Elon & Queens Merger: Faculty Seeks Input on University Combination

Elon University faculty seeks greater input as it merges with Queens College. Professors express concerns over lack of involvement in planning. Merger aims to create new programs addressing workforce demands.

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Elon and Queens, regarding 115 miles away from each other in North Carolina, stated last month that their combination “creates new advantages of scale, uniting resources, faculty experience, study ability and pupil services across both universities.”

Faculty Concerns Over Merger Planning

The phase claimed authorities didn’t speak with Elon’s academic council prior to the merging news. That’s despite terms in the college’s faculty manual for the council to “encourage the Head of state on the setup of top priorities and the planning of long-range goals for the University.”

Going forward, Elon’s AAUP asked for a “purposeful” advising duty for the complete council and its Queens equivalent on the combination.They recognized scheduled meetings that consisted of the chairs of those bodies, yet the Elon AAUP pushed for the complete participation of the councils.

AAUP Calls for Faculty Advisory Role

In a statement Wednesday, the group defined professors as being blindsided by the merging announcement in September and overlooked of the planning procedure. They called for professors to elect reps on integration teams and for authorities to formally include of the universities’ faculty councils in merger encouraging.

In its Thursday declaration, the college said, “There have actually been, and will certainly continue to be, possibilities for Elon professors, in their private capabilities and through participation with Elon’s Academic Council, to take part in calculated discussions as job proceeds toward a final decision by the boards of trustees of Elon and Queens.”

University’s Response to Faculty Concerns

“Shared administration is not a politeness; it is a foundation of higher education and a protect for scholastic quality,” the professors team stated in its statement, which was released by Elon’s pupil news organization. “It only works when faculty are companions in significant institutional choices.”

They also stated their merger would certainly speed up the creation of brand-new programs meant to resolve the Charlotte location’s labor force demands, such as an expanding shortage of registered nurse professionals, physician assistants and legal representatives and a rising demand for graduate offerings.

Merger’s Focus: Workforce Needs

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Elon University in Elon, N.C. Professors at the university desire a larger decision-making role as the institution prepares to combine with Queens College of Charlotte.
The photo by Jhalent is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Financial Stability of Elon and Queens

Because that news, Elon has actually claimed hundreds of workers, pupils and various other stakeholders have actually attended city center events concerning the combination and listening sessions and that officials are utilizing their feedback to shape the plan. It has actually likewise seen public pushback from professors, trainees and alumni.

Elon is likewise on firmer economic ground. It had $1.2 billion in possessions in fiscal 2024, more than 3 times that of Queens.That year, Elon logged a $70.4 million operating excess while Queens reported an $8.7 million deficit.However, in a frequently asked question page on the merging, the colleges said that the mix plan is “not driven by dilemma.”

Elon College’s chapter of the American Organization of University Professors is looking for extra faculty involvement in the merging process as the institution seeks to take overQueens University of Charlotte.

Professors comments has been “important to the substantial work of a group with reps of both schools going over concerns associated with the academics, procedures, and programming of a merged establishment,” the college stated Thursday in an emailed declaration.