Announcing Plans for New Graduate Student Housing at Rutgers-Camden (Feb. 8, 2011)

To the Campus Community:

This afternoon, the Rutgers Board of Governors approved the construction of a 12-story, 350-bed housing facility for graduate students here on the Rutgers–Camden Campus.

This $55 million project plans to construct a 161,653-square-foot building with 102 units on the south 300 block of Cooper Street, near the intersection of Fourth and Cooper Sts. Approximately 7,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level will be incorporated into the project to serve both Rutgers students and the larger Camden community.

Construction is expected to begin during early spring, with occupancy scheduled for August 2012. Under a project development agreement approved by the Board of Governors, the Camden County Improvement Authority will manage construction of the building on behalf of Rutgers. The CCIA is in negotiations to secure the site.  Upon completion, the site and facility will be owned by Rutgers.

This facility will represent the first new student housing for Rutgers–Camden since 1989, when the Rutgers–Camden Tower opened to welcome residential undergraduate students. The Rutgers–Camden residential complex currently serves approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students, and includes the Rutgers–Camden Apartments, which opened in 1986. 

Clearly, this is exciting news. As you know, our enrollment is at a record 6,337 students, and continues our upward trajectory as we strive for our goal of 7,500.  Rutgers–Camden’s reputation for graduate education attracts students from across the nation and around the world, as well as right here in New Jersey. Increasingly, undergraduate and graduate students alike seek the opportunity to enjoy a residential campus experience. This project will allow us to provide a state-of-the-art facility that matches the high caliber of our students.

Renovations to the existing housing facility have been underway for several years and will continue. We recognize that upgrades to the current residential complex need to progress and will not be overlooked while a new building is being constructed.

Once the new graduate housing facility is completed, Rutgers will have more than 850 students living on campus, which helps to create a critical mass of students living on or near the campus and builds the vibrancy of our campus and our city.

This project has been in development for several years, and numerous stakeholders have worked closely with us to help bring our vision to reality. I would like to thank Vice Chancellor Larry Gaines for his ongoing leadership of this project, as well as Associate Chancellor for Student Affairs Mary Beth Daisey, School of Law Dean Rayman Solomon, and everyone whose efforts contributed to today’s outcome.

I also would like to thank President Richard L. McCormick for his support of our campus.  President McCormick shares and actively promotes our vision for growing Rutgers–Camden as a national model for public universities in an urban setting. His enthusiasm for Rutgers–Camden is valued greatly.

During the coming weeks, we will plan a groundbreaking event for later in the spring semester. Rest assured, the entire campus community will be invited to this celebration. I look forward to joining you at that event.  Until then, thank you for your continued support of our campus.

Wendell E. Pritchett

Chancellor