BATON ROUGE, La. — A consultant studying the possible merger of the University of New Orleans with Southern University at New Orleans says he’s not ready to make recommendations but he is ready to say that the status quo isn’t serving students well.
Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, outlined some initial findings Tuesday to the Louisiana Board of Regents about a possible merger.
Jones says the two schools serve very different educational, financial and racial backgrounds of students. Whatever direction is taken with the higher education system in New Orleans must account for these differences
Recommendations from Jones’ consulting firm are due to the Regents by March 1.
Black lawmakers, SUNO leaders and the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party oppose a merger.
