This past fall, administrators at Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte announced that the two private schools intended to merge. The announcement called the merger an opportunity to create a "more sustainable model of higher education in Charlotte." It came as a shock to faculty, alumni, students, and other campus community members who have since raised concerns about how administrators will integrate the two institutions – which are more than 100 miles away from each other.
Elon University recently hired Jeff Stein as the merger's "Chief Integration Officer." A couple of weeks into his role, Stein spoke with WUNC Higher Education Reporter Brianna Atkinson about what happens now.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
You had previously been at Elon a long time, but this is a new and unique administrative role that you're in. How does your experience help you navigate such an uncharted process?
"In many ways, I grew up in higher education at Elon University. This is a new chapter, right? This is a new chapter for Queens and Elon. I would say this is a new bold chapter for higher education, certainly for Charlotte. It requires that we have people from both institutions coming together in the middle to imagine a somewhat unknown future; a new bold chapter, a new future. And so I get the privilege of partnering with President Emerita of Queen's University Pamela Davies, as the two chief integration officers – so that we can bring the two institutions together, and in some ways stand in the middle, bringing our knowledge and deep roots from each institution. But also, the curiosity and the drive to bring them together and create something new. For me, it's an incredible opportunity."
This merger is unique in its scale and for other reasons. Is there a model out there that you're looking at? A merger of schools somewhere in the country that you can learn something from?
"I think it can be difficult for people to understand how new this model is. It was clear to me coming into this that Queens and Elon intend to be – and continue to be, in the case of Queens – indispensable partners with and for Charlotte. In this merger, what's unique is you've got two storied institutions, award winning institutions, world class institutions that together have over 300 years of legacies of transforming students' lives." You have them coming together to say, Queens is a world class institution, Elon is a world class institution, and clearly, Charlotte is a world class city. How do we imagine what higher education can look like in Charlotte? What can be done here? And so that is a new approach."
"... This is a new merger, a new chapter, and I think there aren't many examples of how exactly this can be done. And so, these two institutions and the city are working together to write a whole new playbook."
What are some of the roadblocks a university can face in a process like this?
"There are all sorts of regulations that come from the government and accrediting bodies to guide the process. You have to be careful to follow those. Those guidelines also pace out the work to some extent, meaning you have to sort of walk before you run. You have to get to know each other. You have to go through some of these regulatory processes in order to protect the public, in order to protect students. So, I think because it's a new merger, brand new chapter, there's no perfect playbook. That's one challenge.
Another challenge is, how do you respect the cultures of these storied institutions that bring those 300-year legacies of transforming students' lives? Another is that list that I mentioned of guidelines to follow. I think in these types of situations, people get anxious, they get impatient, and so they want all the questions answered. We're not always able to do all the work. We've got to take it at a certain pace in order to make sure it works well."
What's the best piece of advice you've gotten about how to handle this role?
"I've gotten a lot of advice, but I'll tell you what really I've heard across the board from the amazing folks at Queens, from people in the city of Charlotte, and from the community at Elon: remember that each of these entities has its own identity and culture. Those are important as we imagine a future together and they must be respected and upheld.
And I'll tell you one other one that is sort of a mantra at both Elon and Queens, keep it about the students. These are student-centered institutions. That's been their history, but it's got to be done for the benefit of students. That's what this work is all about."
With you mentioning identity and culture, I was looking into comments from alumni at both schools. Some of them are worried about the university's missions getting swallowed up in this process. Others have raised some financial concerns amid falling enrollment and some budget problems at Queen's University. How do you plan to balance those concerns throughout this process?
“One of the things that I've seen that I've been impressed by in this process in the fall is that everyone involved in the merger was trying to have as many conversations with stakeholders as possible; trying to answer every question that could be answered in that time. I think that's a hallmark of both institutions, to really be responsive to concerns, to really be having listening sessions and sharing information on a regular basis.
I think when something is new, when something is so bold, people get nervous. And that's okay, the nerves that people fear, the concerns they express, that's coming from love. They love their institutions, they value their experiences at Queens, at Elon, and they want to protect that. That's actually a positive, because they are committed and loyal to those institutions. We have to respect that connection and commitment, and we have to bring that forward as we create this new merged entity."
Has there been a comment or point that's been raised from faculty, alumni, or a student that really stuck out to you – either because you hadn't thought of it or because it was especially insightful in some way?
"I'm (a few) weeks in really being on site in Charlotte, my wife and I just moved. We're excited to get to know the city and we've been thrilled with the welcome. What has stuck out to me in the short time that I've been involved in the merger, but also in the materials that I've read and the coverage, is the pride that people have for these institutions. We were just talking about their concerns about the future of these two institutions. And you can see a light sort of going off in people's minds as they realize the possibilities of these three world class organizations – the two universities and the city – coming together."
Elon's AAUP chapter released a statement back in October, raising concerns about faculty involvement in the merger process. It said the merger announcement blindsided advisory leaders, and the AAUP has been calling on administrators to fully include faculty in decision making. How do you plan to meaningfully incorporate them in this process?
"The process that happened in the fall involved a 'sprint team' to do some of the initial processes of thinking about how this might possibly move forward. You will see some announcements in the coming weeks about an integration team picking up that work made up of faculty and staff from both Queens and Elon. You will also see announcements about faculty, staff, and others participating in some strategic thinking about the future – so that we can hear from stakeholders across both communities, across Charlotte about the future. That notion of input and involvement is going to be central. We cannot do this alone. We've got to have the incredible faculty and staff of both institutions and folks across Charlotte involved in imagining this incredible future."
There was also a list of demands that the AAUP put forth. Are any of those going to be kind of folded into this next step that you just described?
"I can't really comment on the specifics of that, I'll have to read more from that document. As someone who spent a lot of years – 21 years at Elon – and has strong relationships with faculty and staff, I think there will be lots of conversations going forward.
This merger has a goal of being complete either in 2027 or 2028. How will we know years down the road that this merger was a success?
"How do we know this merger is a success? In some ways I'd push back on that to say, we want to hear from students, faculty, staff, alumni, the community of Charlotte, to hear what they think would be metrics of success. But honestly, our work is all about students. So, in some ways there are some key metrics about students achieving, students graduating, students finding incredible jobs, and really students becoming the ethical, resilient change makers that change the world. I think you will see over time, efforts to be as creative as possible in terms of growing with and for Charlotte. I think that's a key piece of this. I think people seeing themselves in this merger and the future is a central component of our success.
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