Content area
Full Text
President creates revival by going coed, adding sports, asking more of everyone
DESPITE a long career in higher education, five years ago Dr. John Marsden may have been seriously questioning not only his intelligence but his judgment a few months after becoming president of what was then Midway College, a 165-year-old all-girls school in Central Kentucky.
But he has long since overcome such doubts and certainly isn't leery anymore after transforming Midway into a feelgood success story while guiding it to explosive and impressive growth in virtually every area.
As a first-time college president, Marsden initially was as excited and positive about his new job as a Cincinnati Reds rookie making his Major League debut. Then reality hit. Midway appeared to be more than midway to extinction.
Hired on Feb. 1, 2013, Marsden said he got a much clearer picture of the scope of the turnaround that was needed early in the summer when he saw the dire financial straits the school faced. Midway had a severe cashflow shortage and was borrowing millions just to make payroll and pay vendors.
There were numerous other significant problems too, including declining enrollment, poor community relations, an identity crisis and critical looming deadlines on debt refinancing and a re-accreditation application to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), a lengthy process that hadn't even been started.
"I didn't realize, nor did the board (of trustees), how much overhaul was needed," Marsden said. "I knew Midway had a failed school of pharmacy, but I didn't know how severe the financial issues were. I did not know it was a turnaround institution.
"It became a process of discovery. I kept uncovering things over a period of several months. Of course, I made a commitment to the institution and had moved my family here, but it turned out to be a lot harder job than I ever imagined."
It also has turned out to be highly successful and likely one of the most remarkable university makeovers in Kentucky history.
Women-only origin no longer viable
First, some nuts and bolts: Midway is an independent, liberal-arts school related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) with an overall enrollment of 1,200, 80 percent of them from...