At the Board Archived article from Nov 3, 2003   Also in this article: Also in this article: Senate urges McCormick-McGreevey funding contract Senate approves department chair selection procedures Camden provost gives his annual report Camden Provost Roger Dennis offered a reflective and prospective view of the Camden campus during his annual address Oct. 24 to the University Senate. Dennis detailed Camden faculty achievements, beginning with national citations for recent accomplishments posted both by the marketing faculty and by Briance Mascarenhas and Rakesh Sambharya of the management faculty. “We may have a relatively small faculty, but Rutgers– Camden is home to incredibly productive scholars who also are fabulous teachers,” said Dennis of the Camden business school scholars, who were rated by their academic peers for the impact of their research upon the respective fields of marketing and international strategic business. Dennis further noted that this faculty strength allows the campus to engage in such endeavors as the Rutgers– Camden Business Incubator, which nurtures nascent New Jersey businesses. Dennis noted that University of Texas scholar Brian Leiter, who ranked the Rutgers–New Brunswick philosophy department first in the nation, placed the Rutgers–Camden law faculty 16th in terms of excellence in the area of law and philosophy and 15th for critical theories. “All of our competitors in that survey are among the very best in the nation,” said Dennis, who observed that the success of a Camden law student team in the National Moot Court finals underscored the impact of a top research faculty on students. The Camden Faculty of Arts and Sciences also enjoyed a successful year. Dennis reported on such achievements as the appointment of Board of Governors Professor Philip Scranton to the prestigious Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institute; the glowing reviews garnered by Julianne Baird, a distinguished professor of music, in her summertime tour of prominent performance venues; and a South Atlantic Modern Language Association award to Tyler Hoffman, associate professor of English, for his book, “Robert Frost and the Politics of Poetry.” Dennis then delivered an overview of the critical components of the University Committee–South report on higher education restructuring. “A lot of us have spent an enormous amount of time and energy on this very collaborative process,” he said of the committee’s work. He noted “some very solid points of importance,” including the need to build enrollment to approximately 12,000 students within 10 years to provide vibrancy to the proposed new research university and the southern New Jersey region. Dennis suggested that most of that growth would derive from aggressive strategies to retain New Jersey students and attract others from across the Delaware Valley. Increases in the number of arts and sciences and business faculty would be required, enabling the southern institution to build from its existing strengths. Approximately 100 new faculty in the sciences would be needed, as would new doctoral programs in areas of academic strength. “For this institution, growing new programs will be key in pre-empting the loss of students to aggressive competition in Philadelphia,” he said. Dennis noted the committee’s resolve to offer both osteopathic and allopathic medical education in southern New Jersey, encouraging rich collaboration between the two schools. He said that the committee looked to northern New Jersey for a model of collaboration among institutions, and intends to promote joint ventures between the research university and Rowan University much like the 20-year alliance among Rutgers–Newark, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. - Michael Sepanic   Senate urges McCormick-McGreevey funding contract The University Senate called upon President Richard L. McCormick to enter into a multiyear contract with the state of New Jersey to resolve the issue of chronic academic underfunding. The university’s relationship with the state “has been marked by long-term under-funding in annual budgets…and persistent under-investment in the university’s ability to build a faculty of the highest distinction, and develop the university’s capital projects,” the senate noted in a resolution. “A stable, long-term solution to this problem is absolutely necessary if Rutgers is to meet the growing demand for admission and the important requirement that a Rutgers education continue to improve in quality.” Under terms of the proposed contract, the governor would commit to a consistent level of annual percentage increases in state funding; additional funding increases to compensate for past budget shortfalls; a program of capital support encompassing future growth and the elimination of deferred maintenance; special one-time funding for library equipment, instructional technology and special building projects; and funding for programs to aid developing new businesses in New Jersey’s knowledge-based economy. McCormick praised the senate for its commitment to increasing the resources that Rutgers receives from the people of New Jersey. But, he added, a contract between Rutgers and the governor of New Jersey is just one instrument of increasing state support. Other methods include developing personal relationships in the governor’s office and the Legislature and resolving funding issues for restructuring the state’s university system, McCormick said. —Richard Gorman $nbsp; In an effort to avoid confusion in appointing faculty chairs, the University Senate voted to establish consistent procedures for the selection of a department chair across the university. At present, guidelines differ among departments. The resolution recommends that deans who appoint department chairs consult with the faculty and obtain the faculty’s recommendation on a suggested candidate via a faculty vote. Further, it requires deans to provide “adequate explanation” to members of the department and the vice president or provost if they exercise the “decanal” prerogative of not following the faculty’s recommendation. The resolution empowers the faculty to report to the vice president or provost any violations of the bylaws regarding a dean’s selection of a chair. The new procedures would be incorporated into the bylaws of all departments. - Richard Gorman

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