Polytech to vote on finaling NYU merger
Jane C. Timm
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: University
CORRECTION APPENDED
The Board of Trustees at Polytechnic University will vote today on whether to finalize the proposed merger with NYU.
Representatives from both schools have expressed confidence that the merger will move forward, and unofficial votes by both NYU and Polytechnic's Board of Trustees have already approved it.
NYU's board voted to allow President John Sexton and the Martin Lipton, the chair of the board, to sign the merger agreement once it was finalized, and Polytech's board took a nonbinding vote last month which was approved by more than three-fourths of trustees.
Last month, Polytech's board suspended the vote for 30 days in light of a pending investigation by the state into allegations of a conflict of interest by voting board members at Polytechnic.
A group of alumni who has vocally challenged the merger prompted the investigation after appealing to the state several days before the Board of Trustees was set to vote on the merger last month.
Opponents of the merger have also raised allegations that it is illegal, saying that when NYU's original engineering school was dissolved into Polytech in the '70s, a letter from then President James Hester stated that NYU "would not be authorized to offer engineering instruction at Washington Square or elsewhere."
Officials from both schools have dismissed the letter, saying it was taken out of context and that no prohibitive agreement exists.
Former President James Hester said that this letter referred to the fact that the Dr. Edward Nyquist, then the commissioner of education and Brooklyn representative, was protecting Polytech from competition, but said that it is not a prohibitive agreement of any kind.
NYU and Polytech discussed a merger in 2005, but the talks fell through after Polytechnic faculty members voted against the alliance. Negotiations began again last September, and if the deal goes through, it would make NYU the effective owner of Polytechnic.
University spokesman John Beckman said that "NYU believes in the value of the proposed merger with Poly, which will confer advantages on both institutions, as well as the city and state."
If approved today, the merger will go to the state for final approval.
Jane C. Timm is university editor. E-mail her at jtimm@nyunews.com.
CORRECTION: The version of this story that appeared in print incorrectly implied that the merger vote was already finalized. The board has informally committed to the merger, but the official vote has not yet occured.
The Board of Trustees at Polytechnic University will vote today on whether to finalize the proposed merger with NYU.
Representatives from both schools have expressed confidence that the merger will move forward, and unofficial votes by both NYU and Polytechnic's Board of Trustees have already approved it.
NYU's board voted to allow President John Sexton and the Martin Lipton, the chair of the board, to sign the merger agreement once it was finalized, and Polytech's board took a nonbinding vote last month which was approved by more than three-fourths of trustees.
Last month, Polytech's board suspended the vote for 30 days in light of a pending investigation by the state into allegations of a conflict of interest by voting board members at Polytechnic.
A group of alumni who has vocally challenged the merger prompted the investigation after appealing to the state several days before the Board of Trustees was set to vote on the merger last month.
Opponents of the merger have also raised allegations that it is illegal, saying that when NYU's original engineering school was dissolved into Polytech in the '70s, a letter from then President James Hester stated that NYU "would not be authorized to offer engineering instruction at Washington Square or elsewhere."
Officials from both schools have dismissed the letter, saying it was taken out of context and that no prohibitive agreement exists.
Former President James Hester said that this letter referred to the fact that the Dr. Edward Nyquist, then the commissioner of education and Brooklyn representative, was protecting Polytech from competition, but said that it is not a prohibitive agreement of any kind.
NYU and Polytech discussed a merger in 2005, but the talks fell through after Polytechnic faculty members voted against the alliance. Negotiations began again last September, and if the deal goes through, it would make NYU the effective owner of Polytechnic.
University spokesman John Beckman said that "NYU believes in the value of the proposed merger with Poly, which will confer advantages on both institutions, as well as the city and state."
If approved today, the merger will go to the state for final approval.
Jane C. Timm is university editor. E-mail her at jtimm@nyunews.com.
CORRECTION: The version of this story that appeared in print incorrectly implied that the merger vote was already finalized. The board has informally committed to the merger, but the official vote has not yet occured.
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