Update: N.J. Higher Education Panel Calls for More Funding for Public Colleges

NorthJersey.com

Patricia Alex and Elise Young

January 4, 2011

 

New Jersey will take another swipe at reorganizing public graduate medical education in the state -- revisiting a plan to merge portions of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey with Rutgers.

 

Governor Christie ordered further study of the issue on Tuesday after releasing a report that recommended it.  The report also called for more public spending -- preferably a large bond issue -- on the state's beleaguered colleges and universities.

 

But that investment is unlikely in the near term, Christie said.

 

"The report acknowledges, and I'll confirm, that we don't have the capacity to do that right now," Christie said during a news conference in Trenton.  "There hasn't been a higher-education bond issue ... in 22 years.  And at some point we probably need to examine that, but now is not the time to do that."

 

The 134-page report, issued by a panel presided over by former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, made a series of recommendations, many of which have been made by groups impaneled by Christie's predecessors over the past two decades.

 

During that time, state support of higher education has declined while the cost born by students and their families has risen.  New Jersey has one of the highest rates of public tuition in the nation, averaging over $11,000 at state colleges and universities.

 

Christie has pledged greater support for the public colleges and universities after the state's fiscal crisis eases.  But for now, he said the Legislature can enact some of his "tool kit" reforms that affect higher education, including ones that deal with streamlining civil service and allowing schools to bargain on their own with unions rather than accepting state-brokered agreements.

 

"I see that as very positive," said Peter Mercer, president of Ramapo College in Mahwah.

 

"At first blush, the recommendations squarely address many of the areas where we, in New Jersey, have danced around issues or improvised for far too long -- the need for state support for facilities, for example," said Darryl Greer, executive director of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities.

 

There are 12 state colleges and universities and 19 community colleges in New Jersey.  The institutions have become increasingly autonomous since the elimination of the state Department of Higher Education in the early 1990s.  The department was replaced with a commission that has less regulatory power.

 

Tuesday's report, however, advocated that the commission be eliminated and replaced with a secretary of higher education.  Legislation creating that position was signed into law in January, but Christie has not filled the spot.

 

The report also offered specific recommendations for the state university saying the state should have "the Rutgers of its dreams."  It called on Rutgers to ramp up biomedical research and pursue more research partnerships with the state's large pharmaceutical industry.

 

"Rutgers needs to be turned from good to great," Christie said.  "They have to strategically decide to invest in areas of excellence and eliminate the redundancies across campuses."

 

Christie will convene another group to look at the possibility of merging at least portions of UMDNJ, the state's sprawling health sciences university, with Rutgers.

 

Rutgers President Richard McCormick issued a statement saying he supported the merger of Rutgers with UMDNJ's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, saying the union could create a "national academic powerhouse."

 

"Virtually every prominent medical school in the nation is affiliated with a top research university," McCormick said.  "Universities that are affiliated with medical schools also attract the highest levels of research funding and channel significant dollars into their states."

 

The study group would be charged with looking at options to reorganize UMDNJ's other campuses in Newark and South Jersey.  Christie prosecuted corruption at UMDNJ during his time as U.S. Attorney.

 

"I think today we have a greater level of assurance that corruption is not going on at UMDNJ, but that should not make us feel as if we've accomplished our goal," he said.

 

Christie said the medical school "needs to be fundamentally transformed."

 

A plan to merge Rutgers and UMDNJ fell apart during the McGreevey administration due to its complexity, political pushback and estimated $1 billion price tag.

 

Email:  alex@northjersey.com