After a four-hour meeting laden with emotional testimony and some confusion over a final vote, the Board of Regents decided Tuesday to recommend to the state Legislature a proposal that could lead to a “University of Greater New Orleans.”
The Regents voted 9-6 to recommend Alternative B following a study performed by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems which addressed the possibility of merging the University of New Orleans and Southern University-New Orleans.
Alternative B includes four institutional components — an urban research university, a metropolitan university, a comprehensive community college and a “university college” as an entry point for the other three units.
No specific names of New Orleans institutions were identified as university college components.
Urban research and metropolitan universities would share a campus and be united as the “University of Greater New Orleans” — which could represent UNO and SUNO.
The Regents rejected Alternative A, which would have put all institutions under the Greater New Orleans Higher Education Authority and wouldn’t have included UGNO.
Gov. Bobby Jindal had already endorsed Alternative B late Monday afternoon before the meeting Tuesday, drawing the ire of a number of Regents, especially Donna Klein, who said any Board recommendation would be “irrelevant.”
The addendum to the Regents’ recommendation includes a proposal by Southern University System President Ronald Mason to share resources between SUNO and Delgado Community College.
Mason said during the meeting he thought the study was “directly on point” and that “NCHEMS and I sort of ended up in the same place” but that his proposal is “as far as the state can realistically go.”
Afterward, Mason was noticeably disappointed in the Regents’ decision. He also seemed convinced his proposal won’t be incorporated in any legislation proposed by Jindal.
“SUNO will lose its [historically black college or university] status under option B, which defeats the entire purpose of … the proposal,” Mason said.
The roll-call vote came after a tense, two-hour session of public comments, in which members of the SUNO community filled the room and delivered impassioned speeches about saving SUNO. Administrators, faculty members, current and former students and even state legislators spoke on the university’s behalf.
Some of those who spoke sobbed and yelled at Board members. Several Regents fired back.
“I challenge you to follow us and see how we interact with universities,” Regent Ed Antie said. “This Board does care. We do care.”
The biggest divide arose over whether the proposed “University of Greater New Orleans” was actually a merger.
  Anger, confusion highlight Board of Regents meeting
 
NCHEMS panel members repeatedly said by definition, Alternative B is not a merger because the four components must still establish separate education missions.
SUNO students and administrators, as well as a few Regents, disagreed with that assessment.
Regent Demetrius Sumner, student representative from Southern-Baton Rouge, asked about the UGNO “box” around the urban research and metropolitan components on the Alternative B diagram.
“It’s a merger,” Sumner said, which elicited applause.
The motion passed after two substitute motions failed, one of which included making no recommendations to the Regents at all.
 
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Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]