HAMMOND | In efforts to identify how the efficiency of regional campuses might be better served if they were consolidated, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education floated the merits of merging PUC and IUN campuses.

The merger was subject of a June feasibility study and was in concept only, said Jeffrey Spalding, senior associate commissioner for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. The evaluation is ongoing and aims to ensure Indiana's post-secondary education is maximized, according to the study's conclusion.

The study, "Reaching Higher Strategic Directions for Higher Education in Indiana," is "not an official recommendation or proposal of the commission," Spalding said.

"It was presented as an example of how to illustrate the concept and how to get more for your dollar through more coordination. Thinking outside the box how you can make the system better."

PUC Chancellor Howard Cohen told members of The Times Editorial Board on Monday: "My view is you give us the prescription to work with, and we'll make it work. However it goes is how it goes."

Cohen said the commission is the state's governing agency for the schools and is taking a high-level look at how regional campuses could increase overall efficiency.

Indiana University Northwest and Purdue University Calumet cooperate extensively through the Academic Learning Center in Merrillville, where courses are offered under both colleges' course numbers, he said.

"It's one course," Cohen said.

Both IUN and PUC offer nursing curriculums, but "there would be no economy in merging the nursing programs," he said.

Another suggestion among several, the study gave an example of Columbus and Richmond areas coming together with Ivy Technical and IUN having a joint campus administration.

It also encouraged increased enrollment and programs emphasizing four-year completion rates for "traditional-aged" students and for working adults. The study also suggested baccalaureate degree production in occupations are to be central to the state's economy and important to the local community.