Ottawa Universities Discuss Merging to Create One Prestigious School

By: Chaz Murphy

Administrations at both universities have been in discussions about a potential merger to occur in the next few years. The merger is expected to create savings through research synergies and lowering overhead costs.

A source involved in the discussions has informed Ottawhat that the University of Ottawa and Carleton University have been holding confidential focus groups with students and staff to discuss the opportunities and drawbacks of a merger. Some findings from the focus groups include:

1. The challenges of aligning teaching methodologies at the new university;
2. Students and staff would prefer their respective university name to be chosen for the new university and very opposed to the other university name being chosen; and
3. Future applicants will no longer have to stress about to which university they apply.

The source informed Ottawhat that the administrations have been addressing two findings: the name of the new university and how they will to proceed with faculty relocation.

The new university name is scheduled for announcement in 2017/2018. The administrations have created a shortlist of three names for the new university:

• Colonel By University
• University of Canada
• Shopify University

Following announcement of the new university names, campuses will be renamed as follows:

• Carleton University Campus will be renamed to Campus South
• University of Ottawa will be renamed to Campus North
• St. Paul’s University will keep its name

Faculty merger and relocation will occur over a summer in order to minimize learning distractions. The administrations have decided:

• Arts programs will be relocated to Campus North due to the rich history of the Byward market and proximity to museums
• Engineering and will be relocated to Campus South to allow students to study the design of the Trillium O-train line
• The University of Ottawa Law faculty relocation has yet to be decided on, with a decision expected in 2025 after a supreme court challenge

Ottawhat has contacted the student body for comments:

“This is great news! It would be so exciting to re-friend my high school friends who chose Carleton University over University of Ottawa. I miss them, but you know, they go to a different university” - University of Ottawa’s Jean Granger II.

“I have no idea how this will affect my course schedules. I hope I won’t have to travel between both campuses on a bus.” - Carleton University’s Samantha Trudell.

Both administrations declined requests for interviews.