Union Institute & University, with 111 employees and a 37-year history in Cincinnati, is considering shifting some jobs to Vermont, its president confirmed Thursday.

        But its central administrative office, in two Walnut Hills Tudor-style buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, will not be shut down, said Judith A. Sturnick, Union president.

Sturnick

        Union, founded in Cincinnati, is a growing correspondence school with six U.S. sites. That includes the 38-acre Vermont College, which Union bought last year and where much of the consolidation talks are focused.

        “We are in the process of figuring where our redundancies are, looking at consolidating,” Ms. Sturnick said, two days after a regularly scheduled “coffee hour” in which employees expressed concern for their job safety.

        Union has 94 administrative employees and 17 faculty members, said spokesman J. Stephen Dobbins.

        Four Union administrative workers on Thursday expressed concern for their jobs, but were not willing to be quoted. They said Union has been a good, and for some, longtime employer.

        Of the four employees, three have at least eight years' experience at Union. Each said they have family ties here and wouldn't take job relocation to Vermont if offered.

UNION INSTITUTE

• Founded in 1964 at 440 E. McMillan Ave. in Walnut Hills.     • Has centers also in Sacramento, Calif.; Los Angeles; North Miami Beach, Fla.; and Montpelier and Bennington, Vt.     • Has 2,900 employees worldwide, 111 in Cincinnati. It has 1,100 undergraduates, 550 master's degree students and 1,150 doctoral candidates in 50 states and 17 countries.     • Its philosophy: Students design their own programs and establish their own education objectives, which are subject to the institute's approval.     • Most student do their work entirely from home and never attend a campus.     Source: Union Institute & University

        The president confirmed it will offer job placement counseling if the local office is downsized.

        Of the Cincinnati branch's 156 students, about 20 percent are from Greater Cincinnati. As correspondence students, many never see the campus until graduation day. Three-fourthsare taking post-graduate courses.

        Ms. Sturnick will meet with the institute's board of trustees in mid-March, and a decision could be made between then and mid-June.

        Asked if some local jobs would be lost, she said “that's a serious consideration.”

        She said Walnut Hills would remain “an anchor” of the system, which grew last year with the acquisition of 1,000-student Vermont College in the state capital of Montpelier.

        “We'll continue to have a healthy number of people employed (in Cincinnati), regardless of how this gets reshaped,” the president said. “It's a business decision and an academic decision. ... You don't want to hurt people and you don't want to impact lives.”

        Union has undergone a series of recent changes, including naming Ms. Sturnick to president 20 months ago. The school revamped its logo and added “& University” to its name.

        But the most significant change was the acquisition of Vermont College, which allowed Union to offer master's degrees.

        Asked whether Union's two historic buildings will be sold, as is rumored among employees, the president said, “I honestly don't know.”
       

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