What Do Families Have to Do With Higher Education Mergers? |
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College mergers disrupt systems, not just structures.
Reactions to change reflect stress within relational systems.
Understanding systems helps explain resistance and adaptation.
As a family scholar, it’s difficult not to see life through a family theory lens.
After my recent Hallmark holiday movie series—where I explored how popular media reflects and shapes our understanding of family life—I find myself drawn in a different direction. This time, I’m applying family theories to something that, at first glance, may seem far removed from intimate relationships: higher education mergers and institutional change.
I’ll admit, this shift is partly motivated by personal experience. I’ve been part of several mergers, and like many in higher education, I’ve watched how these transitions unfold—not just structurally, but emotionally. But this focus also reflects a broader reality: Mergers, consolidations, and restructuring efforts are becoming increasingly common across colleges and universities.
And yet, we often talk about these changes in purely strategic terms—budgets, enrollments, efficiencies, and organizational charts. What we talk about far less is how they........