After forgoing a merger last semester, the University of Maryland Baltimore and University of Maryland College Park have announced a collaborative school of Public Health.

The new collaborative school of public health formally began the process of applying for accreditation as one institution.
“We see it as an opportunity to make the best of the resources of both entities,” Mike Lurie, the media relations and web manager for the University System of Maryland, said.

Tiffany Badawy, a freshman health sciences major, said because the two universities will have more access to resources, it will benefit not only the two schools, but also the entire university system.

“I think the whole thing in general is a good idea for both communities and both schools,” she said. “It shows that the community around these two universities is involved.”

Last December, the USM received a mandate from the Maryland State Legislature to see if an institution like this was plausible between the two largest research entities in Maryland, he said.

Around that same time, the idea of a full merger was rejected, but a series of collaborations was formed, he said.

These series of collaborations is referred to as University of Maryland: MPowering the State, according to Lurie.

“As it stands now each entity has its accreditation and an additional accreditation is needed for the merger,” Lurie said.

With this new merger, students from the University of Maryland College Park will be able to take advantage of the experienced doctors and research at University of Maryland Baltimore and, in return, UMB will be able to take advantage of the expertise at College Park, Lurie said.

They will also receive degrees in the new School of Public Health that contains both universities.

“I think we’re excited to show a really vivid example of how serious we are about putting these programs forward,” he said.

“There’s a public health need in our state and having the combined resources from both campuses will help alleviate the problems with receiving healthcare.”