University System of Maryland officials voted against a proposal to merge the College Park and Baltimore campuses, and instead opted for an approach that maintains each university’s independence while calling for greater collaboration. The Board of Regents voted unanimously in favor of an alternative “strategic alliance” that presidents of both universities said would encourage shared resources and research for the first time.
“I think we all agree this alliance creates a tremendous potential for collaboration and greatness,” said Regent Gary L. Attman. “This potential has been there for decades, but has never fully been realized. Hopefully this is different.”
Wary of the risks and financial burden of combining the Baltimore and College Park campuses into one, the regents plan to send the Maryland legislature an alternative they say embraces a modern vision for how the system can operate.
Regent C. Thomas McMillen said the state’s precarious financial situation played into the need for a compromise between a traditional merger and the more individualistic approach the universities have taken.
“We’re going into a very indeterminate fiscal climate at the state level,” McMillen said. “What happens if there isn’t any money? Can we still be successful?”
The study’s conclusion goes against the proposal of state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Prince George’s County, who originally called for a report on the pros and cons of merging the two campuses.
Miller has argued that the universities, combined under the same name but with two separate presidents, would be able to compete for more funds and garner better national recognition as a research institution.
Miller did not return calls for comment.
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh never thought a traditional merger could happen, “just as a matter of political reality,” he said.
“As the discussion made it very clear, there’s a whole a continuum of possibilities,” Loh said. “All along, many of us, myself included, have said, ‘Let’s be realistic.’ There are many possibilities in the middle of that continuum.”
The board instructed university system Chancellor Brit Kirwan, University of Maryland, Baltimore, President Jay A. Perman and Loh to return before the board by March 1 with details for how to coordinate the alliance.
Regent Barry Gossett acknowledged that the alliance could be a difficult sell to students and faculty.
“It is a merger, or a clashing of cultures, that we are about to embark on,” Gossett said. “The people involved down when the rubber meets the road have to really understand that the projects that we’re working on will ultimately lead to success.”
