Kent Barnds: “Welcome to Small College America, a podcast dedicated to exploring the role and value of small colleges in the higher education landscape. I'm Kent Barnds, Executive Vice President of Augustana College, and I’m joined by my co-host Dean Hoke, Co-Founder of Edu Alliance Group.”

Dean: Today, we’re joined by Dr. Heather F. Perfetti, President of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Heather has served as a faculty member, chief academic officer, accreditation peer evaluator, and in several leadership roles at Middle States before becoming President in 2020. She has also been actively involved in national accreditation policy and federal rulemaking.

Heather, welcome to Small College America. I understand that when you're not thinking about accreditation, the Delaware beaches—and two Chihuahuas—provide a pretty good change of pace.

Kent: Question 1: Heather’s Journey — Seeing Accreditation From Both Sides

Heather, before we get into some of the major changes taking place in accreditation, I’d like our audience to know a little more about you. You’ve been a faculty member, a chief academic officer, a peer evaluator, and now president of Middle States. How have those different experiences shaped the way you think about accreditation and what institutions need from an accreditor?

Dean: Question 2: The Changing Accreditation Landscape — Why Middle States Left C-RAC

Recently, Middle States announced it is leaving the Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions, to to pursue broader partnerships. Can you tell our audience more about the Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions and why you and Northwest decided to withdraw now?

Kent: Question 3: Federal Rulemaking — How Significant Are These Changes?

You participated in the federal negotiated rulemaking process, and we now have proposed regulations that could significantly change accreditation. When you look at the entire package — student outcomes, transfer credits, faculty oversight, institutional costs, and changes affecting accreditors themselves — which provisions concern you most, and which might actually improve the system?

Dean: Question 4: Financial Stress — When Should the Accreditor Enter the Conversation?

Small colleges are dealing with declining enrollment, tighter margins, and in some cases serious financial stress. From an accreditor’s perspective, what are the warning signs that an institution may be moving from financially challenged to genuinely at risk?

Kent: Question 5: Mergers and Partnerships — The Part People Underestimate

When we met, you made an interesting point: the legal transaction in a merger can actually be the relatively straightforward part. The more difficult work can be integrating services, curricula, and institutional cultures while honoring each institution’s legacy. What role does an accreditor play in helping institutions navigate that process?

Dean: Question 6: Five Years From Now — What Does Accreditation Become?

Let’s close by looking ahead. Five years from now, with more competition among accreditors, new federal requirements, AI, changing demographics, new credentials, and continuing financial pressure on institutions, how different do you think accreditation will look from what we know today?

Closing

Kent: Heather, thank you for joining us and for helping us better understand both the changing role of accreditation and what those changes mean for small colleges. We appreciate your perspective and your time.

For those listening or viewing, visit www.smallcollegeamerica.net to learn more about Small College America, find past and upcoming episodes, leave comments, and to subscribe.

Dean: On behalf of our guest, Heather Perfetti, my co-host, Kent Barnds, and me, thank you for joining us.

Welcome everyone to this special edition of Small College America and the first of our Consequential Conversations series. I’m Dean Hoke, and I’m joined by my co-host Kent Barnds. Today’s conversation is “Mergers, Acquisitions and Reinvention: What Small Colleges Need to Know.”Mergers and partnerships are no longer subjects that small colleges can afford to discuss only when they are in trouble. Today we want to look at when institutions should begin considering their options, what makes these efforts work, what can cause them to fail, and what presidents and boards need to know before circumstances narrow their choices.

We have three panelists who bring both direct institutional experience and extensive work with colleges considering partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, and other forms of reinvention. Let me briefly introduce them:

• Chet Haskell, Co-Director of the Center for College Partnerships and Alliances, brings extensive higher education leadership and experience with institutional partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions.

• Barry Ryan, Co-Director of the Center for College Partnerships and Alliances, has worked with institutions on partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic options for colleges facing change.

• Dr. Walter Iwanenko, President of Gannon University, has spent more than two years leading the Gannon-Ursuline College merger and brings the perspective of a sitting president navigating the process in real time.

Question 1 - When Should the Conversation Begin? One of the themes we want to explore today is timing. If an institution waits until it needs a merger or partnership to survive, has it already waited too long? What signs should tell a president and board that it is time to begin seriously exploring strategic partnerships, mergers, or other alternatives?

Question 2 - The Gannon-Ursuline Experience. Walter, you have been living this process for more than two years. Take us inside the Gannon-Ursuline merger. What brought the two institutions to the table, what made you believe the combination could work, and what have been the most important lessons so far? Barry, from your experience, what stands out to you about the conditions that make a merger like this possible?

Question 3 - A Merger Is Not the Only Option. When people hear that a small college is considering collaboration, they often jump immediately to merger or closure. But there is a much broader range of possibilities. What options should institutions be considering before a full merger, and how does a college determine which level of partnership or integration best fits its circumstances?

Question 4 - Boards, Presidents, Mission and Culture. These decisions are about more than finances. They involve governance, institutional identity, mission, alumni, faculty, staff, and community. What roles should the president and board play in beginning and managing these conversations, and how do you protect mission and culture while still being willing to make significant change?

Question 5 - Why Promising Partnerships Fail. Not every promising partnership or merger succeeds. From what you have seen, what are the most common reasons these efforts break down? Are the biggest obstacles financial, cultural, governance-related, personality-driven, timing—related, or something else?

Question 6 - What Should Leaders Do Now? Let’s close the main discussion by looking forward. If you were speaking privately with a president or board chair of a small college that is stable today but concerned about the next five to ten years, what would you tell them to be doing now to preserve the greatest number of options for the institution’s future?

Question 7 - Quick Insights. I’d like each of you to give us one brief answer. What is one thing you wish more presidents and trustees understood about mergers, partnerships, or institutional reinvention? Please keep it to about 60 seconds each.

Additional Questions from Audience

Close

HigherEd PodCon today announced the finalists for its inaugural HigherEd PodCon Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement across five categories in higher education podcasting. The announcement marks a significant milestone for the growing community of educators, administrators, students, and independent creators who are using audio storytelling to advance the mission of higher education.

Organized by the co-founders of HigherEd PodCon, of which Dean Hoke of Small College America is a co-founder, created the awards program to formally recognize the innovation and impact of higher education podcasting. The response from the community was exceptional: 155 nominations were received, representing the higher education podcast community.

Outstanding Podcast Series

“Where What If Becomes What’s Next” (Carnegie Mellon University) - ​R​andy Scott

“Lab Coat Optional” (Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise) - Pete Zrioka

“Policy and Governance Perspectives” (George Mason University) - ​ ​D​avid Ramadan

Episode of the Year

“Individual Choices, Challenges, and Social Changes” Series: Good Is In The Details - Gwendolyn Dolske (Cal Poly Pomona) and Rudy Salo (Chapman University)

“Sounds of College Life with Stage Left” Series: Sounds of College Life Podcast, (Miami University) - Maggie Snee

“Rest Matters” (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) - Colleen Wamback featuring Stacy Shaw.

Outstanding Student-Led Podcast

“Major Insight” (Miami University) - Submitted by James Loy

“The Bridge” (University College London) - Submitted by Indianna Dimmer

“Madison Science Mystery Tour” (WSUM, University of Wisconsin–Madison) Submitted by Nalina Cherr

“Curing the Curriculum: Students’ Take on Medical Education” (University of Groningen, Netherlands) - Submitted by Ulf Ebeling

Podcaster of the Year

Garret Castleberry, (Mid-America Christian University) - Host of “Special Topics in Media”

Kimberlé Crenshaw, (Columbia Law School and UCLA School of Law) - Host of “Intersectionality Matters!”

Lolita Cummings, (Eastern Michigan University) - Host of “Enlighten U”

​Kate Young, (Purdue University) - Host of “This Is Purdue”

Outstanding Institutional Podcast Network

Dragon Podcasts (Howard Community College)

This Is UIC Podcast Network (University of Illinois Chicago)

Wharton Podcast Network (Wharton School, University of​ Pennsylvania)

LCC Connect — (Lansing Community College)

About HigherEd PodCon

HigherEd PodCon is the premier conference dedicated to podcasting in higher education. The event brings together creators, educators, communications professionals, and institutional leaders to share best practices, explore innovation, and celebrate the power of audio storytelling in advancing higher education’s mission.

Award winners will be announced at HigherEd PodCon 2026, taking place July 16–17 in Cleveland, Ohio at Cuyahoga Community College. For more information and to register, visit www.higheredpodcon.com.