Major Accomplishments at Rutgers University Under the Leadership of President Richard L. McCormick

Since his return to Rutgers as the institution?s 19th president on Dec. 1, 2002, Richard L. McCormick has led the university through one of its most challenging and successful periods. Under his leadership, Rutgers has launched a series of wide-ranging initiatives that are significantly enhancing the university?s commitment to world-class instruction, groundbreaking research, enriched student life and service to the people of New Jersey and beyond. President McCormick has led Rutgers at a time of historic accomplishment and visibility, generating pride while setting records for applications, enrollment, private donations and support for research.

?ACADEMIC INITIATIVES

Transforming Undergraduate Education: In 2006, the university implemented President McCormick?s bold vision to enhance virtually every aspect of undergraduate learning and student life across the New Brunswick Campus ? the most significant reorganization of Rutgers in a quarter-century. Enhancements include establishment of the School of Arts and Sciences with its comprehensive new curriculum, first-year seminars, signature courses, dramatic expansion of opportunities for undergraduate research and honors programs, and greater support for top undergraduates competing for the most prestigious scholarships and awards.

School of Nursing-Camden: In fall 2011, the Camden Campus opened a new School of Nursing to address the overwhelming demand for a Rutgers baccalaureate nursing education in southern New Jersey through the expanded enrollment of 300 pre-licensure students and 150 registered nurse students over a six-year period.? ?

School of Public Affairs and Administration: An outgrowth of the Graduate Department of Public Administration, the new school opened on the Newark Campus in 2006 ? the first new school at Rutgers-Newark since 1972.

Childhood Studies: The nation?s first doctoral degree-granting program in this emerging discipline was launched in 2007 at Rutgers-Camden.

Interdisciplinary Initiatives: New programs in nutrition, materials and devices, transportation, childhood studies, urban entrepreneurship, and climate change and alternative energy are positioning Rutgers as an institution that is competing in the global economy while working to find solutions that benefit humanity.

GOALS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR

?At the start of the academic year, President McCormick set three major goals:

Create New Opportunities for Medical Education:? With the passage of historic legislation, Rutgers is positioned to become one of the nation?s elite research universities. The New Jersey Medical and Health Sciences Education Restructuring Act will merge into Rutgers University most of the elements of the current University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey ? including the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the New Jersey Medical School, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the New Jersey Dental School, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the School of Health Related Professions, the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health.?

Once signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie, Rutgers University?s governing boards will have a full year to review the legislation, conduct thorough due diligence and suggest any reasonable corrections that will be necessary to help Rutgers and the state achieve their goals. The creation of a comprehensive university-based health sciences center at Rutgers would attract the best medical talent; bring to New Jersey the latest medical advances and technologies; improve access to clinical trials offering hope for intractable diseases; significantly increase the flow of federal and industry research dollars into the state; and enable New Jersey residents to receive world-class medical care locally.

Build on the University?s Fundraising Success: In 2004, Rutgers completed its most successful fundraising campaign to that point in the university?s history, raising $615 million ? 23 percent higher than the campaign?s original goal.

In 2010, the university publicly launched Our Rutgers, Our Future, the most comprehensive and ambitious fundraising campaign in the university?s history. The $1 billion campaign focuses on meeting the university?s most pressing academic and financial needs ? such as providing scholarships to hundreds of undergraduates and more than doubling the number of prestigious endowed chairs to attract and retain world-class faculty.

The Our Rutgers, Our Future campaign has now raised more than $640 million, including funding for 17 new endowed chairs and 558 scholarships and fellowships. As part of this campaign, President McCormick was instrumental in securing $40 million in gifts from an anonymous donor ? the greatest amount of financial support from an individual donor in Rutgers history ? to support the following university initiatives:

• $27 million for a challenge grant that will establish 18 new endowed chairs in a wide range of academic disciplines, including business education and the sciences
• ?$10 million to support construction of the new Business School building on the Livingston Campus in Piscataway
• $3 million to support the Bennett L. Smith Endowed Chair in Business and Natural Resources.

Pass a Higher Education Bond Issue: In his position as chair of the New Jersey President?s Council, President McCormick and his colleagues have worked positively with legislative leaders in Trenton to place a $750 million higher education bond issue ? the first since 1988 ? on the November 2012 statewide ballot to fund badly needed facilities on colleges and universities across the state.

NEW REVENUES FOR RUTGERS RESEARCH

Financial Support for Research: Since 2002, total annual funding for Rutgers research from the federal government, the state of New Jersey, corporations and nonprofits has increased significantly ? from $242.4 million to $433.9 million. The university has secured prestigious grants to conduct vital research in health, science, transportation and homeland security.

?NEW FACILITIES

?Livingston Campus: Rutgers? campus in Piscataway is being transformed into the model of what the university will become in the 21st century, with an emphasis on professional, executive and continuing education; state-of-the-art residential and dining facilities; and integration with the Rutgers Ecological Preserve. A newly renovated student center opened in 2010, the new dining hall facility opened in 2011, and a new student housing complex will be completed in 2012. Completion of the new Business School building is scheduled for 2013.

Partnership with Atlantic Cape Community College: This fall, Rutgers will open a new academic and administrative building on the campus of Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing. The two-story, 22,000-square-foot facility will allow Rutgers to expand academic opportunities for students from Atlantic, Cape May and surrounding counties in such popular disciplines as psychology and criminal justice. The $7.5 million facility will house all Rutgers academic and administrative units at Atlantic Cape ? including a new undergraduate degree program in social work.?

Life Sciences Building: Dedicated in 2005, this Busch Campus building is home to the Human Genetics Institute, the Department of Genetics and the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials.

University Square: Housing nearly 600 students, University Square opened in 2006 ? the first new residential housing on the Newark Campus in 16 years.

Biomedical Engineering Building: This three-story facility on the Busch Campus, which opened in 2007, added nearly eight times the academic and support space to what was previously allocated to this growing discipline.

School of Law-Camden: In 2009, the university dedicated the law school?s new four-story, 53,000-square-foot building. The complex allows Rutgers to serve the community more effectively through its clinics and centers, which provide more than 30,000 hours of free legal services annually. The facility also boasts a fully functional courtroom that allows students to engage in critical moot court training on campus.

New Rutgers Business School Building in Newark: Opened in 2009, this building has substantially improved the quality of the school?s facilities and classroom technology, while expanding its capacity to meet the rapidly increasing demand for business education. The 15,000-square-foot atrium features a trading room ? a state-of-the-art facility for advanced instruction of business school students.?

Harnessing Solar Power:? The university is installing more than 40,000 high-efficiency solar panels on canopies over two large surface parking areas on the university?s Livingston Campus. The 32 acres of? solar canopies are expected to generate eight megawatts of power ? equal to the annual energy consumption of nearly 1,000 households.?When completed, the canopy system will be more than four times larger than the "solar farm? that the university opened on Livingston in 2009. When the canopy project is completed, these two facilities are expected to provide 64 percent of the power on the Livingston Campus ? saving the university $1.5 million in annual utility costs.

GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH

Cell and DNA Repository: In 2003, Rutgers? repository of DNA and cell lines became the largest university-based repository in the world. These are crucial assets for biomedical research to cure diseases like schizophrenia, diabetes and Alzheimer?s.

Fighting AIDS: Since 2004, Rutgers Chemistry and Chemical Biology Professor Eddy Arnold and his colleagues have announced a series of breakthroughs in the development of new drugs to stop the spread of AIDS. Professor Arnold?s lab at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Rutgers University worked together with scientists at Johnson & Johnson to develop two anti-AIDS drugs, including the drug rilpivirine that was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. The team used structures obtained by the Arnold lab to guide the design of the best molecules, which have exceptional potency against drug-resistant HIV.

Ancient Footprints from Anatomically Modern Feet: In 2009, Rutgers Anthropology Professor John W.K. Harris and an international team of colleagues found ancient footprints in Kenya that show some of the earliest humans walked like us and did so on anatomically modern feet 1.5 million years ago. This rare discovery marked a major contribution to the study of human evolution.

Plastic Lumber: In 2009, the U.S. Army successfully tested lumber developed from recycled plastic by Rutgers engineers ? by driving a 70-ton tank over a plastic lumber bridge at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The test proved the practical viability of plastic lumber, which is more durable and environmentally friendly than traditional treated wood.

Crossing the Atlantic: In 2009, faculty and students in Rutgers? Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory launched and piloted a submersible robot glider, the Scarlet Knight, across the Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to the coast of Spain ? the first successful crossing of an ocean by such a vehicle. The project proved the practicality of very long glider flights, and paved the way for the deployment of fleets of these vehicles to gather vital data about the state of the world?s oceans. ?

Preventing Prostate Cancer: In 2010, researchers at the university?s Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy announced that they have determined the inner workings of a gene that normally protects against prostate cancer in mice. This discovery could lead to new treatments to prevent prostate cancer in humans.

Electron Microscope: A project at Rutgers to build one of the most advanced electron microscopes in the world was praised by the White House in 2010 as an example of a federal stimulus project that is helping to transform the nation. The project is led by the university?s Institute for Advanced Materials, Devices and Nanotechnology ? a research environment where Rutgers physicists, chemists, biologists and engineers work collaboratively.

Genome Research: Rutgers geneticists were instrumental in sequencing the genomes of rice and corn. This research ultimately will lead to bigger and better food harvests.

New Species: Rutgers doctoral candidate Jeremy Fineberg ? working with Joanna Burger, a professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, School of Arts and Sciences ? discovered a new species of frog living in the marshes of Staten Island, mainland New York and New Jersey. This discovery ? which is highly unusual in a densely populated urban area ? demonstrates the importance of locating, identifying and protecting new species in all environments.?

INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

Alumni Relations: In 2007, the university implemented the president?s sweeping plan to strengthen and enhance the relationship between the university and its more than 400,000 alumni worldwide. The most significant change was creation of the Rutgers University Alumni Association ? a single volunteer structure to include all Rutgers graduates from all campuses.

Improved Governance: In 2008, the university adopted badly needed changes in the management of intercollegiate athletics. These changes contributed to reforms improving the governance of the entire university, including new compliance rules as well as new policies and procedures in such areas as contracts, purchasing, hiring and employee ethics.

ATHLETICS SUCCESS ? ON THE FIELD AND IN THE CLASSROOM

Moving Rutgers Athletics to National Prominence: In 2010, the Rutgers football program was ranked No. 1 in the nation by the NCAA for the academic progress of the team?s student-athletes. In 2011, Rutgers? football program ranked number two in the nation in the NCAA?s Academic Progress Rate (APR), and six Rutgers athletic programs recently recorded perfect APR scores of 1000. For the fourth consecutive year, the Rutgers football team was ranked in the top three nationally in multi-year APR rates, becoming the only university in the entire nation to earn such a prestigious honor.

The university also is investing in improvements to athletics facilities, including Rutgers Stadium. Championship programs in recent years include football (five consecutive bowl wins); women?s basketball (2007 Final Four); and wrestling (eight wrestlers qualified for the 2011 NCAA Championships).

COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Rutgers Future Scholars: In 2007, President McCormick launched this program to help disadvantaged students in the university?s host communities ? Camden, Newark, New Brunswick and Piscataway. Rutgers works with school districts to identify top eighth-graders. As the students proceed through high school, the university provides support and mentoring ? including workshops on preparing for college. This summer, the program will reach its full enrollment of 1,000 pre-college students ? each holding the promise of a free Rutgers education if they earn admission.

Branding Rutgers: Since 2004, Rutgers has adopted a series of reforms to address the university?s perennial identity problems. These reforms include a new universitywide system of logos and graphic marks, advertising that promotes Rutgers? accomplishments, and the growing popularity of the university?s tagline, ?Jersey Roots, Global Reach.?

Rutgers Day: Since launching in 2009, this annual community event has attracted 200,000 visitors to the university to enjoy hundreds of free programs appealing to every age and interest.

Web Innovations: In 2009, the university completed a major overhaul of the Rutgers website, including the launch of Rutgers Today, the university?s award-winning, web-based news center.

HISTORIC RESULTS

Record Applications: In 2010, Rutgers received a record number of applications from prospective first-year and transfer students ? 44,800. That is a nearly 14-percent increase compared to 2002.

Record Enrollment: Rutgers welcomed nearly 7,500 first-year students in fall 2011 ? the largest new class in the university?s history. Enrollment has grown from 51,480 students in 2002 to more than 58,000 this fall.?

Source: http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/fact-sheets/2012/major-accomplishment-20120629

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