Recommendations for mergers of public colleges have become more common in recent years as state lawmakers and higher-education leaders have looked for ways to deal with historic budget shortfalls. Nearly all of those proposals, however, have run into buzz saws of controversy.
But a proposal to combine eight of the University System of Georgia’s institutions and end up with four is likely to be approved by the system’s Board of Regents this week with considerably less outcry than past proposals in Georgia or in other states. If the board votes to approve the mergers, as expected, it will be because Georgia’s university system avoided many of the pitfalls that have prevented other measures from advancing.
The proposed mergers could serve as a model for similar measures in other places, said Daniel J. Hurley, director of state relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “If this goes forward, it could have a domino effect and be a real case study on how to handle the process,” he said.
Future Benefits
The proposed mergers are: Gainesville State College and North Georgia College & State University; Middle Georgia College and Macon State College; Waycross College and South Georgia College; and Augusta State University and the Georgia Health Sciences University, which is also in Augusta. Besides the two institutions in Augusta, all of the other pairs involve campuses that are between 25 miles and 35 miles apart.
There are no plans to shut down any of the campuses, but some jobs are likely to be cut, especially in administration, the university system’s chancellor, Henry (Hank) M. Huckaby, said in a written statement.
Any savings through efficiencies are to be spent on instruction. The details of the consolidations will be decided by working groups from the campuses during the next 12 to 18 months.
The pairings were chosen in a three-month process that was announced by the chancellor in September as part of an effort to make the system more efficient. “I believe it is time for the system to study if campus consolidations are justified and will enhance our ability to serve the people of Georgia at less cost,” Mr. Huckaby told the system’s Board of Regents at the time.
In November, the board approved a set of six principles that system administrators would consider for consolidating campuses, including avoiding duplications of academic programs, creating efficiencies, and encouraging economic development.
Still, some faculty and staff were shocked when the names of the specific campuses to be merged were revealed in news articles last week.
“Oh yes, it was a surprise,” said Martha T. Nesbitt, president of Gainesville State, which is already the largest source of transfer students to North Georgia.
There will be challenges in blending the missions of the two institutions, she said, because Gainesville State’s admissions standards are less selective than North Georgia’s.
The benefits for Gainesville State, she said, will be that the campus will be able to offer a wider array of bachelor’s degrees and even some graduate programs from North Georgia.
Dennis P. Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, said differences in campus and organizational cultures are probably the biggest hurdles to overcome when trying to merge colleges. “The whole issue of cultures of institutions is much more difficult than the mechanics of institutions,” he said.
But he warned that expectations of big cost savings might not be realized. While there is likely to be more efficiency in student services and instruction, the overall costs of running both campuses will probably not decrease. “Expansion of service is the bigger benefit,” he said.
Past Problems
The proposal in Georgia is notable, however, for what it didn’t include, such as merging a historically black college with a traditionally white one—such proposals have raised controversy in Georgia and other Southern states in the past. In May, a Louisiana bill to merge historically black Southern University at New Orleans with the nearby University of New Orleans was pulled from consideration by state legislative leaders.
In 2009, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Republican, proposed merging the state’s three historically black institutions: Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State Universities would become part of Jackson State University. He also suggested consolidating the administrative staffs of the Mississippi University for Women (known as “the W”) and Mississippi State University.
In 2008, the then-chairman of the Georgia Senate’s higher-education committee sparked outrage among educators at historically black colleges when he suggested that two of the state’s historically black universities merge with predominantly white institutions. The university system’s Board of Regents did not even consider that suggestion.
The most recent proposals to merge colleges in Georgia also don’t suggest displacing any popular presidents, as did the effort to streamline the administration and programs at campuses across the State University of New York by its chancellor, Nancy L. Zimpher. A decision to have the New York system’s campus at Canton led by the president of the campus at nearby Potsdam sparked a protest by employees at Canton and town officials. SUNY’s Board of Trustees backed off that measure, though it did allow administrative mergers at two other pairs of colleges to continue.
