Dear alumnus,
In a few days, you will receive the fall 2007 issue of Poly’s Cable magazine. This issue includes not only the regular complement of alumni news, faculty updates, and campus buzz, but also a specially commissioned article by Ken Stier on the proposed merger between Polytechnic and New York University. Mr. Stier, a highly respected reporter who has written major analyses for Fortune, TIME, and The New York Times, applies his unique perspective to give you a fresh and insightful view of the proposed merger and its impact. We hope you will find his analysis informative and helpful.
The Board, administration, faculty, students and alumni have all been energetically engaged in discussing and considering the proposed merger with NYU. We have provided updates and answered questions at campus town halls with Poly students and alumni. We have met with faculty, students, and alumni leaders to get their input and support. We have traveled to meet with alumni in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and here in New York City to present the issues and opportunities of this proposed merger first hand.
We have met often with Poly’s alumni leadership, including Alumni Association President George Likourezos, and have incorporated a number of the ideas and concerns of the alumni association in the Definitive Agreement and Transition Plan with NYU. Overall, across the nation we have received strong support for the merger from many alumni, friends of Poly, students and parents, new applicants, community and government leaders among others and we hope to have your support, too.
Let us give you a quick overview of the schedule of past events since this summer and the key steps that will occur before the Board of Trustees meets in mid-January to vote on the proposed merger.
August 3, 2007 – Poly’s Board Executive Committee authorized the administration to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to spell out the blueprint and key details of the proposed merger.
During the following two months, members of the Poly community, including trustees, faculty, students, staff, and administration, provided extensive input regarding the proposed MOU.
October 9 and 10, 2007 – Poly Board of Trustees convened for two days to discuss the MOU developed by Poly and NYU leaders and extensively debated the proposed merger. The Poly Board voted to approve the MOU and authorized the administration to negotiate a Definitive Agreement for merger. NYU Board also approved the MOU and the proposed structure for the merger.
Over the past two months, Poly and NYU have been drafting the Definitive Agreement and writing a memorandum on “how to become a school”. Polytechnic and NYU have also been conducting due diligence reviews of each other’s finances and operations. Poly has retained the national auditing firm, Grant Thornton, to assist in its review. In addition, administrators, faculty, and staff of both Polytechnic and NYU are working on a detailed Transition Plan to ensure not only a smooth and effective merger, but also one that accelerates our Strategic Plan and ensures that Poly becomes a school within NYU as soon as practicable.
Mid-December 2007 – Polytechnic’s Board of Trustees will receive the proposed final draft of the Definitive Agreement. Over the course of next month, trustees will discuss, debate and meet in working sessions to review the Definitive Agreement. Our due diligence review of NYU, detailed transition plan, and the memorandum on “becoming a school” drafted by Poly and NYU’s Provosts, Drs. Erich Kunhardt and David McLaughlin, will also be considered in conjunction with this extensive review.
Mid-January 2008 – Poly Board of Trustees will meet to debate and then take the official vote on the proposed merger as stipulated by the Definitive Agreement. Concurrently, the NYU Board will hold an official vote on the proposed merger and terms of the Definitive Agreement.
As specified in the proposed Definitive Agreement, both Poly and NYU have agreed to preserve the core elements of Polytechnic University. For instance, our name after the merger will be the Polytechnic Institute of New York University; our main campus will continue to be in Brooklyn; our tradition of supporting diversity and opportunity will be maintained; our endowment and air rights will be applied solely to Poly; and the tenure of Poly faculty will be preserved. NYU has agreed to provide resources for Poly to achieve its Strategic Plan including access to NYU’s recruiting and enrollment programs, support of collaborative research between Poly’s and NYU’s faculty at both its Washington Square campus and its medical and dental schools, and significant financial support. (For more details on the merger see www.poly.edu/merger central.)
Furthermore, one of the key provisions in the Definitive Agreement is that Polytechnic will be NYU’s exclusive partner for the development of all existing and any new applied science, engineering and technology management programs of NYU.
After the approval of the proposed merger, we will immediately begin the transition of Poly as an integral part of NYU. For example, we have already agreed to a number of first-steps, including enrolling a small pilot group of undergraduates in NYU courses, submitting joint research proposals by Poly and NYU faculty, and collaborating with NYU in recruiting undergraduate and graduate students for fall 2008 classes.
During the interim phase, we will accelerate Poly’s pursuit of its Strategic Plan and its three key goals of excellence, distinctiveness, and resources. This means we will continue to seek more highly qualified students with stronger SATs in order to improve our retention and graduation rate and reach parity with NYU. In addition, we will align tuition and financial aid over the next few years, but not at the expense of continuing our commitment to diversity and opportunity. We will also expand faculty and student collaboration between the universities and introduce Poly’s emphasis on innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship into NYU’s programs. Our goal is to make Polytechnic a Tier I research institute and to reestablish Polytechnic, as part of NYU, as one of the leading sources of technology, engineering, education, research and innovation worldwide.
At the onset of the interim period, Polytechnic’s current Board of Trustees will serve as its initial governing body. New members of the Board will be nominated by Poly with the approval of NYU and NYU will be the sole member of the Polytechnic Corporation. As part of the merger terms, two Polytechnic board members will serve on NYU’s Board of Trustees.
Your support is vital to Poly’s success and to our mission of educating the innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs of the 21st century. The financial support of alumni and friends such as you will help Poly to retain its reputation as a vibrant and passionate educational and research institution and reassert its role as the leading engineering and technology school in New York City.
We wish you and your families a joyous holiday season and a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year and we thank you for your continued generous support.
Best Wishes,
Craig G. Matthews, Chairman Jerry M. Hultin, President
