Dear Faculty, Staff and Students:

It has been several months since my last communication on the status of the Maryland General Assembly's discussions about a potential merger of the University of Maryland, College Park with our university.

Subsequently, the legislature has directed the Board of Regents to conduct a study to determine the advantages and disadvantages of a merger, and to ascertain whether a merger would be beneficial to both universities, the University System of Maryland and the state. The Regents' report is due on December 15th.

In preparation for the study, the Board of Regents has asked each institution to assemble a merger study team that will serve on various task groups. Pete Gilbert, vice president for planning and accountability, will chair our study team. The task groups will study the impact of a possible merger on:

• Education, research, and national reputation;
• Financial costs and benefits for both institutions, USM as a whole, and the state;
• Technology transfer and research commercialization; and
• External constituencies, including the surrounding community, alumni, donors and businesses.

I will convene an open forum on this issue on Thursday, August 25, 2011, from noon to 1 p.m. at Westminster Hall. Please feel free to bring your lunch and engage with me in an open dialogue so that I can gather your points of view.

I hope to see you on the 25th!

Sincerely yours,

Jay A. Perman, MD
President