ZachTheZip Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 Originally, I was going to post this link in the "Scarborough's next move" thread about the general direction the university is going, but decided this needs its own headline. The article starts off talking about the general direction of UA, but halfway through it begins to focus entirely about a possible acquisition of ITT Tech. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/18/university-akron-struggling-regional-hopes-expand-worldwide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 (edited) Interesting. ITT Educational Services (ticker ESI) currently has a market capitalization of $70.8M, not much more than the cost of a nice football stadium. "Students at the ITT Technical Institutes throughout the United States had the opportunity to visit and meet with approximately 2,900 employers, elected officials and other dignitaries on campus in 2015." http://finance.yahoo.com/news/itt-technical-institutes-2015-numbers-130000318.html;_ylt=AwrC0F9ePcZWRjYAKkaTmYlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEyMWIzOHU5BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM0BHZ0aWQDVklEMDNfMQRzZWMDc2M- That would be a really nice acquisition. #university-survival #national-university #recognized-universities #invisible-trustees #more-zips-fans? Edited February 18, 2016 by ZippyRulz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 (edited) Edited February 18, 2016 by zen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhgrad2002 Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 On February 18, 2016 at 11:10 AM, ZippyRulz said: Interesting. ITT Educational Services (ticker ESI) currently has a market capitalization of $70.8M, not much more than the cost of a nice football stadium. "Students at the ITT Technical Institutes throughout the United States had the opportunity to visit and meet with approximately 2,900 employers, elected officials and other dignitaries on campus in 2015." http://finance.yahoo.com/news/itt-technical-institutes-2015-numbers-130000318.html;_ylt=AwrC0F9ePcZWRjYAKkaTmYlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEyMWIzOHU5BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM0BHZ0aWQDVklEMDNfMQRzZWMDc2M- That would be a really nice acquisition. #university-survival #national-university #recognized-universities #invisible-trustees #more-zips-fans? Did you look at the comments posted with piece? Goes along with the news reports. Why do we want to be associated with fraud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 (edited) How would we be associated with fraud by buying some physical facilities? It's not like we would be operating ITT Tech. CMU is a model - look how many states they are already in: https://www.cmich.edu/global/locations/Pages/default.aspx Edited February 22, 2016 by ZippyRulz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 I'll sum this up. Someone would have to be stupid if they believed that any association with something like ITT Tech would not damage our reputation as an institution of higher education. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 In the business world it is not uncommon for one company to purchase another under performing company. Getting a foothold into a different market area with the ability to expand is a worthy idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 Very nice of you to explain to novices that this is normal business-world activity. But if the motive here is really to "get a foothold into a different market", that's exactly the huge red flag that would alarm me, and the reason why I responded in the thread. Parent companies become synonymous with the companies that they acquire. So, if our leadership is really trying to stomp out the "Akron wants to be a Tech School" impression, this move would make that nearly impossible. Worse yet, it's likely to turn the growing snowball rolling downhill into a complete avalanche. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 (edited) On 2/20/2016 at 1:09 PM, Hilltopper said: In the business world it is not uncommon for one company to purchase another under performing company. Getting a foothold into a different market area with the ability to expand is a worthy idea. When is the last time non-profit. school has acquired another school? Its freaking ITT Tech. What's next, DeVry? Edited February 22, 2016 by LZIp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted February 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 One other university named for the city their main campus is in has attempted this path. They're quite well off financially, but their academic reputation is the absolute bottom of the barrel. The University of Phoenix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 1 hour ago, ZachTheZip said: One other university named for the city their main campus is in has attempted this path. They're quite well off financially, but their academic reputation is the absolute bottom of the barrel. The University of Phoenix. As Lee Corso would say...Not so fast my friend! http://www.azfamily.com/clip/11946164/univ-of-phoenix-troubles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted February 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 They were in great shape a few years ago. Just goes to show that pushing for some massive online/geographically distributed enrollment thing is no longer the hot new idea it once was. Scarborough is a decade too late for his plan to make sense. The boom days are over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 2 hours ago, LZIp said: When is the last time non-profit. school has acquired another school? Its freaking ITT Tech. What's next, DeVry? LZip...you might not be old enough to remember the Airco Technical Institute commercials that used to be on TV. It was a Welding School that advertised on network TV all the time, and their graduates talked about buying new cars and their own equipment. I'm thinking we go after this one next, if they are still around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 I can't possibly see what could go wrong in debt financing the acquisition of a failing business when the university itself has well documented financial troubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 2 hours ago, kreed5120 said: I can't possibly see what could go wrong in debt financing the acquisition of a failing business when the university itself has well documented financial troubles. I wouldn't be surprised if any purchase was made with private equity and operated under the auspices of UA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 On 2/20/2016 at 1:09 PM, Hilltopper said: In the business world it is not uncommon for one company to purchase another under performing company. Getting a foothold into a different market area with the ability to expand is a worthy idea. Education is not a business. And therefore this argument is completely useless. ITT Tech is a prime example of what happens when Education takes on too much of a business model. Fraud, and garabage educational quality. Just look at most charter schools in Ohio; basically amount to stealing tax-payer money and providing garbage. It's nice to know that my alma-mater is confirming what everyone already thought of it: Hill-Top High. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted February 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Just a glance at their wikipedia page shows that ITT Tech is in major trouble right now. The more I have thought about this, the more I have decided that I would be OK with it if we cleaned up their academic standards and dropped their extreme predatory student loan tactics. Bring it up to the same standards as Wayne College or the Medina branch. We don't need and likely wouldn't get all 130-something campus, but we could get a bunch of branch locations on the cheap. Keep the ones that work and shut down the rest (most of them). Don't brand it as UA buying ITT Tech as an institute, but as ITT going out of business and UA is snapping up the physical assets. Most of their students would leave anyway. It's a win-win: UA gets their branch campuses and America rids itself of another for-profit academic scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 (edited) 5 hours ago, Balsy said: Education is not a business. And therefore this argument is completely useless. ITT Tech is a prime example of what happens when Education takes on too much of a business model. Fraud, and garabage educational quality. Just look at most charter schools in Ohio; basically amount to stealing tax-payer money and providing garbage. It's nice to know that my alma-mater is confirming what everyone already thought of it: Hill-Top High. Your basing your opinion coming from an author that is using pure speculation from The Devil's Strip (completely unbiased amirite?). Quit jumping to conclusions. There are no facts pointing to UA acquiring with ITT freaking Tech. Edited February 25, 2016 by LZIp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 6 hours ago, ZachTheZip said: Don't brand it as UA buying ITT Tech as an institute, but as ITT going out of business and UA is snapping up the physical assets. You really think we can alter the perception? How? You can probably eliminate our own local paper from the possibilities of a source that could put any positive twist on it. Tell me how you think that ITT Tech is perceived in the world of higher education? Then put The University of Akron with it. There will be no way to separate that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jupitertoo Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Could be a moot point. Word on the street is that Board Chair Pavloff and cronies have informed Scarborough that he is out. Negotiations under way to bring back Proenza for a temporary stint. Much damage to be repaired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 34 minutes ago, jupitertoo said: Could be a moot point. Word on the street is that Board Chair Pavloff and cronies have informed Scarborough that he is out. Negotiations under way to bring back Proenza for a temporary stint. Much damage to be repaired. I hope that isn't true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Do you think there will ever be a Scarborough bobblehead? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Isn't Proenza the one that got us into this mess in the 1st place by expanding too rapidly and putting mountains of debt on Akron's books? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 14 hours ago, kreed5120 said: Isn't Proenza the one that got us into this mess in the 1st place by expanding too rapidly and putting mountains of debt on Akron's books? The trustees decided to invest heavily in the campus in an effort to attract more students, or at least remove "unattractive campus" as an obstacle. The trustees met regularly throughout LP's tenure and oversaw the building program. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted February 29, 2016 Report Share Posted February 29, 2016 On 2/27/2016 at 5:40 AM, ZippyRulz said: The trustees decided to invest heavily in the campus in an effort to attract more students, or at least remove "unattractive campus" as an obstacle. The trustees met regularly throughout LP's tenure and oversaw the building program. So basically the unifying thing behind UA's woes is the BOT. That's the problem with political appointees, they suffer from groupthink virus. On 2/26/2016 at 1:56 PM, K92 said: Do you think there will ever be a Scarborough bobblehead? No. But UA is so clueless they might, and it'd make the ABJ frontpage because of the 0 people who attended whatever game it was to avoid getting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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