Welcome to the Spring 2011 Semester (Jan. 20, 2011)

To the Campus Community:

Welcome to the start of the 2011 spring semester!  While many of you are returning to campus, some are experiencing Rutgers–Camden for the first time. In either instance, there are many reasons to be excited about our campus this semester. 

I’d like to take this opportunity to update you on some of the activities underway, as well as on some of our recent achievements:

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

During the fall, Rutgers–Camden welcomed its first students in our new Ph.D. programs in computational and integrative biology and in public affairs (with an emphasis on community development).  Both of these programs capitalize on our campus’ strong reputation in core areas of existing academic excellence, and address the growing need for doctoral preparation in these fields.

Our plans to create a Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden continue to progress.  We are optimistic that the Rutgers Board of Governors will review and vote on our proposal sometime this spring.  The approval of the board will then allow us to accelerate our efforts to bring this new and critically needed academic unit to reality.  I will keep you apprised of new information as it arises.  Our inaugural class of first-year nursing students is entering its second semester, marking the continued growth of this important program.

This month, Rutgers–Camden begins offering courses leading to a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies to students on the Blackwood campus of Camden County College, where we soon will launch an RN-to-BSN program as well.  These degree-completion programs allow more opportunities for New Jersey citizens to earn a Rutgers degree, while providing Camden County College students with the chance to build on their associate’s degrees.

Such off-campus endeavors are part of our strategic plans for growth.  During the fall, Rutgers–Camden introduced degree-completion programs in criminal justice and liberal studies at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, where we also deliver a certificate-granting program in national security/homeland security and a master’s program in liberal studies. 

Clearly, our curriculum is fueled by the excellence of our faculty, and we will continue to recruit the best and brightest to our campus.  Each of our schools is in the midst of faculty searches that, upon their successful completion, will enable us to add even greater prominence to our academic programs.   

The reputation of our faculty as thought leaders in their disciplines will advance this spring through major on-campus conferences that will draw top scholars from around the world to Rutgers–Camden.  During April 15-16, the School of Law will host a “Symposium on Amartya Sen’s The Idea of Justice” (http://lawandphil.rutgers.edu/upcoming-events), while the Department of Childhood Studies will host the conference “Multiple Childhoods/Multidisciplinary Perspectives” (http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/multiple-childhoods) during May 20-21.  I encourage you to attend these and the many other academic events that we will hold this semester.

ATHLETICS

As someone who enjoys the game of tennis, I am pleased to report that work has begun on upgrading the Rutgers–Camden tennis courts.  When completed, Rutgers–Camden will have appropriate space to relaunch tennis as an NCAA Division III sport.

We are currently in the middle of exciting seasons for our men’s and women’s basketball teams.  I hope that you’ll join me in the upcoming weeks to cheer on our Scarlet Raptors.  Both teams play home games against William Paterson University this Saturday, Jan. 22 (the men’s team starts at 1 p.m., and the women’s team at 3 p.m.).

The Scarlet Raptors remain competitive in all of their fields of play.  As just one example of very recent news, head lacrosse coach Nancy O’Neill has been selected for membership in the New Jersey Lacrosse Foundation’s Hall of Fame.  We also are proud of our student-athletes recently named to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Academic All-Area teams.

FACILITIES and CAMPUS LIFE

Rutgers is working with the Camden County Improvement Authority to finalize plans for a new student housing facility on Cooper Street.  This new building, which will provide housing and amenities for approximately 350 graduate students, will enhance the vibrancy of our campus life and play a key role in our efforts to attract more students from across the nation and around the world.  We hope to earn approval from the Rutgers Board of Governors in the next month, which would allow work to commence soon thereafter.

Other projects are underway to improve campus services.  Renovations are proceeding at 427-9 Cooper Street which, when completed, will become the new home for the Departments of History and the Department of Philosophy and Religion.  When those units relocate to Cooper Street later this spring, we will transform their vacated offices in Armitage Hall into space that will permit the better delivery of such important student services as academic advising and the federal TRiO program.

At the same time, we are working to renovate the first floor of the Paul Robeson Library to consolidate student computing labs into one space.  In the Business and Science Building, the space currently occupied by the student computing lab will become much-needed classroom space, which will provide greater flexibility in scheduling classes.

As these improvements occur here at home, Rutgers–Camden students are embracing the world as their classroom.  This spring, our International Studies Program will introduce undergraduate and graduate students to the market and culture of Brazil through the course “International Management and Marketing.”  Rutgers–Camden will lead other intensive learning trips to such diverse locales as South Africa, India, and Guatemala.

While Rutgers–Camden always has been, and will remain, committed to serving the citizens of New Jersey, increasing our number of international and out-of-state students has many benefits.  These students bring unique and diverse perspectives to our community, and extend the reputation of our campus when they return to their homes.  To this end, we are exploring opportunities to recruit students worldwide, and to enhance our profile with undergraduate and graduate students from across our nation.

Many of these students, as well as our own New Jersey neighbors, will learn about Rutgers–Camden through our website.  During the spring semester, the communications office will utilize feedback from a campus-wide survey to work with a team of staff, faculty, and students on a revision of our core website (camden.rutgers.edu).  This campus-wide team will guide a process that will increase the visual excitement of our web presence while better providing access to the information that all of our audiences demand.  The campus community will be kept informed as this project progresses.

Recent headlines have discussed challenges confronting our host city arising from the economic downturn that is causing municipalities across our region to face harsh fiscal decisions.  As a befits a good neighbor, as well as New Jersey’s land-grant university, Rutgers will work with city and regional leadership to find creative solutions to these matters. The Rutgers University Police Department has a long history of patrolling our immediate Cooper Grant neighborhood in addition to our campus grounds, and we will continue that activity.  We are discussing options for providing access to select and limited services on campus for Camden residents through the Camden County Library system.  Let me be clear:  these discussions are ongoing, and will advance only if the limited services do not impact our core services to faculty and students.  Moreover, we seek to identify those county library services that would provide learning and research opportunities for our students and faculty.  I will provide more details as these discussions proceed.

Earlier this month, Gov. Chris Christie released the Report of the Governor’s Task Force on Higher Education, which offered some thoughts on how to improve higher education across our state.  The clear call for increased investment in higher education, both statewide and in southern New Jersey, was gratifying.  The governor also charged a new committee to consider the ramifications of these suggestions.  Higher education is complex, and new ideas related to higher education are, by definition, equally complex.  I look forward to working with you as we continue these discussions about how to help our campus secure the resources we need to provide the highest quality education and research possible.

There are many activities on campus every day.  From the innovative programs delivered by the Division of Students Affairs to the concerts and plays offered by the Department of Fine Arts and the Center for the Arts to the lectures offered by virtually every academic department, Rutgers–Camden is a bustling center of activity.  I encourage you to take full advantage of all that the campus has to offer.

CAMPUS ADVANCEMENT

The search for a new dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is progressing well.  The search committee, co-chaired by School of Law Dean Rayman Solomon and Dr. Mary Bravo (professor, psychology), has diligently worked to identify a handful of qualified and energetic candidates who will visit the campus during the next several weeks.  The Faculty of Arts and Sciences community will be notified of these visits in advance.

In late December, Greg O’Shea joined the campus community as the new HR manager.  He most recently served in a similar capacity at La Salle University. We welcome his expertise, and look forward to working closely with him.  The search for a permanent registrar continues, and the search committee will issue an announcement upon the successful completion of their work.

While we welcome new faces to our campus, we also extend our thanks to dedicated colleagues upon their retirements.  Rutgers–Camden is indebted to the decades of committed service provided by Sherri Wolfinger (financial aid), Maria Grace (financial services), and Linda Comuso (School of Law), and we salute Maureen Murphy Aguilar, a guiding force for generations of law school students, as she prepares to retire this spring.

Please join me in thanking Maureen, Linda, Maria, and Sherri for their years of service, and in wishing them the full enjoyment of the years to come.

As many of you know, Rutgers has embarked upon a capital campaign with a $1 billion goal.  At Rutgers–Camden, our aspirations for this campaign are high.  Early results are encouraging, and suggest that many of our alumni, donors, and friends share our ambitions for Rutgers–Camden as an institution on the move:  during the first three years of the current campaign, our campus has exceeded the amount raised in the entirety of Rutgers’ last campaign.  Our campus priorities include increasing scholarships for undergraduate students and fellowships for graduate students; additional resources to promote faculty research; and funding to develop new academic facilities.  We look forward to your support and involvement in this initiative, and will keep you apprised of our progress throughout the campaign.

As the semester starts, we know that we will face new opportunities and challenges in the coming months.  I always welcome your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and best thinking, and hope that you will share them with me at any time.  My email is chancellor@camden.rutgers.edu.

Please accept my best wishes for a successful semester.

Sincerely,

Wendell E. Pritchett, J.D. , Ph.D.

Chancellor