Statement on Proposed Elon/Queens Merger

October 15, 2025

Elon AAUP Chapter Statement on Proposed Elon/Queens Merger

The Elon chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) calls on the administrations of Elon and Queens universities to fully include faculty from both institutions in planning and decision-making regarding the proposed merger, in accordance with established principles of shared governance.

Elon faculty are deeply committed to the university’s mission and to the success of our students. We share the administration’s concern for the university’s future and understand that higher education faces real financial and demographic pressures. We also recognize that creative responses to these challenges may be necessary. That said, the announcement of an intent to merge with Queens has left many of us deeply concerned, not only about the merger itself, but about the opaque process by which the decision was made.

Elon faculty’s representative body, Academic Council, was not consulted before the public announcement of a major decision that will reshape our institution. According to the Faculty Handbook, Academic Council “will advise the President on the setting of priorities and on the planning of long-range goals for the University” and will “obtain pertinent information that is required to carry out these advisory duties effectively.” Yet reporting shows that merger discussions have been underway for some time, and Academic Council received no information nor any opportunity to advise prior to the September 16th announcement. 

Nearly a month later, there is still no clear plan for integrating faculty representatives into ongoing planning and decision-making around the merger. Faculty have been invited to submit questions at town halls, but direct questions about how faculty will be integrated into decision-making prior to the approval of the merger remain unanswered in these forums. 

Shared governance is not a courtesy; it is a cornerstone of higher education and a safeguard for academic quality. It only functions when faculty are partners in major institutional decisions. A merger has significant implications for academic programs and curriculum overseen by faculty at both Queens and Elon and the decision to proceed with a merger with Queens should be made with significant faculty representation and buy-in.  

Given this, Elon’s chapter of the AAUP calls for:

• Elected representation for faculty on the “Sprint Teams” for Elon and Queens, who regularly report back to existing shared governance bodies. 

  • We recognize and appreciate that some members of the sprint team have been full-time faculty, however, none of them were chosen by the faculty, none currently serve full-time as faculty, and none are accountable to the faculty. 

• Formal inclusion of Academic Council, and its Queens counterpart, in meaningful advisory roles throughout the merger process. 

  • We understand meetings are planned that include the chairs of these bodies, but this is not a substitute for meaningfully consulting with all members of Council, who represent faculty across schools and divisions. 

• Faculty participation in determining whether and how the merger proceeds, exercised through both the sprint teams and established shared governance bodies. 

  • Faculty should be integrated into university processes that will determine whether to proceed with the merger, not only invited to participate after the merger is approved. If faculty will be called upon to help make the merger a success, then faculty should be included in the decision of both institutions to move forward with the merger.

Faculty at both institutions were caught off guard by this announcement and have been discouraged from speaking openly with one another across campuses. 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. 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.