Rutgers Day is a chance for the residents of New Jersey to get a glimpse of exciting things happening at their state university. With free performances, tours, exhibits, hands-on activities, lectures, demonstrations, and more, Rutgers Day expands on the long-standing success of Ag Field Day and the New Jersey Folk Festival to encompass university activities and programs across New Brunswick and Piscataway. Rutgers Day, expected to be an annual event, begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, and runs through 4 p.m. Everyone is invited!

Professor Carla Yanni heads up the advisory committee for Rutgers Day. FOCUS sat down with her to discuss the basics of this special event and talk about how employees and departments across Rutgers can participate.

What is Rutgers Day, and what is the goal of this event?

Rutgers Day is Saturday, April 25. It’s a family, friendly, fun exhibition of all of the things we do at Rutgers – our teaching, our research, and our service to the state of New Jersey. We are inviting the citizens of New Jersey to come to New Brunswick, visit the campus, and see what we do.

QUICK NOTES

  Watch RU-tv's Alisa Purifico interview Carla Yanni about Rutgers Day

Activity Zones

• College Avenue
• Busch
• G.H. Cook/Douglass

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• People submitting an event proposal online by Monday, December 1, will be entered into a drawing to win dinner for two at the Rutgers Club or 50 percent off the cost of a 2009 campus parking permit (with an additional 50 percent off a 2010 permit upon successful completion of the event)!
  
  
• Questions about Rutgers Day? Email rutgersday@rutgers.edu.
  

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Why is it important we do this event now?

We have had great success at Rutgers with Ag Field Day, nearly a century-old tradition, and the New Jersey Folk Festival, so we already have thousands of people coming to campus on that day. We are adding to it events like the Faraday Lecture, a combination of fun and physics, and the Zimmerli Museum Family Day, where kids can create their own art. We hope every department will plan performances, hands-on activities, exhibits, lectures, discussions, or tours that provide an exciting glimpse of the wonderful things happening at Rutgers.

It might seem counterintuitive in these difficult economic times to add a new large event to our roster of activities. But now more than ever it is important to convince the citizens of the state of New Jersey that investment in their state university pays off in terms of educating a sophisticated workforce and developing new technologies that spur the economy.

How do departments benefit from participating in Rutgers Day?

Rutgers Day is an opportunity for departments, units and student organizations to showcase their programs and attract the attention of a brand new audience. You will have the chance to reach thousands of people and put a human face on the work we do here at Rutgers. At Rutgers Day, you will instill pride in and build connections with people. And because this is a centralized, universitywide event, you can take advantage of the resources available that day that may otherwise be prohibitively expensive or logistically daunting – things like public safety, parking, transportation, marketing, and other considerations.

Rutgers is a geographically disparate campus. How can departments in Newark, Camden, and across the sprawling New Brunswick Campus participate?

This is our first year doing this and it is somewhat experimental. To focus our efforts, we have decided to have “Activity Zones” on the Cook, Douglass, College Avenue and Busch campuses – core areas where the day’s events will take place. Rutgers Day is not exactly an “open house” – we’re not throwing open all 650 buildings in New Brunswick and Piscataway and inviting the public to wander around. We are trying to create pedestrian-friendly and fun areas. So even if your department, unit, or club is located outside an Activity Zone or in Camden or Newark, you are absolutely included in Rutgers Day and can participate. You would submit your proposal the same way and be given a spot on in one of designated zones.

How can individuals and departments prepare for the event?

The website, rutgersday.rutgers.edu, is full of information that can help you come up with event ideas and plan them. After logging in with a NetID, people will find suggestions, sample programs from other departments, marketing materials like flyers and web tools, and information on how to submit a proposal. There is a workshop on how to plan an event coming up on November 25 that should be a big help.