Dive Brief:

• In a non-binding vote, the faculty at Middlebury College voted 95 to 16 to end the college’s relationship with K12 Inc., an online-education company.
• The Vermont college owns 40% of Middlebury Interactive Languages, created with 60% partner K12 in 2010 in a partnership to sell online language courses to elementary and secondary schools. 
• Paula Schwartz, the professor who introduced the resolution, said K12’s business practices “are at odds with the integrity, reputation and educational mission of the college” and that K12 “has a record of misleading claims and dubious business practices,” the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

Dive Insight:

Middlebury President Ronald Liebowitz continues to support the K12 Inc. partnership. While the odds are that the faculty vote won’t force the liberal arts college to break up the partnership, there are precedents where faculty opposition discouraged collaboration with online course providers. Faculty at Amherst College and Duke University were successful in breaking up proposed partnerships with the edX and 2U online course providers, respectively, before they began.