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January 31, 2012

New Jersey Proposes Merging Rutgers-Camden With Rowan University

The plan to merge Rutgers University-Camden with Glassboro-based Rowan University (about 20 miles away) is meeting resistance, or at least shock and outrage by students at the law school.  Various press outlets interviewing students for their articles has them expressing concern that the Rutgers name would go away.  It's a brand, after all, and students are attached to it for all kinds of reasons.  Current students wonder if the Rutgers name would be on their diplomas, something that helps them distinguish themselves in the job market.  One article quotes a student:

"Let's face it, our main priority is getting a job," said Kevin Miller, a 23-year-old law student, explaining his attachment to the Rutgers name.

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Dean Rayman Solomon is quoted in the same article as saying:

"The name of Rutgers is crucial to this law school and it is part of what has made us an outstanding school. It is necessary to continue (the name) and I will continue to advocate that as long as I'm able."

The merger was proposed in a report issued January 25^th by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Advisory Committee.  Ostensibly looking the organization of medical education in New Jersey, the single reference in the report to the law school is on page 23:

To meet the medical school's future needs and the higher education and workforce and economic development needs of this growing region in the most expeditious, responsible manner possible, the Committee's view is that a full integration of Rutgers‐Camden into Rowan University should be undertaken. This integration should include the law school and business school at Rutgers University in Camden. It must be carried out in a manner that protects the critical academic interests of all students. It is the best and most efficient means of getting the most from existing programs and educational capacity in the region while also enhancing Rowan's programs and laying an important building block not only for the development of the medical school but also, in the Committee's view, for providing the elements necessary for Rowan to become a comprehensive public research university.

Students are mobilizing support through Facebook and urging concerned individuals to contact their legislators.

Faculty are not thrilled either, and that reaction is not limited to the law school.  The concern is that by merging duplicate programs, Rutgers-Camden faculty would lose tenure through layoffs.  The report's language that the merger "must be carried out in a manner that protects the critical academic interests of all students" pointedly does not mention faculty.  The merger, if it goes through, will likely generate lawsuits, indirectly supplying jobs for lawyers.  Governor Christie's office declined comment on what he intends to do with the recommendation according news reports.

Rowan's claim to fame is that it was the site of the summit between President Lyndon Johnson and then Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin in 1967.  The Glassboro State College, as it was called then, was chosen as it was the mid-point geographically between the United Nations building in New York and Washington D.C.  The College received a $100 million donation from industrialist Henry Rowan in 1992 and changed its name in his honor.