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Members of the integration and strategic planning teams working on the merger of Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte.<\/p>\nFaculty and staff from Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte convened\u00a0on the Queens campus on Feb. 27, 2026, to continue merger integration and planning and to hear from four prominent\u00a0Charlotte executives who shared stories of collaboration and anticipation of reinforced educational resources that will drive the region’s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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On Friday, February 27, 2026, Queens University extended a warm Royal welcome to\u00a0Elon faculty and staff, hosting them at the Myers Park campus for a day of strategic collaboration in the heart of Charlotte. Queens Interim President Jesse Cureton opened the session with a call to action, encouraging\u00a0individuals\u00a0to \u201cchallenge yourselves\u00a0to think differently\u201d as they\u00a0continued to navigate\u00a0the integration process.<\/p>\n
Reaffirming the university\u2019s community impact, Cureton noted that Queens\u2019\u00a0nearly 170-year\u00a0history has positioned it as\u00a0an important resource\u00a0for the Queen City,\u00a0supplying the skilled talent needed to fuel rapidly growing industries like healthcare,\u00a0finance\u00a0and tech.<\/p>\n
Members of the integration and strategic planning teams working on the merger of Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte.<\/p>\n
Following Cureton\u2019s remarks,\u00a0Co-chair\u00a0of the SOAR Strategic Planning Committee and\u00a0McColl School of Business Dean Denise Rotondo moderated a dynamic discussion with a panel of Charlotte\u2019s top business leaders. The conversation featured strategic insights from Reggie Willis (Ally Financial), Vonda Huss (Brighthouse Financial), Margi\u00a0Vagell\u00a0(Lowe\u2019s), and\u00a0Kinneil\u00a0Coltman (Advocate Health\/Atrium), focusing on the evolving needs of the regional workforce and how the Elon\u00a0|\u00a0Queens merger can continue to cultivate a stronger talent pipeline for the region.<\/p>\n
The panel\u00a0showcased\u00a0the strategic corporate relationships Queens has cultivated with the city, specifically highlighting the Charlotte Talent Initiative (CTI). Through unique partnerships with Ally Financial and Lowe\u2019s, this cohort-based program drives economic mobility by providing diverse students from the community with full educational funding and comprehensive professional development \u2014 including specialized coursework, internships, and executive mentorship.<\/p>\n
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Corporate leaders from some of Charlotte\u2019s top companies shared their perspectives in a panel conversation during a daylong meeting on the Queens campus by faculty and staff working on the merger between Queens and Elon University.<\/p>\n
During the session, panelists drew on their career experiences to share \u201clessons learned\u201d from navigating complex corporate mergers and structural shifts. Highlighting a local success story, Huss detailed her firsthand experience collaborating with the McColl School\u2019s Center for Leadership and Executive Education (CLEE). As a dedicated hub for professional growth, CLEE expands Queens\u2019 footprint in the graduate and executive sectors by providing high-impact, practitioner-led leadership development designed for today\u2019s evolving business environment.<\/p>\n
Sourcing local talent is a plus for\u00a0Vagell, executive vice president of supply chain and integrated resource planning at Lowes. She emphasized the importance of being able to \u201clean into our own community when it came to education\u201d and stressed a desire to \u201ckeep the talent local, and at the same time partner with academic excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The panel discussion ended by highlighting the \u201cQueens connection\u201d that permeates Charlotte\u2019s executive ranks. Willis shared a unique personal tie, noting that both he and his father are alumni of the McColl Executive MBA Program. Underscoring the university\u2019s workforce presence, he shared that more than 50 of his colleagues at Ally Financial are Queens graduates or have completed various certifications through the university.<\/p>\n
After the panel, members of the SOAR Strategic Planning Committee and the Integration Team broke into planning workshops followed by lunch\u00a0in\u00a0McInnes Parlors in Queens Hall. After lunch, work sessions continued with a report-out of the day\u2019s accomplishments.<\/p>\n
As the merger progresses toward regulatory approval, including\u00a0submission\u00a0for accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), several core themes have\u00a0emerged\u00a0to guide the path forward. These include a commitment to collaborative decision-making and a continued dedication to creating strong academic offerings designed to respond to the evolving needs of the region\u2019s professional community.<\/p>\n
The strategic and integration teams are continuing to meet weekly, with more in-person visits planned for the spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faculty and staff from Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte convened\u00a0on the Queens campus on Feb. 27,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-154638","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154638","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=154638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}