The Comment Page

The Committee for UCL (revised 27/11/2002) 1 The proposed ‘merger’ of UCL and Imperial College "The Stanford/UCSF merger experience, which ended in ignominious failure and an enormous debt, stands as a stark warning of blithely merging two distinct academic cultures, particularly when they are not geographically co-localized." Phyllis Gardner MD, Stanford (signatory) This document is an attempt to state the case for and against merger in plain English, and to aid the process of gathering the views of those most affected by the proposals to merge with IC. This proposal originated in talks between Derek Roberts (DR) and Richard Sykes (RS), and started only a few weeks ago. UCL’s provost, within months of taking office for this, the last year of his association with the college, appears to have agreed with RS’s initiative that, if passed by Council, would end UCL’s existence (“After half an hour he [RS] said, "Why don't we cut through all this and explore a merger to create a world-leader? "My [DR] instant reply was positive”).. A press announcement was made on October 14th, before Council had met. At a meeting of academic board (AB) on Thursday 18th October, the Academic Board was notified of what DR and RS wished to do, there was little opportunity for consultation The search for a new provost was immediately suspended. DR states “Assuming a favourable decision by ...