At the Senate
Camden provost gives his annual report
Archived article from Dec 9, 2002
By Mark Maben
At its Nov. 22 meeting, the University Senate heard Provost Roger Dennis' annual report on the state of the Camden campus. Dennis noted that Camden's successes in 2001-02 demonstrate that the campus is achieving its goal "to have the quality of research, teaching and service commensurate with being a national research university."
The provost listed several achievements for the past year. "From a faculty of 250, we produced 20 scholarly books with major university presses," he said. "Of the seven Rutgers faculty members who earned Fulbrights in 2002, two are from Camden. We secured more than $13.4 million in grants, significant for a small campus. One hundred percent of our education students passed the state licensing exam, as did 96 percent of our nursing students."
Other noteworthy news included a project by law students to post previously unreleased Nuremberg trial papers online; continued campus contributions to the redevelopment of the city of Camden; and a winning season for all the sports teams. "It was a good year on campus; I think we are where we want to be," Dennis concluded.
The senate also heard a report from Natalie Borisovets, chair of the instruction, curricula and advising committee, on recommendations for changes and improvements to the student advising system. After discussion, the report was returned to the executive committee for revisions.
The remainder of the meeting focused on the report by the New Jersey Commission on Health Science, Education and Training that proposed merging Rutgers with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the New Jersey Institute of Technology to create three independent university campuses in Newark, Camden and New Brunswick.
Senate Chair Paul Panayotatos provided an overview of the process that led to the senate's initial response to the report. That response, which Panayotatos presented to the Rutgers Board of Governors Nov. 8, can be read online at http://senate.rutgers.edu/mergresp.html.
The senate then went into a committee of the whole to discuss the report and identify issues the senate should explore further. While many senators spoke, several common themes emerged. Several senators said the merger has the potential to be of great benefit to Rutgers, provided funding is adequate and there is a commitment to enhancing all aspects of the university, not just the health sciences. Others voiced worries that the merger would diminish undergraduate education, that the schools involved are being asked to approve a plan that has too many unanswered questions, that funding issues are not yet addressed, that the process is moving ahead without sufficient review and input from faculty and students, and that the new structure could lead to significant political interference from Trenton.
The senate plans to continue to review the merger proposal and update its response.
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