I attended a CASFAA (CA financial aid org) presentation by our Lynne Garcia and Javier Labrador of ECMC last year. I noticed the two of them spending a lot of time at the conference together. I'm not saying it's any kind of conspiracy, but it's interesting. The presentation was on student financial literacy, so nothing that would indicate that ECMC was considering going into the career school business (which I still think sounds far fetched).
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099: Not sure about how Socle would fit in except as a CDR call center operation. But who would purchase that? It's all low-skilled labor that can easily be trained from scratch. Just look at the employee turnover in that area of Socle. All I can see Socle doing is processing remaining financial aid payments during the teach-out. I also don't see ECMC wanting to be in the school business.
ECMC has always been the go to company for the Department of ED to take over failing guarantor agencies and to serve as lender of last resort. It wouldnt surprise me if this deal was coordinated by the Department (as no one was really interested in purchasing Everest) to save their own butts as without a buyer, Everest would close resulting in a ton of closed school loan forgiveness write offs and very bad press for the Department itself. It will be interesting to see if ECMC actually has any long term interest in running the schools or whether it will slowly teach them out then close them down thus avoiding hitting the Department with all the bad press and write offs - perhaps retaining the regionally accredited ECP. Actions not words from CCI will tell this tale. SOCLE could fit into their business model as a school servicer division which is actually complimentary to ECMCs original business model.
008: I've managed a couple of these transitions for education companies, and you're pretty close. In this case, some centralized positions/departments (IT due to CV knowledge, Socle due to new owners not knowing all the aspects of financial aid) will stay for awhile, while others (HR, accounting) will go pretty quickly. There will be scrutiny of campuses and it will be a good time for employees to bring up any unethical behaviors by managers at your location. There will be an awareness that this entity has a sick culture and personnel changes will happen quickly. The new owners will want their own trusted people in various positions, besides the "4th floor" type spots, to get a feel for staff and to learn operations. In my estimation, the new owners will phase out both the old IT department and Socle, as they gain proficiency and hear from whistleblowers about regulatory vulnerabilities. That won't happen overnight, but quite a few people will go very quickly throughout the system. Those that stay can look forward to a few months of more stress, as the culture transitions and changes are made. It's never a comfortable time, but "worker bee" level employees should use that time to report (anonymously if you must) on anything that's been going on that the new owners need to be aware of. Not piddly, gossipy stuff like you sometimes hear on this board, but specific concrete examples of managers making inappropriate decisions or behaving unprofessionally. Then just take a deep breath and wait it out. In a few months you'll feel more stable and secure again, at least if you're in one of the mostly campus-level positions that will likely stay.
I am sure that the gates foundation is looking to get involved with a predatory lender.
I have to say these last posts here are the most informed persons that have ever posted on this site. I see ECMC eliminating all of Everest non campus based management positions immediately and bringing in newly hired and trained management to oversee the rebuilding process. I also see some big players getting involved in reforming the Career Technical College industry like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Warren Buffet. Remember, Melinda sat on the Board of Dir at Kaplan for a long time. And it's no secret Bill Gates endorses the need for career training in challenged demographics in the United States and across the world. I see ECMC trying to compete with colleges like Southern New Hampshire Univ., Western Governors Univ.
Not to forget...ECMC will step in and start eliminating the inefficencies. Keep looking for jobs.
Anonymous41978: I do believe you hit the nail on the head.
Well I attended an IT town hall at CSC in mid-late July and Ken Ord was there. He mentioned that there were already in talks with a non-profit that currently did not own schools but had close ties to the DoE. He also mentioned big Socle and little Socle where big Socle would handle the servicing for the new owners and little Socle would continue with the external clients and bring more clients on-board. By big Socle and little school he meant the business models not necessary the names going forward after the sale. Long story short it has been ongoing for a while.
950 I think some people are being swayed by the naysayers that ECMC would not be interested in schools they have talked themselves into believing it. The only reason it hasn't been released to the employees is because they haven't signed on the dotted line yet. It's my thoughts the DOE is putting this deal together and are negotiating with the states, VA, accrediting bodies and the other government departments to agree on the sale. Once this all comes together it will be announced to the employees and the public. Remember, the DOE wanted Corinthian Colleges out of business and they want a non-profit company to take over. They are already used to working with ECMC and this would kill two birds with one stone. A non-profit takes over and the DOE doesn't have to forgive millions in title IV loans. Obama gets what he wants, one of the largest for-profit education companies goes away and the government don't lose anymore money.
If you haven't already figured out that ECMC is the non profit that will be finalizing the sale with Jack this month, you are clueless and out of touch. It's not a secrete Flinstone.
According to their website, the fellow you mention is a trainer. Do trainers make decisions about the sale of a company? That's news to me. What next, instructors are going to start negotiations for sale of CCI next week? Lol. I think it's safe to doubt any conspiracy.
Maybe they just had the hots for each other.....
Jack's email really sounds like they have a buyer lined up. ECP folks were told that buyers would be purchasing QuickStart, other schools throughout the brands AND Socle. I find it very hard to believe that any company with experience in this industry would want anything we have to offer, especially Socle (where I work, at least for a few days longer). If the ECP reports are true, the execs would have had to find a really naive organization and put on quite a show to get them interested. ECMC has no experience in our industry and may just be that naive company, a non-profit which seems to have made a good living from government contracts.