Newark provost delivers annual report to the board  Steven J. Diner, provost of Rutgers–Newark, addressed the Board of Governors, which meets once annually on both the Newark and Camden campuses. He mentioned the following highlights in the past year at Rutgers–Newark:

• Rutgers–Newark was named most diverse university for the 10th consecutive year by U.S. News and World Report.
• The campus is one of 75 universities included in a new Carnegie Foundation classification of community engagement in higher education.
• The executive M.B.A. offered by Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick was rated fifth in strategy and sixth in finance by Business Week.
• The College Fed Challenge team received honors from Governor Jon S. Corzine and the Newark City Council.
• A dramatic increase in the number of first-year students: 700 this year compared with 513 in the previous year.
• The new School of Public Affairs and Administration has developed an executive Master in Public Affairs designed for employees of the city of Newark.

The Rutgers Board of Governors took the following actions at its February 9, 2007, meeting:

 

Elimination of term limits on nontenure track appointments  The board adopted a recommendation revising university policy on nontenure track instructors. The proposal originated from the University Senate. Previously, these faculty members were limited to three successive appointments, in order to avoid the presumption of “continued indefinite employment and claims of de facto tenure.” The University Senate proposed that these limits be eliminated to provide more stable employment for nontenured faculty.

New master’s program at Graduate School–Camden  A Master in Fine Arts in the creative writing program at Graduate School–Camden will debut in the fall of 2007. The new program will “expand opportunity for graduate students in southern New Jersey and will provide an important service to the regional cultural community,” the board said in its resolution. The M.F.A. will be offered by the Department of English of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Camden.

New prequalified contractors  The board named 31 construction firms to the university’s list of prequalified contractors. University Facilities periodically submits additions for the list to the Board of Governors. The list is used as a source to select and invite general contractors to bid on university projects costing more than $2 million. The contractors approved are from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

Dining hall renovation  A concept document outlining plans to renovate the Camden Student Center Dining Hall to “match the successful student dining hall renovations that have taken place over recent years” on the New Brunswick Campus met approval from the board. The project estimate is $5 million. In September, Rutgers Dining Services will assume responsibility for the operation of the dining hall, previously managed by the Camden Campus administration.

Recognizing a winning team  The board congratulated the Rutgers–Newark 2006 College Fed Challenge Team on their accomplishments this semester. The team placed third nationally in the College Fed Challenge, an annual competition sponsored by the Federal Reserve that lets students experience the economic policymaking process. The Newark team placed first in the New York district competition and traveled to Washington, D.C., for the finals.

Authorizing construction project at Life Sciences Center in Newark  The board approved a resolution allowing the proper university officials to enter into agreements to complete construction of two shelled floors at the Newark Life Sciences Center – Olson Hall expansion. The empty floors were built in anticipation of hiring new biology and chemistry faculty members. More than $5 million is available for the project. “The new Life Sciences Building is the first new facility for research and instruction in biology and chemistry since the Rutgers–Newark campus was built in the late 1960s,” said Newark Provost Steven J. Diner. “It is badly needed to support our growing faculty strength in these fields and our aspirations for distinction in scientific research.”