Since
his return to Rutgers as the institution?s
19th president on Dec. 1, 2002, Richard L. McCormick has led the university
through one of its most challenging and successful periods. Under his leadership,
Rutgers has launched a series of wide-ranging initiatives that are
significantly enhancing the university?s commitment to world-class instruction,
groundbreaking research, enriched student life and service to the people of New
Jersey and beyond. President McCormick has led Rutgers at a time of historic accomplishment
and visibility, generating pride while setting records for applications,
enrollment, private donations and support for research.
?ACADEMIC INITIATIVES
Transforming Undergraduate Education: In 2006, the university
implemented President McCormick?s bold vision to enhance virtually every aspect
of undergraduate learning and student life across the New Brunswick Campus ? the
most significant reorganization of Rutgers in a quarter-century. Enhancements include
establishment of the School of Arts and Sciences with its comprehensive new
curriculum, first-year seminars, signature courses, dramatic expansion of
opportunities for undergraduate research and honors programs, and greater support
for top undergraduates competing for the most prestigious scholarships and
awards.
School
of Nursing-Camden: In fall 2011, the Camden Campus opened a
new School of Nursing to address the overwhelming demand for a Rutgers
baccalaureate nursing education in southern New Jersey through the expanded
enrollment of 300 pre-licensure students and 150 registered nurse students over
a six-year period.? ?
School
of Public Affairs and Administration: An outgrowth of the Graduate
Department of Public Administration, the new school opened on the Newark Campus
in 2006 ? the first new school at Rutgers-Newark since 1972.
Childhood Studies: The nation?s first doctoral degree-granting
program in this emerging discipline was launched in 2007 at Rutgers-Camden.
Interdisciplinary Initiatives: New programs in nutrition, materials
and devices, transportation, childhood studies, urban entrepreneurship, and
climate change and alternative energy are positioning Rutgers as an institution
that is competing in the global economy while working to find solutions that
benefit humanity.
GOALS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR
?At the start of the academic year, President McCormick set three major goals:
Create New
Opportunities for Medical Education:? With
the passage of historic legislation, Rutgers is positioned to become one of the
nation?s elite research universities. The New Jersey Medical and Health Sciences Education Restructuring Act will merge into Rutgers
University most of the elements of the current University of Medicine and Dentistry
of New Jersey ? including the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the New
Jersey Medical School, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the New Jersey
Dental School, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the School of Health
Related Professions, the School of Nursing and the School of Public
Health.?
Once signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie, Rutgers
University?s governing boards will have a full year to review the legislation,
conduct thorough due diligence and suggest any reasonable corrections that will
be necessary to help Rutgers and the state achieve their goals. The creation of
a comprehensive university-based health sciences
center at Rutgers would attract the best medical talent; bring to New Jersey the latest
medical advances and technologies; improve access to clinical trials offering
hope for intractable diseases; significantly increase the flow of federal and
industry research dollars into the state; and enable New Jersey residents to
receive world-class medical care locally.
Build on the University?s Fundraising
Success: In 2004, Rutgers completed its most successful fundraising
campaign to that point in the university?s history, raising $615 million ? 23
percent higher than the campaign?s original goal.
In 2010, the university publicly
launched Our Rutgers, Our Future, the
most comprehensive and ambitious fundraising campaign in the university?s
history. The $1 billion campaign focuses on meeting the university?s most
pressing academic and financial needs ? such as providing scholarships to hundreds
of undergraduates and more than doubling the number of prestigious endowed
chairs to attract and retain world-class faculty.
The Our Rutgers, Our Future campaign has now raised more than $640
million, including funding for 17 new endowed chairs and 558 scholarships and
fellowships. As part of this campaign, President McCormick was instrumental in
securing $40 million in gifts from an anonymous donor ? the greatest amount of
financial support from an individual donor in Rutgers history ? to support the
following university initiatives:
- $27 million for a challenge grant that will
establish 18 new endowed chairs in a wide range of academic disciplines,
including business education and the sciences
- ?$10 million to support construction of the new
Business School building on the Livingston Campus in Piscataway
- $3 million to support the Bennett L. Smith
Endowed Chair in Business and Natural Resources.
Pass a Higher
Education Bond Issue: In his position as chair of the New Jersey
President?s Council, President McCormick and his colleagues have worked
positively with legislative leaders in Trenton to place a $750 million higher
education bond issue ? the first since 1988 ? on the November 2012 statewide ballot to fund
badly needed facilities on colleges and universities across the state.
NEW REVENUES FOR RUTGERS
RESEARCH
Financial Support for Research: Since 2002, total annual funding
for Rutgers research from the federal government, the state of New Jersey,
corporations and nonprofits has increased significantly ? from $242.4 million
to $433.9 million. The university has secured prestigious grants to conduct
vital research in health, science, transportation and homeland security.
?NEW FACILITIES
?Livingston Campus: Rutgers? campus in Piscataway is being
transformed into the model of what the university will become in the 21st
century, with an emphasis on professional, executive and continuing education;
state-of-the-art residential and dining facilities; and integration with the
Rutgers Ecological Preserve. A newly renovated student center opened in 2010,
the new dining hall facility opened in 2011, and a new student housing complex
will be completed in 2012. Completion of the new Business School building is
scheduled for 2013.
Partnership with Atlantic Cape
Community College: This fall, Rutgers will open a new academic and
administrative building on the campus of Atlantic Cape Community College in
Mays Landing. The two-story, 22,000-square-foot facility will allow Rutgers to
expand academic opportunities for students from Atlantic, Cape May and surrounding counties in such
popular disciplines as psychology and criminal justice. The $7.5 million
facility will house all Rutgers academic and administrative units at Atlantic Cape ? including a new undergraduate degree
program in social work.?
Life Sciences Building: Dedicated in 2005, this Busch Campus building
is home to the Human Genetics Institute, the Department of Genetics and the New
Jersey Center for Biomaterials.
University Square: Housing nearly 600 students, University Square
opened in 2006 ? the first new residential housing on the Newark Campus in 16
years.
Biomedical
Engineering Building: This three-story facility on the Busch
Campus, which opened in 2007, added nearly eight times the academic and support
space to what was previously allocated to this growing discipline.
School of Law-Camden: In 2009,
the university dedicated the law school?s new four-story, 53,000-square-foot building. The complex allows
Rutgers to serve the community more effectively through its clinics and
centers, which provide more than 30,000 hours of free legal services annually.
The facility also boasts a fully functional courtroom that allows students to
engage in critical moot court training on campus.
New Rutgers Business School Building
in Newark: Opened in 2009, this building has substantially improved the quality of the school?s facilities
and classroom technology, while expanding its capacity to meet the rapidly
increasing demand for business education. The 15,000-square-foot atrium
features a trading room ? a state-of-the-art facility for advanced instruction
of business school students.?
Harnessing Solar Power:? The university is installing
more than 40,000 high-efficiency solar panels on
canopies over two large surface parking areas on the university?s Livingston
Campus. The 32 acres of? solar canopies are
expected to generate eight megawatts of power ? equal to the annual energy
consumption of nearly 1,000 households.?When
completed, the canopy system will be more than four times larger than the "solar farm? that the university opened on
Livingston in 2009. When the canopy project is completed, these two facilities
are expected to provide 64 percent of the power on the Livingston Campus ?
saving the university $1.5 million in annual utility costs.
GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH
Cell
and DNA Repository: In 2003, Rutgers? repository of DNA and
cell lines became the largest university-based repository in the world. These
are crucial assets for biomedical research to cure diseases like schizophrenia,
diabetes and Alzheimer?s.
Fighting
AIDS: Since
2004, Rutgers Chemistry and Chemical Biology Professor Eddy Arnold and his
colleagues have announced a series of breakthroughs in the development of new
drugs to stop the spread of AIDS. Professor Arnold?s lab at the Center
for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Rutgers University worked together
with scientists at Johnson & Johnson to develop two anti-AIDS drugs,
including the drug rilpivirine that was approved by the federal Food and Drug
Administration. The team used structures obtained by the Arnold lab to guide
the design of the best molecules, which have exceptional potency against
drug-resistant HIV.
Ancient
Footprints from Anatomically Modern Feet: In 2009, Rutgers Anthropology
Professor John W.K. Harris and an international team of colleagues found
ancient footprints in Kenya that show some of the earliest humans walked like us and did so on anatomically
modern feet 1.5 million years ago. This rare discovery marked a major contribution
to the study of human evolution.
Plastic
Lumber: In
2009, the U.S. Army successfully tested lumber developed from recycled plastic
by Rutgers engineers ? by driving a 70-ton tank over a plastic lumber bridge at
Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The test proved the practical viability of
plastic lumber, which is more durable and environmentally friendly than
traditional treated wood.
Crossing
the Atlantic: In 2009, faculty and students in
Rutgers? Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory launched and piloted a submersible
robot glider, the Scarlet Knight, across the Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to
the coast of Spain ? the first successful crossing of an ocean by such a vehicle.
The project proved the practicality of very long glider flights, and paved the
way for the deployment of fleets of these vehicles to gather vital data about
the state of the world?s oceans. ?
Preventing Prostate Cancer: In
2010, researchers at the university?s Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy announced
that they have determined the inner workings of a gene that normally protects against prostate
cancer in mice. This discovery could lead to new treatments to prevent prostate
cancer in humans.
Electron Microscope: A project at Rutgers to build one of the most advanced electron microscopes
in the world was praised by the White House in 2010 as an example of a federal
stimulus project that is helping to transform the nation. The project is led by
the university?s Institute for Advanced Materials, Devices and Nanotechnology ?
a research environment where Rutgers physicists, chemists, biologists and
engineers work collaboratively.
Genome Research: Rutgers
geneticists were instrumental in sequencing the genomes of rice and corn. This
research ultimately will lead to bigger and better food harvests.
New Species: Rutgers doctoral
candidate Jeremy Fineberg ? working with Joanna Burger, a professor in the
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, School of Arts and Sciences ?
discovered a new species of frog living in the marshes of Staten Island, mainland
New York and New Jersey. This discovery ? which is highly unusual in a densely
populated urban area ? demonstrates the importance of locating, identifying and
protecting new species in all environments.?
INSTITUTIONAL
REFORMS
Alumni Relations: In 2007, the
university implemented the president?s
sweeping plan to strengthen and enhance the relationship
between the university and its more than 400,000 alumni worldwide. The most significant
change was creation of the Rutgers University Alumni Association ? a single volunteer
structure to include all Rutgers graduates from all campuses.
Improved Governance: In 2008, the university adopted badly
needed changes in the management of intercollegiate athletics. These changes
contributed to reforms improving the governance of the entire university,
including new compliance rules as well as new policies and procedures in such areas
as contracts, purchasing, hiring and employee ethics.
ATHLETICS SUCCESS ? ON THE FIELD AND IN THE CLASSROOM
Moving Rutgers Athletics to
National Prominence: In
2010, the Rutgers football program was ranked No. 1 in the nation by the NCAA
for the academic progress of the team?s student-athletes. In 2011, Rutgers? football program ranked number two in the
nation in the NCAA?s Academic Progress Rate (APR), and six Rutgers athletic
programs recently recorded perfect APR scores of 1000. For the fourth consecutive year, the Rutgers football
team was ranked in the top three nationally in multi-year APR rates, becoming
the only university in the entire nation to earn such a prestigious honor.
The university also is investing
in improvements to athletics facilities, including Rutgers Stadium.
Championship programs in recent years include football (five consecutive bowl
wins); women?s basketball (2007 Final Four); and wrestling (eight wrestlers
qualified for the 2011 NCAA Championships).
COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Rutgers Future Scholars: In 2007, President McCormick launched this
program to help disadvantaged students in the university?s host communities ?
Camden, Newark, New Brunswick and Piscataway. Rutgers works with school
districts to identify top eighth-graders. As the students proceed through high
school, the university provides support and mentoring ? including workshops on preparing
for college. This summer, the program will reach its full enrollment of 1,000
pre-college students ? each holding the promise of a free Rutgers education if
they earn admission.
Branding Rutgers: Since
2004, Rutgers has adopted a series of reforms to address the university?s
perennial identity problems. These reforms include a new universitywide
system of logos and graphic marks, advertising that promotes Rutgers?
accomplishments, and the growing popularity of the university?s tagline,
?Jersey Roots, Global Reach.?
Rutgers Day: Since
launching in 2009, this annual community event has attracted 200,000 visitors
to the university to enjoy hundreds of free programs appealing to every age and
interest.
Web Innovations: In
2009, the university completed a major overhaul of the Rutgers website,
including the launch of Rutgers Today, the university?s award-winning, web-based
news center.
HISTORIC RESULTS
Record Applications: In
2010, Rutgers received a record number of applications from prospective
first-year and transfer students ? 44,800. That is a nearly 14-percent increase
compared to 2002.
Record Enrollment: Rutgers welcomed nearly 7,500 first-year students
in fall 2011 ? the largest new class in the university?s history. Enrollment
has grown from 51,480 students in 2002 to more than 58,000 this fall.?
Source: http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/fact-sheets/2012/major-accomplishment-20120629
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Editor's Note:?The following guest post by 
