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The president of the University of Toledo revealed some new details about the proposed merger of his institution with the Medical University of Ohio in his annual State of the University address on campus yesterday.

Dan Johnson told a crowd of hundreds of employees and community members that talks are under way to move certain UT programs in the colleges of health and human services and pharmacy to what is now MUO’s campus in South Toledo.

“There is a compelling rationale for having our health programs together,” he said.

As a result of those potential moves and a related need to “revisit the facility master plan,” Mr. Johnson said he was placing a temporary moratorium on the planning and design of a new science building at UT that was intended to provide needed classroom and research space.

The two announcements were shared along with concrete concepts for dealing with the entire transition process. Mr. Johnson said he expects that three entities — the boards of trustees at both schools, a joint operations steering committee, and a newly formed faculty senate group — will be charged with guiding the transition.

The steering committee will be made up of community members as well as other campus officials.

Mr. Johnson said in upcoming days officials will set up a public Web site that will track progress and events related to the merger.

The current proposal calls for the institutions to merge on July 1, with MUO President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs assuming the presidency of the combined school, and Mr. Johnson likely heading up the Toledo-area science and technology corridor.

A bill paving the way for the merger was introduced yesterday in the state legislature. Approval is required for it to take place.

Mr. Johnson repeatedly reminded those in attendance that the merger will not be without some difficulty.

“Change can be disruptive, and for that reason our natural instincts are to avoid it, sometimes even in the face of evidence that the outcome would be good and positive. We do face a period of change, but it is change that will bring about a stronger university. There will be some bumps in the road during the transition,” he said.

“We should anticipate tough questions, hard decisions, and — from time to time — strong differences of opinions.”

The president did not specifically tackle the topic of job loss related to the merger. He did say, though, that he expected some modifications to the executive structure of the administration and the organization of graduate studies. Other areas that will be modified include the president’s cabinet, marketing and communications, the computer technology areas, and the budgeting process, he said.

Andy Jorgensen, faculty senate chairman, said he thought the president’s speech “was a little more pointed in terms of the health programs on our campus” than past discussions have revealed. He said it’s still not clear what will take place.

As for the future science building, Mr. Jorgensen said it is something faculty members will continue to push for — despite a temporary moratorium.

Dr. Lawrence Elmer, an MUO neurologist and president of the MUO faculty senate, said he doesn’t sense any major objections being expressed by faculty at either university to a merger. “My feeling is that this is still very positively being received by both campuses,” he said.

Dr. Elmer said MUO and UT faculty have formed a joint 10-member committee, with five faculty members from each university, to provide input to administration officials and report back to the rest of the faculty. The committee will meet for the first time today.

Blade staff writer Luke Shockman contributed to this report.

Contact Kim Bates at: kimbates@theblade.com or 419-724-6074.

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