An agreement is being hashed out to resolve litigation between the Eastern Gateway Community College Governance Authority and Jefferson County commissioners that could clear a path for Youngstown State University to operate in the former college’s classroom building in Steubenville.
YSU has eyed opening a Jefferson County campus since Eastern Gateway’s shutdown. YSU has expressed an interest in the former college building and has secured authorization from the Higher Learning Commission, its accreditation body, to operate in Jefferson County.
“We have had some productive discussions that include Jefferson County and others including the Ohio Department of Higher Education,” Kimberly Murnieks, governance authority chairwoman and director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, said at a Thursday governance authority meeting.
Authority members voted to authorize Murnieks to “execute any agreements, conveyances and other documents needed to formalize the tentative agreement” with commissioners to resolve litigation. No details were discussed in the public session.
Tony Morelli, Jefferson County commissioners chairman, said Friday morning that commissioners plan an emergency meeting Monday to approve the tentative agreement.
“If it all comes together, which I believe it is going to, then Youngstown State University will have a branch in Steubenville, Ohio,” he said.
Morelli said the state and the Ohio Department of Higher Education is also involved in “finding some money for YSU.”
In a statement Friday, YSU said its “still firmly determined to meet the commitments we made to the Governor, the Ohio Chancellor of Higher Education, and most importantly to the citizens of Jefferson County and the region served by the former Eastern Gateway Community College to ensure the continuity of robust educational opportunities for citizens in the region.”
The statement said the dissolution of Eastern Gateway has been a complicated process that’s ongoing.
“While we are making progress, YSU will continue to work with the appropriate state and Jefferson County officials to secure a pathway so that YSU can begin delivering quality education there at the former EGCC campus in Steubenville,” the statement continued. “We are optimistic there will be more positive news to share soon.”
After Eastern Gateway’s closure, YSU added more than 50 associate and certificate programs at its main campus to serve those who formerly attended the college. But the college’s legal issues prevented YSU from moving into the building.
A lawsuit filed by the company Eastern Gateway had contracted to operate its free college program was one of those legal issues. That case was settled in June.
In late July, Jefferson commissioners asked a judge in that county to activate a clause in a 1967 contract that would return the remaining college building to them.
A hearing on the motion for summary judgment in the case is set for September. An agreement would eliminate the need for the hearing.
In 1967, then-Jefferson County commissioners executed a deed to Eastern Gateway forerunner Jefferson County Technical Institute for the building at 4000 Sunset Blvd. That deed conveyed the building to the college with a reverter clause indicating the building was to be used for educational purposes. It also said that if the building was not used for educational purposes, the title would revert to the county.
But Morelli said commissioners took that action to get the ball rolling. If YSU moves into the building and operates it as an educational institution, he believes commissioners will be satisfied.
The governance authority previously approved the sale of the two downtown Youngstown buildings that formerly operated as the Eastern Gateway campus to the Western Reserve Port Authority. Those sales are expected to be finalized soon. The board also approved the sale of the other Steubenville building on the former campus to Steubenville City Schools, which is expected to be completed next month.
Eastern Gateway ceased operations last year amid financial and accreditation challenges stemming mostly from its free college benefit program. That program allowed union members and their families from across the country to attend Eastern Gateway classes and earn degrees at no cost to them. Most attended virtually, and Eastern Gateway enrollment more than quadrupled.
Enrollment tumbled when the program ceased after the U.S. Department of Education alleged the college was charging Pell grant recipients more to attend than those who didn’t receive the grants.