Updated as of 5:05 p.m. to include a statement from Elon University Communications on behalf of Jim Piatt, head of the Elon sprint team.
Elon University’s chapter of the American Association for University Professors issued a statement Oct. 15 asking both Elon and Queens University of Charlotte to include faculty from both institutions in the planning and decision making process of the proposed merger.
Elon and Queens announced Sept. 16 that the two universities intend to merge.
Since the announcement, Elon and Queens have held multiple town halls and listening sessions for faculty, staff, students, alums and parents. However, according to the statement from Elon’s AAUP chapter, questions about how faculty will be involved in the merger have not been answered.
“Faculty have been invited to submit questions at town halls, but direct questions about how faculty will be integrated into the decision-making prior to the approval of the merger remain unanswered in these forums,” the statement said.
Additional concerns raised during the listening sessions include Queens’ finances, branding and the future of both athletic programs.
The statement also wrote that Elon’s Academic Council — a representative committee of faculty — was not consulted on the plans to merge prior to the public announcement.
According to the faculty handbook, the Academic Council is supposed to act in an advisory role to the university president and advise the president on setting long-range goals and priorities for the university.
The chapter is asking for Elon and Queens to have elected faculty representation on both of the universities’ sprint teams, including the Academic Council and its Queens’ equivalent, in advisory roles throughout the merger and faculty participation in determining if and how the merger proceeds.
The planning team — also referred to as the sprint team — is working in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group and includes six members of university administration, each of whom have a counterpart at Queens.
One of the members of the sprint team, CJ Fleming, is a psychology professor at Elon but is currently serving as a faculty administration fellow.
Kaye Usry, president of Elon’s AAUP Chapter was not available for an in-person interview but provided an emailed response to Elon News Network’s request for comment.
“These are uncharted waters, so flexibility is both possible and necessary,” Usry wrote. “Timelines can change, and in my view, it’s more important to make sound, collaborative decisions than to meet an arbitrary deadline.”
Queens currently does not have an AAUP chapter.
Assistant Vice President Strategic Communications & Media Relations Eric Townsend sent a statement to Elon News Network on behalf of Jim Piatt, the head of the Elon sprint team.
"There have been, and will continue to be, opportunities for faculty, in their individual capacities and through involvement with Academic Council, to participate in strategic conversations related to the proposed merger," Piatt's statement said.
Piatt's statement said faculty and staff will continue to be engaged by both sprint teams on both campuses leading to final decisions about the merger.
“We are being asked to trust that this merger serves our shared mission, yet we lack access to the information and participation that would make such trust possible,” the AAUP statement said. “If this merger is truly to succeed, it must begin with honesty, transparency, and the inclusion of faculty as partners in charting the path ahead.”