Not all mergers are the correct tactic, at least as proposed. As a former member of the SACSCOC trustee board, I do recall how hard and carefully the accrediting staff worked with institutional leaders to ensure the assessments made were fair, considered the students, and were the right decision. When we were merging institutions in Georgia a decade ago, few of us had any experience with consolidating colleges and universities. That included the accrediting agency staff, though they tried to be helpful. But it did feel like a case of all students, no teachers.
