Two new programs to help Rutgers strengthen its ties to the state
Archived article from Feb 9, 2004
By Amy Vames
With a little help from its friends, Rutgers is launching an aggressive campaign to ensure adequate state support for the university and its programs. Friends of Rutgers, or FOR, will be a permanent statewide network of Rutgers community members and others who have volunteered to advocate for the university.
“The goal of FOR is to increase awareness and support for Rutgers within the executive and legislative branches of state and federal government, and among the media and New Jersey voters,” said Richard Considine, director of Rutgers’ advocacy programs. “FOR will help ensure that Rutgers receives the resources it needs to secure its place as one of the premier public research universities in the nation.” FOR also seeks to foster stronger ties between the university and the people of New Jersey, Considine added.
The advocacy network will consist of alumni, administrators, faculty, staff, students, parents, business leaders and other supportive individuals. Anyone who is willing to advocate on Rutgers’ behalf can join. Some FOR members will deliver key messages to policy-makers by phone, letter or e-mail; others will be individuals with existing ties to policy-makers who are willing to convey the university’s message through personal contact, Considine said. Both groups will bring coordinated messages to the governor, to New Jersey legislators in their home districts, to media outlets around the state and to New Jersey voters. Additional activities may include talking to community groups, attending hearings or joining rallies in Trenton.
“Over time, FOR will help secure the resources Rutgers needs to meet increasing demand for enrollment capacity, to support and expand academic programs, and to maintain and develop facilities,” Considine said. “But for this year the priority will be the fiscal year 2005 state budget appropriation. We’ve experienced severe cuts in state appropriations, especially in recent years, but state support has been dwindling for more than a decade.”
Between 1992 and 2003, the state share of educational costs at Rutgers fell from 64 percent to 51 percent. While Gov. James E. McGreevey will not deliver his state budget address until Feb. 24, the state treasurer has projected revenue shortfalls for the overall FY05 budget at between $4 billion and $5 billion.
The FOR network will build on the success of last spring’s budget advocacy campaign, which is credited with helping to restore nearly half of the proposed reduction in aid to the university, Considine said.
Gene O’Hara, chair of the board of governors, stressed that FOR volunteers will be organized by legislative district “so that we can bring the full weight of the support that’s out there for Rutgers to each of the legislators. We want to concentrate on specific representatives so that they can understand the challenges Rutgers faces.
“The two main issues that I’d like to see FOR advocates emphasize to legislators are capacity and quality. High school graduates will keep going out of state if we don’t increase capacity,” O’Hara said. Referring to the fact that New Jersey ranks 44th in state appropriations for higher education, he added, “We can’t expect an institution funded at the bottom of the states in the nation to continue to achieve excellence.”
As the Friends of Rutgers advocacy network strives to strengthen the bonds among the university, state policy-makers and residents of the Garden State, a separate endeavor will seek to understand just how those residents feel about and perceive their state university.
For the first time, the university is embarking on a comprehensive study of what its major constituencies within the state think about Rutgers and to what extent they understand its mission and achievements.
With funding from the board of governors and board of trustees, Rutgers has hired Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas Inc. (SRBI), a Manhattan-based research firm, to quantitatively measure perceptions about the university. The firm was chosen through a competitive bidding process for the study, which will cost about $348,000.
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