials were told approval of the plan could take up to nine months.
A spokeswoman from the state Department of Higher Education said yesterday AUC’s application is pending before the board and is still under review.
She said a date has not been set for when it will be discussed or a decision made.
Some AUC staff and faculty were offered jobs at Washington Adventist University, but many employees were laid off in July. Students were allowed to transfer to the Maryland university, and a WAU newsletter said those arrangements will continue to be honored.
Atlantic Union College, which was founded in 1882 and drew approximately 450 full- and part-time students, is under the jurisdiction of the Atlantic Union Conference, which includes New England, New York, and Bermuda.
College President Norman L. Wendth said in July that if the state did not approve the merger, the college would likely close.
He said its property, which includes several buildings and acreage in South Lancaster, the historic seat of New England Adventism, would revert back to the Adventist Church.
Source
.
By Karen Nugent TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
LANCASTER — While a planned merger with a fellow Seventh-day Adventist college fell through, Atlantic Union College will not close, according to church and college officials.
Donald G. King, president of the South Lancaster-based Atlantic Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said talks have recently concluded with the state Department of Higher Education for plans to reopen. The plan has not yet been approved by the state agency.
Mr. King said there are no plans to sell the campus.
“Instead, we intend to continue to improve the campus even as we prepare to restructure and reopen at a later date,” he said in an email.
Earlier this month, trustees of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md., voted to suspend further negotiations after the two colleges were unable to reach an agreement about operating a WAU branch campus on the Lancaster site. The vote followed months of talks.
After that vote, AUC trustees also voted to discontinue plans to form a partnership.
The decision to merge with the larger Maryland university was made last year, after AUC learned its accreditation with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges would end as of July 31, mainly for financial reasons.
A branch campus was scheduled to open for the fall semester, but was put on hold after the state Higher Education Department did not approve the satellite plan by September. College officials were told approval of the plan could take up to nine months.
A spokeswoman from the state Department of Higher Education said yesterday AUC’s application is pending before the board and is still under review.
She said a date has not been set for when it will be discussed or a decision made.
Some AUC staff and faculty were offered jobs at Washington Adventist University, but many employees were laid off in July. Students were allowed to transfer to the Maryland university, and a WAU newsletter said those arrangements will continue to be honored.
Atlantic Union College, which was founded in 1882 and drew approximately 450 full- and part-time students, is under the jurisdiction of the Atlantic Union Conference, which includes New England, New York, and Bermuda.
College President Norman L. Wendth said in July that if the state did not approve the merger, the college would likely close.
He said its property, which includes several buildings and acreage in South Lancaster, the historic seat of New England Adventism, would revert back to the Adventist Church.
Source
.
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