Apprehension is growing at University College London (UCL) about the proposed merger with Imperial College. The proposal was first made by temporary provost, Derek Roberts, in the middle of October; a decision was scheduled for the meeting of the councils of the two universities on 19th December. When asked why such speed was necessary, Roberts said that it was better to focus minds on the question and end damaging speculation.
Roberts was provost of UCL from 1989 to 1999. He was succeeded by Christopher Llewellyn Smith who, in August, fell victim to intense dissatisfaction among UCL staff. Roberts was brought back as a caretaker until a new provost could be hired. Once the proposed merger was announced, the committee to find a new provost was suspended, and all discussions have been carried out on the basis, explicitly stated by Roberts, that Richard Sykes, the rector of Imperial, would head the merged institution. Roberts has urged that UCL agree to the merger, because otherwise it would be without a head.
The arguments of Roberts and Sykes for the merger are, on the face of it, logical. They believe that the two institutions would no longer compete for limited research funds and would be able to compete on a world scale. In fact, they believe that it is only by this merger that Britain would have a “world-class” institution. They also believe that a merger would attract government support and hint that it would attract the funds to implement it (over ?100m according to Roberts).
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