There is no documented justification for a three-way split between Camden, Newark and new Brunswick. There may be arguments for a two-way split between New Brunswick/Camden and Newark. In particular, the following issues have not been adequately addressed:
1. Any split, with the concomitant duplication of services and infrastructure, would incur significant costs that would require substantial additional state funding.Given these doubts and concerns, we support a phased plan in which the one-to-five-year implementation period of the report would be split into two parts:2. The state funding necessary to make all three proposed universities into institutions of great excellence has not been clearly and definitively committed.
3. The creation of a state bureaucracy to manage these three universities would incur significant costs.
4. The state is currently in a difficult financial situation, and taxpayers might not support large additional expenditures to implement this plan.
1. Review and implementation of the merger of the three research universities first, with the deferral of the decision whether there will be a split of the Camden, Newark and New Brunswick campuses from each other, and, if so, whether it will be a two- or three-way split.
2. The final decision should be made only after a post-implementation review of the impact of the merger, and there is certainty of completely adequate funding to achieve the next level of excellence.
We support the legitimate aspirations of any campus to be an independent
university if and when adequate resources are available. Until then,
there should be increased autonomy for each campus. Finally, more
effort should be made to get a sense of the sentiments of the university
community on these questions.