Saint Joseph’s and the University of the Sciences signed a legally binding merger agreement to become one institution, under Saint Joseph’s name and brand, according to a joint announcement on June 9 from St. Joe’s President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D. and USciences President Dr. Paul Katz. 

University officials have been exploring the possibility of a merger since February 10 when both institutions announced they signed a letter of intent. In the June announcement, Reed and Katz said both university’s Boards of Trustees unanimously approved the final agreement, and the merger is expected to be finalized by the summer of 2022 “pending regulatory and accreditor approvals.”

“For the students enrolled at both of our institutions, this announcement will have little immediate impact on your educational experience,” Reed and Katz said. “It is our goal that the merger will be seamless for our students and only serve to amplify your current experiences.” 

Newly accepted and incumbent student tuition schedules and academic programs for the remainder of the students’ course of study will be maintained, according to the announcement. Tenured faculty at USciences will become tenured St. Joe’s faculty, and while no decisions have been made regarding layoffs, “the driving motivation is not to eliminate jobs,” Reed said in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.  

Amy Lipton, Ph.D., CFA, professor of finance and president of St. Joe’s Faculty Senate, said although the Faculty Senate has not had an opportunity to meet at large after finding out about the decision to merge, from her perspective as a faculty member she was happy to hear about the decision to move forward.

“I think that it’s an opportunity for us and for the University of the Sciences students and faculty because there are a lot of complementary areas that we have, and I think it’s an opportunity for us to leverage the strengths that we do have,” Lipton said. 

Taylor Stokes ’22, St. Joe’s University Student Senate (USS) president, said even though the process of merging will be gradual, USS will work to build connections in order to make the USciences community feel welcome as the institutions become one university. 

“They’ll be coming to St. Joe’s to be with us,” Stokes said. “So we really want to make sure that we’re welcoming them and we’re also encompassing the spirit of their university.”

Salvatore De Rienzo ’22, USS vice president, said while there is uncertainty among students since this is still a new decision, there are a lot of possibilities for current and incoming students. 

“We’re merging with USciences, they’re not just merging into us,” De Rienzo said. “Yes, they’re taking our name, but we’re also merging into them. So it’s from two to one, and really just welcoming the campus culture from USciences into St Joe’s will shape our campus culture as a whole as we become one new campus.” 

The Hawk reached out to the president and vice president of the USciences Student Government, who said they would comment once their executive board is able to meet at large. 

St. Joe’s facts and figures

• Fall 2020 total enrollment: 6,779 (4,299 undergraduate students; 2,480 graduate and doctoral students)
• Undergraduate student to faculty ratio 11:1 Graduate student to faculty ratio 7:1
• 268 full time faculty
• 3 colleges: College of Arts and Sciences, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, and School of Health Studies and Education
• 55 undergraduate day majors and 50 minors with over 30 degree completion and certificate programs (online options included) and 55 graduate programs

USciences facts and figures

• Total enrollment: 2,285 (1,372 undergraduate students; 913 graduate students)
• student to faculty ratio 11:1
• 179 full time faculty
• 3 colleges: Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Samson College of Health Sciences, and Misher College of Arts and Sciences
• 22 BS degree programs, 14 MS degree programs, 10 doctoral degree programs, and 12 post-baccalaureate certificate programs

Text: Lily McStravick ’23