Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose announce historic merger

In a landmark decision, Cedar Rapids’ Mount Mercy University entered into a “strategic combination” agreement with Davenport’s St. Ambrose University on Thursday, Aug. 1. The agreement will place Mount Mercy under the leadership of St. Ambrose after a transitional period of two years, both effectively becoming one institution. Faculty and staff from both Catholic institutions assembled as the presidents, Todd Olson of Mount Mercy and Amy Novak of St. Ambrose, signed the agreement at the University Center on the Mount Mercy campus, located at 1330 Elmhurst Drive NE. Calling it a “milestone event,” Ms. Novak emphasized the universities’ shared values and alignments and outlined some expectations for the next couple years. “We will continue to have a distinct Mount Mercy campus experience here with academic programs on this campus, offerings on this campus, and perhaps expanded sets of graduate offerings, expanded opportunities and co-curricular areas,” Ms. Novak said, adding that both campuses will retain their respective mascots and “probably” continue competing in athletics. Talks about a strategic combination began in late 2023, according to a press release. Prior to the merging process, the signed agreement will be followed by a series of regulatory steps, beginning with approval from the Higher Learning Commission and Department of Education. The initial approvals are expected in spring 2025, followed by a “transition period” required by the U.S. Department of Education. During this time, St. Ambrose will continue to operate Mount Mercy as a separate university, maintaining its own degree authorization, accreditation, and federal student financial aid participation. By mid-2026, this transition period should wrap up, officials say, leading to the full integration of the two universities under St. Ambrose. Both campuses will keep their unique educational programs, and the Mount Mercy name will live on as the Mount Mercy Campus of St. Ambrose University. “It’s been possible because there’s been a willingness to be vulnerable, to work in place of ambiguity and to lead from a place of faith that we would figure this out,” Ms. Novak said.

Universities collaborate

Higher education, particularly smaller, private institutions, have faced significant challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Last year, Iowa Wesleyan University, an institution with roots dating back to 1842, closed its doors following a decline in donations, rising inflation, and the denial of Covid relief funds by Gov. Kim Reynolds. In response, Mount Mercy University hosted a visit day for Iowa Wesleyan students on April 11, aiming to bolster its own enrollment numbers. During that time, Mr. Olson and Ms. Novak met with presidents of other Catholic institutions to discuss the complexity and challenges facing their own universities, eventually landing on the idea to collaborate together. “That was really the starting point for us, recognizing both of us love, value, and want to do everything we could to move our university forward,” said Mr. Olson, on the initial meetings with St. Ambrose. “And we saw the complex times we were in and saw a particular opportunity here. The conversation really went on from there first, just with the two of us imagining some paths forward, then bringing in some leaders from our boards, and as time went on, broadening that circle of conversation.” Following their May announcement to open courses to students from both campuses, the universities have assembled a group of over 80 staff and faculty members. These individuals have been organized into 14 teams, each dedicated to different aspects of the integration process. “By the time we’re done, we’ll probably have 17 or 18 integration teams,” Mr. Olson said. “We know that ongoing engagement and input from members of our community will be vital.”

Integration plans

As part of the definitive agreement, Mount Mercy will retain a representation on St. Ambrose’s board of trustees, as will the Sisters of Mercy. “We’ve also committed to an advisory board that will have interface with, and guidance to, the leadership, both of the St. Ambrose University board as well as the leadership at St. Ambrose about the needs of the Cedar Rapids community, and the ways in which we can continue to work collaboratively to really strengthen democracy campus, to strengthen the presence of the academic offerings we have here and to build a strong and vibrant future,” Ms. Novak said. Emphasizing shared values and alignment, Ms. Novak stated that the two universities will be able to complement each other’s programs. Mount Mercy boasts strong graduate programs in nursing, education, and therapy, while St. Ambrose offers more than 10 distinct graduate programs in occupational therapy, public health, social work, and physician assistant studies. However, whether or not faculty and staff will be able to retain their positions during the transition is left to be seen, though “we’re pursuing that in a very thoughtful way,” Mr. Olson said. “I also want (others) to know the very clear majority of faculty and staff at Mount Mercy will certainly be part of the new organization. We know there are some shifts that have happened as we both made adjustments, and so we are taking seriously the needs and the contributions of our faculty and staff.” Regarding students, their degrees will continue to feature their respective campus names until the end of the transition period. At that point, all degrees will carry the St. Ambrose name, with a note of the specific campus attended. Scholarships and endowments will continue to honor “donor intent.” “We will respect the donor intent of each gift and see that it is being used for the purposes they intended. And in some cases, that’s more specific than others,” Mr. Olson said. Moving forward, however, the development and fundraising teams from both campuses will work together on capital projects and initiatives that will benefit the university as a whole. In closing, Ms. Novak was deeply impressed by the commitment of the business community in Cedar Rapids, the Iowa City/Coralville area, and the Quad Cities. Despite the increasing criticism and declining student numbers in higher education, the universities’ vision received enthusiastic support, she said, particularly from healthcare and nonprofit leaders. “We can now join forces and bring (Mount) Mercy to the Quad Cities and bring education to the Quad Cities in new ways,” she said. “And we can bring other health care here in a way that can be much more expeditious. By combining some of our back office operations, we also generate the kinds of cost savings that allow us to develop programs more expeditiously with the kinds of insight and co-creative capacity that we would want our business partners to be involved in as we think about this work together…we know there’s a lot of work ahead.”