Dive Brief:
- The Forum on Education Abroad’s relocation to Dickinson College in 2006 spurred major growth within the higher education association, and it has helped the college in multiple ways, leading the two institutions’ leaders to offer advice for their peers.
- Dickinson and the Forum operate as partners, sharing similar goals, hosting regular meetings between leadership, and remaining open-minded about new collaborations that were not part of the initial deal.
- Their model is positive, financially, on both sides, with the Forum sharing in the benefits of a large organization and both enjoying certain economies of scale and shared expertise — with Dickinson getting education and training resources and the Forum getting faculty and staff input, as well as student interns.
Dive Insight:
There has been much conversation about mergers between two colleges but perhaps less about partnerships like that between the Forum and Dickinson. The Forum has been able to raise the profile of Dickinson when it comes to global education, attracting students and faculty who want to collaborate with the smaller association and can get direct access through the college. It also gains access to Dickinson’s investment portfolio. But the college isn’t necessarily losing money on the deal, gaining in-kind services and direct donations from the organization.
The leaders of the two institutions, however, urge administrators at other institutions to keep the expectations of cost-cutting in check. They count the nonmonetary benefits as the most important so far.