‰ At the senate
Provosts report campus involvement in city life
Archived article from Dec 3, 1999
By Douglas Frank
In their annual campus reports to the University Senate Nov. 19, the Newark and Camden provosts extolled the virtues of their respective campuses and noted that they have become an integral partner in the life and revitalization of the two cities.
"Things are improving in our host city," said Camden Provost Roger Dennis, "and we are playing a major role in these positive developments."
Among several projects, he cited the revitalization of Admiral Wilson Boulevard, the development of Gateway Park and the preservation of Cooper Street, which he said was central to Camden's heritage and the redevelopment of the downtown area.
Dennis noted that the campus worked with the Delaware River Port Authority to open the per-manent building for the Leap Academy charter school last year. The school recently won a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support its programs.
"For proof that the city can revitalize itself with our help, check out Johnson Park, which we are restoring to its original Victorian-era glory, and we are acquiring and renovating a number of properties along Cooper Street to inject new life into this very important anchor to the city," Dennis said.
Camden also takes its role in the eight-county region seriously. "No project illustrates this commitment more than our Sen. Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs. This institute takes the university's strategic plan to heart and uses a truly multidisciplinary approach, focusing on applied research, training and technical assistance for the whole southern New Jersey region."
Newark Provost Norman Samuels called his campus "the very model of what a state university campus in the state's largest city should be. The people of New Jersey, after all, through the state's allocation and through their tuition dollars, provide most of the money we use in this university.
"And what we need to give back in return is the highest quality and value in everything we do and to be a true university addressing the broad and deep issues of concern and interest to mankind generally and to New Jersey.
"In Newark, we take pride in all of our schools and units meeting all of those tests," he said, noting that faculty scholarship and research brought in $16 million in grant funding last year and that Science Park, a major joint venture of several Newark institutions, will break ground soon for a $100 million facility.
He also pointed to the services offered to Newark by the College of Nursing, the law school clinics and the School of Criminal Justice.
"There is tremendous change in the city of Newark. Renaissance is a term much used, but it is also very accurate. Companies are moving in, the future is very bright and the university is playing a major role in it," Samuels concluded.
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