Chapman University Considers a Merger

Chapman University in Orange is exploring a merger with a Pomona medical school -- an ambitious step that would expand the institution’s profile by adding a broad array of professional and graduate programs in health science.

If approved by the boards of both schools, Chapman would combine with Western University of Health Sciences, perhaps best known for training physicians in the resurgent field of osteopathic medicine, whose licensing once was banned in California.

Chapman and Western officials said Thursday that a merger could transform both schools from local institutions into a full-fledged university with the reputation to attract top students and faculty from a range of disciplines.

“This would continue Chapman’s evolution from a regional liberal arts college into a significant, comprehensive national university,” Chapman President James L. Doti said. “We view this as a merger of equals.”

Both schools are creating teams to examine combining forces. A decision is expected in 10 to 12 months. But officials said they are not considering combining the two universities on a single campus.

“What you have are two universities with strong academic programs and strong financial resources thinking about coming together to form a more powerful university,” said Western President Philip Pumerantz. “In this case, one plus one could equal five.”

Chapman is a 142-year-old private university with 4,700 students. It offers a wide range of undergraduate programs as well as graduate degrees in business and economics, law, film and television, physical therapy, communication arts and education.

Western University, with 1,400 students, is a 25-year-old graduate school that trains nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, osteopathic physicians, physician assistants and health educators.

Western will begin instruction in veterinary medicine for about 70 students next fall.

About half of Western’s students are in osteopathic medicine, a holistic practice that involves prevention, education, close working relationships with patients and an emphasis on the body’s muscular and skeletal structures in diagnosis and treatment.

Today, there are 20 medical schools in that field and about 50,000 osteopathic physicians -- about 5% of all doctors in the country.

California halted the licensing of osteopathic physicians in 1962, but the state Supreme Court overturned the ban in 1974. . Since then, Western’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific has battled to return credibility to the practice. In 1977, the college had 36 students. Now it has about 700.

The first mention of merger came in November while both schools were discussing the development of joint degree programs.

The exploratory panels will consider, among other things, how the schools would be combined, how the board of trustees would be structured and a new name. Though alumni associations probably would have to be consulted, officials have suggested Chapman Western University.

Task force members will be looking for synergies that would be created by combining the two schools, Doti said. “If we can’t do that, the reasons for a merger will become less attractive.”

Only one or two university or college mergers occur a year, according to education experts. Though the bugs sometimes take years to work out, they say, mergers are usually successful.

“If there are appropriate synergies, they can be mutually advantageous,” said Sheldon Steinbach, general counsel for the American Council on Education, which represents about 1,800 private and public colleges. “Opportunities for students can expand, and there are economies of scale.”

Because Chapman and Western universities offer each other contrasting curricula, education officials said there is a good chance of a smooth merger. Friction can occur, they said, when similar departments at two schools must be cut or reorganized under one umbrella.

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Chapman University Timeline

1861: Hesperian College is founded in Woodland, in Northern California. Ten students begin class in a local church on the day and hour Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated.

1921: First building is constructed at 766 N. Vermont St., Los Angeles, across the street from the University of California’s Southern Branch, which moved to Westwood and became UCLA.

1922: Name changes to California Christian College.

1934: Trustees change name to Chapman College, after board chairman and and principal benefactor Charles C. Chapman, a wealthy Placentia citrus grower and businessman.

1954: Chapman buys the old Orange High campus and becomes the first four-year accredited college in Orange County.

1965: Chapman launches World Campus Afloat, in which students take classes while traveling the world on an ocean liner.

1975: The college falls more than $4 million in debt and can’t pay taxes. Chapman gives up the World Campus Afloat, which now is run out of the University of Pittsburgh.

1988: G.T. (Buck) Smith resigns after 11 years as president, having brought financial stability to the school.

1989: Allen E. Koenig is named president; resigns in 1991 after two tumultuous years.

1991: James Doti, business school dean, is named 12th president. The college becomes Chapman University.

1992: Chapman increases tuition by 15%--to $14,936--its largest hike in eight years, and another 10% the next year. The school also raises the minimum combined SAT score for admission to 760.

1995: Chapman’s School of Law opens in temporary quarters in Anaheim.

1998: After twice denying the law school accreditation, American Bar Assn. gives the school provisional accreditation.

1999: The law school moves into a new $25-million building on campus. The school is named for trustee Donald P. Kennedy, chairman of the board of First American Financial Corp. Beckman Hall, which houses the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics, opens.

2000: In a rare joint undergraduate academic effort, UC Irvine and Chapman University offer a five-year program with two bachelor’s degrees--in engineering and in math or chemistry. Students begin their studies at Chapman and finish at UCI.

2000: Broadcom cofounder Henry Samueli gives Chapman $1.5 million for an undergraduate program in computer systems.

2003: The college studies possible merger with Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona.

Sources: Chapman University, Times reports