Going home
Christine Haska to leave Rutgers to return to her native California
Archived article from Jan 19, 2001
By Douglas Frank
Ten years ago Christine Haska got an offer she couldn't refuse.
Her boss for the previous eight years at Tulane University, Francis L. Lawrence, invited her to come work with him at Rutgers, where he had become president two weeks before. "He promised me an adventure, and Rutgers delivered," she reminisced recently on the eve of departing for a new life on the West Coast.
Haska will be leaving Rutgers at the end of January and looks forward to getting married and spending more time with her parents, daughter, son-in-law and first grandchild, 5-month-old Emily. "It's time to head West," she asserted. "Although my family is very tiny, they're all in California."
For most of her decade of service to Rutgers, Haska has been vice president for institutional research and planning, a title that only partially described duties, which also included restructuring and overseeing both University Relations and Rutgers University Computing Services (RUCS).
Serving in these key capacities has allowed her to have an impact on almost all of the major initiatives undertaken during the decade, including the early "Red Tape" committee, which addressed internal communication; the Middle States' reaccreditation in 1998, which for the first time evaluated all Rutgers campuses as one university; and the Academic Challenge, the program of intellectual competition for New Jersey high school students, now in its third year.
Among her proudest accomplishments, she lists "A New Vision for Excellence," the university's strategic plan that set a goal for Rutgers to be among the top 10 public research universities by 2010 and provides a framework for "our collective vision as a university," she said. Haska, the president, the chief academic officers and the deans worked closely with teams of faculty members on all three campuses, in what she characterizes as "a truly collaborative effort."
RUNet 2000, the university-wide network for voice, video and data, which is now some 20 months into a four-year implementation, is also on her list of favorite projects.
Her two most recent initiatives, known as RIAS and RRN, range from updating the university's internal business practices to creating a new statewide network to expand educational opportunities across New Jersey.
The Rutgers Integrated Administrative System (RIAS) is a three-year effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the university's business practices by adding online capabilities and reducing inefficiencies.
The Rutgers Regional Network (RRN) is an expansion of RUNet 2000 made possible by the recent donation to Rutgers of fiber optic capacity in the state's E-ZPass toll collection system. The network will enhance the quality of distance education, encourage the development and extension of interactive, multimedia Web-based courses in many disciplines, and enable Rutgers to better serve a variety of workforce needs.
"Christine has a remarkable ability to make everything she touches a success," Lawrence said. "She remains unperturbed even when dealing with the most daunting projects and makes everyone around her feel that they, too, can accomplish seemingly impossible amounts of work on very tight deadlines. Her infectious enthusiasm, her competence, her calm and her sense of humor will be sorely missed, but we wish her the best in her new life."
Gene O'Hara, vice chair of the Board of Governors, who worked closely with Haska, also attested to her effective leadership. "I've never encountered a more organized, thorough and professional individual in my business career of 40 years or more," he told the board in December.
Haska said she was personally proudest of the "people with whom I worked and the people who will carry on. They are absolutely exceptional in their leadership abilities and management capabilities and in their devotion to the university."
Rutgers itself, she asserted, is an "intellectually exciting place. There is a lot of support for new ideas in this culture at Rutgers, more so than in any other place I worked. And that really is exciting."
What does she hope for Rutgers after she is gone?
"I'd like to see the citizens of New Jersey invest at a much higher level in their state university than they have before. I would like to see Rutgers join the top 10 public research universities in the United States. And I would like to see widespread recognition for that fact."
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