Response to the Charge to all Committee Chairs:  Review…the list of questions relating to the proposed restructuring outlined in the Report of the New Jersey Commission on Health Science, Education and Training…Of those questions you select, prioritize the items so the most time-sensitive can be addressed first.  Suggest a timeframe in which to prepare a report on your selected items to the Senate Executive Committee.

The questions forwarded to the various Senate Committees are the result extensive information-gathering throughout the University; most are questions that will probably need to be addressed at some point as discussions continue and the exact nature of what we need to plan for becomes more apparent.  However, it was the consensus of the Senate Committee on Instruction, Curricula, and Advising that as these issues stem out of the reports of the units closest to and most knowledgeable of the issues, these are not really questions the Senate, or this Committee, is in a position to answer in any authoritative fashion. The Committee was, however, willing to discuss and comment on all that fall within the purview of this committee, and to indicate those that it found most critical.

#26:  What will be the impact on planning and implementation of institutional priorities?  Will attention be deflected from existing priorities?

The Committee did not find this to be an issue to high concern.  Priorities get revised for a variety of reasons.

#27:  How will the change affect higher education capacity and access issues?

This is a serious issue.  Certainly any increase in capacity would require additional resources.

#29:  What is the likely impact on humanities and social sciences programs?

This is an area of grave concern and one that links back to #27 above.  The primary focus of the report is on the sciences.  The development and proliferation of graduate Life Sciences programs/MD programs, as is proposed for the Newark campus, are very expensive. And certainly it is not enough to say that social sciences and humanities should be ‘held harmless.’  There would also be pressure to build new Ph.D. programs in the social sciences and humanities in these proposed institutions.  Are there needs for such programs?  What sorts of resources would be required?  Are there redundancy controls?

#30:  How will the change affect undergraduate education in general?

Increased alliances with the Medical School certainly promise advantages in terms of the biomedical sciences.  However it doesn’t really seem realistic to assume that medical school faculty will take on teaching undergraduate classes.  Even without restructuring, undergraduates are already able to participate in research projects with medical faculty.  And if Rutgers faculty end up teaching classes at the Medical School, who will teach the undergraduate courses?  Certainly the allocation of additional resources to medicine and research would have serious and detrimental effects on undergraduate education if these were redirected, rather than new, resources.

#31:  What mechanisms are needed to increase opportunities for undergraduate research?

This is certainly an important question, since it is set forth in the report as a major advantage of restructuring.

#34:  Will change result in elimination of duplicate programs in biomedical fields, such as biochemistry and microbiology?

Certainly this is an important question in terms of resources and redundancy.  However, the experience of other institutions would suggest that the wall between Medical School and non-Medical school programs is likely to remain intact.

#43.  There are a number of existing RU units and programs that currently operate on more than one campus, including College of Nursing, School of Social Work, Business School-Newark and New Brunswick.  What will become of their graduate programs?

This is an important issue and one that extends to undergraduate programs as well.

While multi-campus jurisdiction has been encouraged within the ‘single-university’ perspective, it also in part provided an appropriate set of checks and balances, as sort of quid-pro-quo for services controlled from afar.  The establishment of three independent universities would change that dynamic considerably.

If as proposed the institutions are divided on the basis of geography, it is certainly logical to assume that these multi-campus programs will also be split.  Since in most of these cases faculty are teaching on multiple campuses, there are certainly issues of faculty location and the need for significant additional resources to sustain programs on the affected campuses.

#44.  Many collaborations exist between units on different campuses, e.g., joint Master’s in Public Affairs and Politics/JD offered by the Bloustein School in New Brunswick and the Law School in Camden and Master’s in City and Regional Planning/JD offered by the Bloustein School and the Law School in Newark.  What provisions will be made regarding these joint programs?

While a structure would certainly have to be worked out for these to continue, the Committee did not find this to be a high priority issue.  The joint Master’s in Public Affairs and Politics/JD is a very small program (1-3 a year), the others are quasi-collaborative.

#76.  How will the university’s historic and legislatively mandated land-grant mission be affected?

This is a critical issue.  Our land-grant status is vital and central to the University’s mission.

#77.  How will the new structure incorporate Cook College, the New Jersey Agriculatural Experiment Station, and Rutgers Cooperative Extension?
#78.  Should the statewide infrastructure associated with NJAES be maintained?  Should it be centralized at the system office?  Should it remain associated with the university in New Brunswick?

The Committee did not find it appropriate to comment or recommend on these organizational questions.  These are issues best left in the hands of the affected units working within the parameters of the University’s land grant mission.

#79.  Should the land-grant mission of the university be preserved and enhanced?

Absolutely.

#80: How will the new structure affect the university’s continuous education programs, especially service programs for professionals?  What are the implications for competition among the three regional universities?

Currently 95 percent of all continuous education programs are being run from the New Brunswick campus; the College of Nursing has the only major program being run out of Newark, there is also a small Public Administration program.  Camden has none except for the Business School’s MBA and Hospitality programs in Atlantic City.

Continuous education programs are self-supporting; in New Brunswick they generate between 10 and 15 million annually with another 18 million being generated by Summer Session (which also runs the Western Monmouth programs).

While initially a three regional universities split would probably have little effect on continuous education programs, in the long run the greatest impact would probably be on the Newark Campus.  NJIT and UMDNJ both currently have aggressive continuous education programs; integrating RU-Newark components into those programs would probably ultimately result in Newark becoming seriously competitive in this area.

Camden would basically have to start from scratch in developing programs.

#81: How would reorganization affect the university’s mission to serve the community?  What impact is anticipated on urban education, health care service, cultural programs, etc.?

Obviously acquiring the hospital in Newark would enhance the university’s mission to serve the community, although the costs involved may mean cutbacks in other areas.

#83: What will be the relationship between centers and departments (which, after restructuring, may be part of different universities)?

Most are currently on the same campus; there should be no major effects.

#85: Some centers depend on faculty from units now at Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick and serve constituencies throughout the state, such as the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Education; will such units need to be reorganized?

Faculty appointments are in the units, not the Centers.  Some are already collaborate with other institutions; there is no reason why others could not continue as collaborative, multi-institutional centers.

#98: Will the University Library system be decentralized?  Will the UMDNJ and NJIT libraries be incorporated into a single, statewide system?

This is a critical issue. Decentralizing the University Library system would not only have serious funding implications for the three potential institutions, but would result in a drastically diminished research base in Newark and Camden which on their own would not begin with adequate library resources to support even their undergraduate programs at current levels.

Whether the UMDNJ and NJIT libraries are incorporated into a single, statewide system or merged with the Rutgers-Newark libraries, there would still be major, and extremely costly, issues of infrastructure—the libraries all have different Library Information Systems currently in place for example—that would need to be worked out.

#99: To what extent will computing services be centralized?  What are the costs associated with making the NJIT and UMDNJ systems compatible with the Rutgers systems?

Rutgers Computing Services is already engaged in a planning process meant to result in a comprehensive IT plan.  As part of this process, an inventory is being made of everything that is currently being done.  Based on what is currently available, decisions will be made as to whether a service needs to be centralized or campus-based.

Current NJIT networks are not as robust as Rutgers networks;  making NJIT and UMDNJ systems compatible with Rutgers systems will certainly have major cost implications.

#108: What will be the impact of reorganization on regional accreditation with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools?  What is the anticipated impact on specialized, professional accreditations?

Prior to the immediate past administration, the three campuses were accredited separately; they could just go back to this model.  Obviously in Newark and Camden this would require first developing a unified Mission Statement and Master Plan.

Camden may have a problem with autonomous university research status.