Background of Merger
A newspaper written in January 5th, 1986 by the New York Times titled, "Brooklyn's Polytechnic, A Storybook Success", explains how Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn faced finanical difficulties as "From 1969 to 1975, Polytechnic was forced to rely on state subsidies, which it obtained on the basis of its value as an engineering school and the economic hardship it would create locally if it folded. Despite the state aid, with no cushion of endowments to tide it over, Polytechnic was forced to merge in 1973 with New York University's School of Engineering and Science in the Bronx, another financially troubled private school, but one with enough students to help pay Polytechnic's bills. With the merger went another name change, to Polytechnic Institute of New York."
However, despite these new circumstances, Polytechnic Insitute of New York eventually refound success as "An intensive student recruitment plan increased enrollment, while the encouragement of early retirement pruned the faculty...In the mid-1970's Polytechnic began an undergraduate engineering program at its Long Island campus in Farmingdale, which had previously been used only for research, and started offering courses through other universities in the metropolitan area."
Then, after three and a half years "Polytechnic managed to balance its budget, and in 1979 was able to achieve enough of a budget surplus to begin a program of capital reinvestment."
A proposition for Polytechnic University and New York University to merge began in 2004 and in 2008 both universities agreed to formal affiliation. In April 2008, an overview of the Polytechnic University – New York University Affiliation and Proposed Consolidation Agreement was prepared for the New York State Department of Education and Board of Regents.
In this overview it states that, "In the first phase (Affiliation) Polytechnic will become an affiliated enterprise of NYU and will continue as a separate not-for-profit education corporation in New York State, with NYU as the sole member. Its name will be Polytechnic Institute of New York University." This continues by stating that "Ultimately, the goal is for Polytechnic to become a school of NYU (Consolidation) and will no longer be a separate corporation." Suggesting that the affliation was simply a trail run to see if the merger would have any appicable success. In that case that the affliation did not produce adequate success, a merger would not be considered.
In 2014, the merger was officialized with the New York State Regents approving the change of charter.
A letter addressed to the Board of Regents from John L. D’Agati of the New York State Education Department, was written on June 10, 2013 under the subject: "New York University: Master plan amendment to expand the
University’s mission to include offering programs in Engineering". The purpose of this letter is that "New York University seeks to amend its master plan to expand its mission to include offering programs in engineering. This change will be accomplished by means of a consolidation of Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) into New York University (NYU) with NYU as the surviving institution ("the merger"), so that NYU-Poly will then become NYU’s school of engineering."
Should the merger be approved by the Board of Regents "NYU-Poly will become the
School of Engineering of NYU, with the same standing as that of the other schools of NYU. The faculty, students, staff, and programs of NYU-Poly will become part of NYU and its New York City campus. Students who graduate after January 1, 2014 will receive an NYU degree. All NYU-Poly tenured faculty will be tenured in the new school of engineering, and those who remained non-tenured at the time of the merger may continue to advance through the tenure process as prescribed by NYU."
Under D'Agati's discretion, "It is recommended that the Board of Regents approve a master plan amendment to authorize New York University to offer degree programs in the discipline of Engineering. This amendment will be effective until June 30, 2014, unless the Department re-registers the programs prior to that date, in which case master plan amendment shall be without term."
This directly connects with the previous document on NYU and Polytechnic University Affliation Proposition as that document stated, "Ultimately, the goal is for Polytechnic to become a school of NYU (Consolidation) and will no longer be a separate corporation." As we know, the merger between NYU and Polytechnic University was officialized in 2014 which means that this master plan was approved.
On the NYU-Poly website, the school posted a fact sheet for the public, regarding the merger between Polytechnic and New York University in 2015. The fact sheet explains the key issues propelling this affliation/merger for NYU-Poly, some important issues include:
- "Strengthen its ability to recruit students with interest in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics from the culturally rich and ethnically diverse
student population of New York, the nation and around the world." - "Enhance NYU-Poly’s ability to attract and retain leading faculty who will
educate and engage NYU-Poly’s students." - "As part of a major research university, provide access for NYU-Poly’s students
to a much broader range of academic and research programs, including
opportunities to study at NYU’s global locations." - "Share resources for operational efficiency and improvement."
The fact sheet was most likely created in order to answer frequently asked questions the students at the time had regarding the merger. By answering their concerns, it would put the student's minds at ease regarding their positions in the school.
A generous donation of $100 million from Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon in 2015 resulted in the school changing its name to what it is known as now: NYU Tandon School of Engineering.