Eastern Gateway Board OKs Sale of Campus Building
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Members of the Eastern Gateway Community College Governance Authority approved selling a Steubenville campus building, pending approval of the federal court.
The resolution approved by authority members at a meeting Wednesday authorizes Fred Ransier, Eastern Gateway executive director, to execute a real estate purchase agreement of the Pugliese Center to the Steubenville City School District. The agreement must be approved by the judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
“The governance authority has received advice from legal counsel indicating that this action is within the authority of the governance authority,” said Kimberly Murnieks, director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, who chairs the Eastern Gateway body.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s office website lists the total market value of the property at about $2 million.
The now-dissolved college board of trustees last May voted to sell the building and its assets to the school district.
That move was halted, though, when Student Resource Center, a company with which Eastern Gateway contracted for its free college benefit program, asked a judge to prevent the college from selling or otherwise liquidating its assets.
SRC is suing Eastern Gateway in federal court for breach of contract. The judge in August ruled that the college may not sell, transfer, move or encumber its Steubenville property until further court order.
The former trustees voted to dissolve the college last March after pausing enrollment and registration because of financial challenges. Also in March, trustees voted to voluntarily resign from Higher Learning Commission accreditation. The accreditation expires Friday.
Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Ransier as conservator to begin the dissolution, effective last August. Thirty days later the governance authority was seated and appointed Ransier executive director.
This marks the first time an Ohio public higher education institution has closed.
Youngstown State University has added roughly 60 associate and certificate programs to serve those who attended Eastern Gateway. YSU also plans to have a Steubenville campus, although nothing has been finalized.
Several other colleges have also signed agreements with the college to make it easier for Eastern Gateway students to transfer.
Eastern Gateway started in Steubenville as Jefferson County Technical Institute in 1966. It was renamed Jefferson Technical College 11 years later.
In 2009, it became Eastern Gateway and expanded to serve students in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties in addition to Jefferson. It opened a downtown Youngstown campus shortly thereafter.
The college has faced academic and financial challenges over the past few years, mostly connected to its free college benefit program. That program allowed union members from across the country to attend Eastern Gateway classes, mostly virtually, and earn degrees at no cost to them.
Under the program, enrollment swelled from about 4,000 to more than 40,000.
In November 2021, the Higher Learning Commission placed the college on probation, citing multiple issues.
In August 2022, the U.S. Department of Education placed Eastern Gateway on Heightened Cash Monitoring 2, meaning the college had to use its own resources to credit student accounts and wait for federal student aid reimbursements from the federal department.
Also in 2022, the U.S. DOE ordered the college to end the free college program, saying Eastern Gateway was charging students who received Pell grants more than those who didn’t.
The college sued the department. The two sides settled the case in August 2023, and the free college program ended.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
