James Martin is a professor of English at Mount Ida College and academic vice president of The Education Alliance. James E. Samels is president of The Education Alliance and founder of Samels Associates, a law firm concentrating in higher education law. They are the authors of Merging Colleges for Mutual Growth: A New Strategy for Academic Managers (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993) and First Among Equals: The Role of the Chief Academic Officer (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997).