Davenport U. president Rick Pappas says college committed to remaining open in Holland, Mich.
The Holland Sentinel
May 2, 2011
The Holland-area business base is strong enough to continue supporting a local campus of Davenport University, the college’s president said.
The Caledonia-based Davenport University announced plans to shutter campuses in Alma, Caro and Gaylord in March.
“Those closings were not actually for financial reasons,” said President Rick Pappas. The campuses made money but the market for students — and the job markets for college graduates — weren’t large enough to support a full-size academic program, he said.
A number of new initiatives are planned for this year at Davenport, Pappas said. A local leader for the Holland campus — previously run remotely by university’s central office — is set to be named by fall and would be active in the community. The Holland campus also will debut a cohort system so students who enroll in the fall would take their first year of classes together.
Shortly after he was hired in early 2010, Pappas ordered studies by an outside firm of Davenport’s 14 Michigan locations. The Holland campus hasn’t been singled out for expansion like campuses in Lansing, Midland and Saginaw have, but Pappas said it has a justified existence.
“Holland has a tremendous business base,” he said. “We think there’s a richness in Holland. Holland specifically was doing really well.”
