Consultant suggests options in SUNO/UNO study

A consultant studying a controversial proposal to merge Southern University at New Orleans with the University of New Orleans is suggesting two options today to rework an educational system deemed to be failing the city’s students. Neither option is a complete consolidation of the campuses. Dennis Jones of the Colorado-based National Center for Higher Education Management Systems is presenting the two proposals to Louisiana’s top higher education board, the Board of Regents, at an afternoon meeting. The board hired the consulting firm at the request of Gov. Bobby Jindal and is scheduled to vote on the recommendations Tuesday. One option would merge the two campuses into the University of Greater New Orleans, though the schools would maintain separate missions under that umbrella. The other option would redesign the campuses to ensure they have distinct purposes and don’t overlap functions. In both scenarios, SUNO would lose its focus as a historically black college, and the two campuses would share administration support systems, services and facilities. They would also collaborate more directly with the nearby two-year Delgado Community College, which has struggled to find facility space to meet its bulging enrollment. However, even in the merged University of Greater New Orleans, the consolidation wouldn’t be total. The idea of a merger has generated loud criticism from the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, SUNO staff, alumni and students, Democratic Party leaders and others who call it an attack on historically black colleges and universities that won’t improve educational attainment. Just before the Regents’ meeting today, the Rev. Jesse Jackson was the keynote speaker at a “Save SUNO” rally held at the school.