{"id":138723,"date":"2026-02-19T13:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138723\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T13:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:35:07","slug":"elon-queens-university-merger-team-makes-plans-for-the-joint-institution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138723\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon, Queens University merger team makes plans for the joint institution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elon University and Queens University’s merger integration team said the upcoming merger is moving forward with strong collaboration and a shared focus on students. Queens President Emerita Pamela Davies explained that this semester is focused on building a shared culture before the institutions officially join.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we hope to do this semester prior to the official joining of our institutions is to build a shared culture, coming together with what we\u2019re trying to achieve, and some bold ideas for how to achieve that,\u201d Davies said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges so far has been working through the long approval process required for mergers, including getting accreditation approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The universities plan to submit their request in March and expect a response in June of this year. Only after that approval can they seek final approval from the U.S. Department of Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be 2030 before we achieve all of our goals, because it just takes a long time to do those things,\u201d Davies said. \u201cSo we\u2019re kind of looking toward day one of the merger, which will be late June, hopefully this summer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n Nolan Williams | Elon News Network <\/p>\n

Elon University announced Sept. 16 during College Coffee in McKinnon Hall that they plan to merge with Queens University of Charlotte. If the universities\u2019 boards of trustees approve a merger, Elon would take over operations at Queens.<\/p>\n

The merger integration team<\/a>, made up of 27 people across nine teams, is managing important steps, required approvals and planning for future collaboration. Jim Piatt, the senior vice president for advancement and external affairs, said they want to keep student interest and experience at the forefront.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always doing it with what\u2019s best for students in mind,\u201d Piatt said. \u201cThat\u2019s a cultural aspect of both Queens and Elon as we\u2019ve developed through the years anyway, is to really focus on student experience and outcomes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeff Stein, Elon\u2019s chief integration officer and co-chair of the integration team, said the merger is being built on teamwork and collective decision-making. He emphasized that leadership wants the community involved throughout the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wisdom is in the group,\u201d Stein said. \u201cWe\u2019re not an institution made up of just one person\u2019s ideas or one person\u2019s vision.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stein said the team has to move slowly and carefully while still planning for the future, keeping the team\u2019s shared priorities at the forefront.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were to ask me what the name of the merged entity is going to be, I would tell you I don’t know, because that hasn’t been determined yet,\u201d Stein said. \u201cWe’re still gathering input, and we’re not at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with the slow pace, leaders stressed that the top priority is keeping students\u2019 day\u2011to\u2011day experience stable and improving it where possible. They said no major changes to the student experience are expected. Davies said technical teams at both schools are already building systems to make sure students don\u2019t run into issues with registration, information access, or campus services during the transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a while working in this space to comprehend that fully,\u201d Davies said. \u201cWhen we first started talking about it, it was \u2018well, there will be Elon, and there will be Queens,\u2019 and in reality, we\u2019re going to be a single institution with two residential campuses where students eventually move back and forth between campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n Nolan Williams | Elon News Network <\/p>\n

Elon University announced Sept. 16 during College Coffee in McKinnon Hall that they plan to merge with Queens University of Charlotte. If the universities\u2019 boards of trustees approve a merger, Elon would take over operations at Queens.<\/p>\n

Piatt added that the merger will open doors for students from both campuses to explore more hands-on work in growing industries like health care, which he described as part of the broader range of experiences the new institution hopes to offer.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, both leaders said students at both campuses will gain new opportunities\u2014especially in Charlotte\u2019s business, health care, and communications sectors. They said combining the two universities will open more hands-on learning options.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think an expanded portfolio of opportunities,\u201d Davies said. \u201cQueens sits in the heart of a place where engaged learning can be leveraged in new and different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s leaders emphasized how this merger between two strong, complementary institutions is unprecedented. Piatt said they have learned from consulting partners and past mergers not to be afraid to make important decisions and to communicate well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re trailblazing a little bit,\u201d Davies said. \u201cWe feel a responsibility to create a model that can be used by others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiona McAllister and Anjolina Fantaroni contributed to the reporting of this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elon University and Queens University’s merger integration team said the upcoming merger is moving forward with strong collaboration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-138723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}