Academic Mergers in Social Work Programs: Autonomy or Disharmony?

Abstract

Because of shrinking budgets, college and university administrators are merging many academic units, including social work programs. By analyzing data from a 1991 survey of deans and directors of social work programs, this article compares the percentages of recently merged, long-term merged (longer than 5 years), and free-standing (independent) programs that experienced increases, decreases, and stability in variables such as salaries, financial resources, promotion and tenure, staff morale, enrollment, curriculum, class size, and access to central administration. Changes at recently merged programs are emphasized. The article also summarizes respondents' views of mergers, and recommends strategies that enable programs facing a merger to preserve their autonomy.

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