AUGUSTA -- Chancellor Hank Huckaby said Tuesday he expects to release by the end of the next week criteria the University System of Georgia will use for merging any of its 35 campuses.
Last month Huckaby announced the system will consider campus consolidations and other steps to save money. Staff members are seeking ways to determine potential candidates.
While the chancellor reiterated there is no list of possible mergers and campuses should not panic, students, faculty and community members have been left to wonder if their schools are at risk.
In Augusta, where the regents are holding their monthly meeting, faculty members registered concern that the city's two colleges are likely candidates because they are just three miles apart. Georgia Health Sciences University is a research institution and the state's only public medical school; Augusta State University is a four-year college with its president stepping down.
Nine colleges currently are looking for new presidents or will have that task in coming months, but Huckaby said those openings won't be a factor in merger discussions. While proximity may be a consideration, it won't be the only one, he said.
"The devil in consolidations is always in the details," Huckaby said. "I don't know how many it will be, but I am certain this is the time to do it."
Huckaby said he wants to have recommendations before the State Board of Regents by the end of the year.
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