How ‘radical cooperation’ is empowering these 6 small colleges

"Our model gets a lot of interest, but there is so much fear about giving up control," says Michael Horowitz, chancellor of The Community Solution Education System.

Unless you’re an A-lister, private colleges and universities everywhere are pinching pennies to stay afloat and growing ever more competitive to win a decreasing pool of traditionally aged college students. Those interested in an operational model that takes cooperation with other institutions to another level need not look further than The Community Solution Education System.

“There’s too much time spent worried about competition and too little focused on what institutions actually do well, what’s financially viable and what isn’t,” says system chancellor Michael Horowitz.

The Community Solution Education System currently spans 12 campuses and six colleges and universities: The Colleges of Law, Kansas Health Science University, Pacific Oaks College, Saybrook University, University of Western States and The Chicago School.

Shared infrastructure conjoins each institution’s operations—marketing, information technology, enrollment services, legal affairs and so on. For example, while each institution may have its own chief academic officer, it is overseen by a system head who can help coordinate best practices and project insights. Each institution’s board attended a conference this past fall in the spirit of what Horowitz likes to call “radical cooperation.”


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“It’s very challenging times in higher ed, so it’s better to go at it together. Nobody has the single best way to do things but you’ll be better served by pulling resources, inspiration and smarts.”

More than insight, each institution is also maximizing costs by participating in a consortium-like model for education technology and cybersecurity. “By themselves, each college would be spending more for less,” Horowitz adds.

Educating around 13,000 students a year, the system’s commitment to cross-pollination helps set them apart from other small- to medium-sized private colleges in the sector. However, Horowitz is aware how difficult it may be to replicate this governance model.

“Our model gets a lot of interest, but there is so much fear about giving up control. Do I think this could work [elsewhere]? Absolutely. Do I see high adoption, not at the moment.”

Here are three shared characteristics among the six colleges and universities part of The Community Solution Education System:

  • Board buy-in: “You have to have forward-looking boards willing to do this to get anywhere, otherwise if it goes below the board level for buy-in, I don’t think you can advance this.”
  • Specialized institution: Each institution in the system is known for a specific field of study: healthcare, psychology, education or law. “A lot of colleges keep spending money on failing programs, and they could be starving the programs that are actually high need and high demand.”
  • A “maverick” institutional culture: While deeply-ingrained tradition grants its institutions a form of guidance, it can also create rigidity, Horowitz says. “We represent disciplines and fields that possess a way of thinking that challenge the status quo.” The system’s founding institution, The Chicago School, challenged academia by beginning to reward professional doctorates in psychology rather than the classical Ph.D. Kansas Health Science University is the only private medial institution in its state.
Alcino Donadel
Alcino Donadel
Alcino Donadel is a UB staff writer and first-generation journalism graduate from the University of Florida. He has triple citizenship from the U.S., Ecuador and Brazil.

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