Michigan State University Board Approves Medical College Merger Despite Faculty Resistance

MSU Unifies Two Medical Schools Into MSU Medicine Amid Faculty Concerns

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University's Board of Trustees approved on Friday the merger of the College of Human Medicine and the College of Osteopathic Medicine into a single entity named MSU Medicine, setting in motion a restructuring that university officials say will create new collaboration opportunities while faculty members have voiced significant concerns about the process.

The vote marks the culmination of an 18-month initiative that began when President Kevin Guskiewicz announced in February 2025 his intention to rework the university's two medical schools. Guskiewicz created the One Health Council to explore the idea along with creating a biomedical institute and a new College of Health Professions.

It will facilitate a singular front door for our clinical partners, it will facilitate greater opportunities for curricular overlap, it will facilitate opportunities for faculty, research and clinical and instructional collaboration in a way that isn't present at current configuration, said Laura Lee McIntyre, provost at Michigan State University.

The unified school will have a combined annual resource base of more than $500 million. McIntyre said the merger will take approximately two years to fully implement, with a steering committee and working groups established to determine next steps. The steering committee will be co-chaired by the two deans of the Colleges of Human Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine and will focus on key areas including curriculum, accreditation, department structure, human resources, budget and finance, marketing and communications, student success and central operations.

Faculty Pushback Over Process and Feasibility

The approval came despite pushback from faculty members who expressed concerns about the lack of information surrounding the plan and the feasibility of a successful integration. Multiple surveys were conducted of the faculty, students and staff. Nearly 6,000 employees and students responded to one led by the university's administration. Most said the survey was the first time they'd heard of the initiative.

A faculty survey conducted by MSU's Faculty Senate found that about half of the respondents either felt negatively or didn't know enough about the proposed unification of the two colleges.

It is still a cause of great consternation for many and we are still pressing for more seats at the table as decisions are being made, said a faculty liaison during Friday's meeting. We have a key role to play in transformative change, but we can only do so when we have seats at the table.

Participants also raised concerns about the cost of implementation amid 9 percent budget cuts at the university and potential job losses for administrative roles that would overlap between the two colleges.

I have said repeatedly that faculty's input has been really important to process up to this stage, it's been about an 18-month process. And they certainly will be involved in this next phase, Guskiewicz said.

Financial Impact and Administrative Changes

The proposal has a multimillion-dollar financial impact. The plan is expected to save the university a recurring $2.5 million to $4.5 million in efficiencies by its third year. University officials say the unification is designed to preserve the identities and histories of both colleges while creating new clinical and instructional collaboration opportunities.

The board item said the executive dean's salary will be primarily supported through the reallocation of former Executive Vice President for Health Sciences Norm Beauchamp's salary. Additionally, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Frace is expected to retire this summer, which would create further opportunity to realign existing salary resources in support of the new structure.

Accreditation Challenges Remain

Potentially, the largest obstacle to Guskiewicz's plan is how the two medical colleges are accredited. Current accreditation standards for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation require specific rules for school leadership, budgets and facility use, which would make combining the two impossible without formal approval, according to a report on the president's website regarding accreditation.

Any major structural, governance, programmatic or location change must be formally approved by each accreditor before being carried out or advertised. If MSU doesn't get the accreditors' approval, it could receive citations, probation or lose accreditation entirely.

After the unification, the two colleges would share administrative functions such as finance and human resources. The university expects to launch a national search in July for the executive dean of the unified medical college.

The steering committee and working group members will be confirmed by April 30, with their work beginning in May.