Section VII: Education and Research in an Urban Setting: Rutgers

SECTION VII:

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN AN URBAN SETTING: RUTGERS–NEWARK

(ASPECTS OF STANDARDS 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, AND 14)

Introduction ......................................................................................................................1

Background.......................................................................................................................1

Mission of Rutgers–Newark........................................................................................1

History of Urban Engagement.....................................................................................2

Urban Location............................................................................................................2

Academic Overview—Colleges and Schools...................................................................4

Enrollment Growth......................................................................................................4

Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Newark.........................................................................4

College of Nursing ......................................................................................................5

Rutgers Business School—Newark and New Brunswick ...........................................5

School of Criminal Justice...........................................................................................6

Graduate School–Newark............................................................................................6

School of Law–Newark...............................................................................................6

School of Public Affairs and Administration ..............................................................7

Institutional Collaborations .........................................................................................7

Special Characteristics of the Undergraduate Student Body .......................................8

Racial/Ethnic and Religious Diversity.........................................................................8

Multilingual Learners..................................................................................................9

Parents’ Education.......................................................................................................9

Age of Students ...........................................................................................................9

Preprofessional Orientation.........................................................................................9

Admissions Criteria and Recruitment Strategies.........................................................9

Transfer Students.......................................................................................................10

Lower-Income Students.............................................................................................11

Retention and Graduation Rates................................................................................11

Undergraduate Academics and Academic Support Services......................................11

General Education and Major Requirements.............................................................11

Strength of Preprofessional Majors...........................................................................12

Urban Engagement of the Curriculum.......................................................................12

Honors College with an Experiential Emphasis........................................................13

Career Development Center and Experiential Learning............................................14

Academic Support Programs for a Diverse Student Body.........................................14

Minority Biomedical Research Support Program...............................................14

Academic Foundations Center/Educational Opportunity Fund Program...........15

Newark Academic Transition Program..............................................................15

College Algebra and General Biology Support Initiative...................................15

Assessment of Undergraduate Education.....................................................................16

Study Group on Undergraduate Admissions.............................................................16

Committee on Assessment of Undergraduate Programs ...........................................17

Committee on the Future of Undergraduate Education.............................................18

Programmatic Reform: A Case Study of the Writing Program.................................19

Outreach, Community Commitment, and the Urban Mission...................................20

History High School...........................................................................................21

McNair Academic High School ITV Program...................................................21

High School Poetry Contest...............................................................................21

GlassRoots, Inc...................................................................................................21

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Precollege Academy of Criminal Justice and Law.............................................21

Run Art...............................................................................................................22

Additional Programs ..........................................................................................22

Graduate and Professional Education..........................................................................23

Research Centers, Clinics, and Other Programs.........................................................24

Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience .....................................24

Institute of Jazz Studies.............................................................................................25

Camões Institute Center for Portuguese Language and Culture................................25

Institute on Education Law and Policy......................................................................25

Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies................................................25

Rutgers Business School Programs...........................................................................25

School of Law Programs ...........................................................................................26

Police Institute...........................................................................................................27

National Center for Public Productivity....................................................................27

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................28

Recommendations...........................................................................................................28

Websites Referenced in Section VII..............................................................................29

INTRODUCTION

This section focuses on the urban mission of Rutgers’ Newark Campus and assesses it from three

main vantage points: (1) student characteristics, (2) educational offerings, and (3) faculty

engagement. The self-study provided an opportunity to identify the scope and depth of the campus’s

engagement with its mission. By identifying and describing mission-related activities, the section

provides a compilation and overview of the extent to which the urban focus animates education and

research on the campus. It illuminates Rutgers–Newark's intensive and extensive engagement with its

mission.

At the same time, the self-study process highlighted the need for a dedicated, campus-based

institutional research function. Given the time frame within which the self-study was conducted,

comprehensive assessment was at times impeded by the lack of readily available data. As this chapter

will show, and illustrate most clearly through its discussion of the Writing Program case study, data-

driven assessment is critical to program reform. It is also critical to ensuring that the campus is able

to reach its most immediate and pressing goals regarding the strengthening of undergraduate

education. (See Goals for Rutgers-Newark, Revised August 2005

The Middle States review occurs at a fortuitous point in the evolution of the campus. Over the

past three years, faculty committees have assessed our undergraduate educational offerings,

admissions practices, and co- and extracurricular activities, and they have made substantive

recommendations for change. Three new deans in arts and sciences, criminal justice, and business are

joining the campus for the 2007–2008 academic year. Finally, close relations are being forged with

the new Newark city administration, which has led, for example, to the creation of an Executive

Master of Public Administration Program for city hall employees.

BACKGROUND

MISSION OF RUTGERS–NEWARK

The Newark Campus has a long and proud tradition of providing a first-rate education to students of

modest means, to first-generation college attendees, and to students of diverse racial, ethnic, and

religious backgrounds. The campus also has had considerable success in enrolling students with

outstanding academic records, attracted by its Honors College, the diverse student body, relatively

small classes, the educational opportunities of the city, and the campus’s growing reputation for

academic excellence. This mission is paired with Rutgers–Newark’s role as the state's center of

professional education and training for future business, legal, and civic leaders, offering high-quality

research and graduate programs in the sciences, professions, and selected areas of the social sciences

and humanities most relevant to urban settings. Our location in downtown Newark, adjacent to New

Jersey's most concentrated cluster of cultural, scientific, and medical institutions, and government,

business, legal, and mass media headquarters, has become an ever greater asset. As an integral part of

Rutgers University, the campus shares in Rutgers' international reputation as a major research

institution with rigorous standards for faculty appointment, tenure, and promotion.

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HISTORY OF URBAN ENGAGEMENT

There is no aspect of the campus’s educational initiatives and programs that remains unaffected by

the campus’s location and historic mission to serve students who otherwise would not find a welcome

and supportive space within a research-oriented university. Over the past decades, the campus’s

urban mission has broadened and deepened considerably. The urban mission encompasses a wide

range of educational programs and faculty research and teaching interests. It is central to

understanding the campus’s development, its current status, and future possibilities.

The Newark Campus has long served students from the densely populated counties of northern

New Jersey. The campus’s recent history can be understood in three phases. The first phase began in

the late 1960s and continued into the early 1980s, as the campus made explicit decisions to serve

minority students. On the undergraduate level, the creation of the Academic Foundations

Center/Educational Opportunity Fund Program (AFC/EOF), developmental classes in English and

math, and a proactive and student-centered office for student academic affairs were all products of

this era. From its inception, the AFC/EOF provided educational opportunities, resources, and

academic support programs primarily for underrepresented urban students, including undergraduate

support programs and instructional and tutorial services, as well as personal, financial, and career

counseling.

On the professional school level, the law school undertook a searching examination of its roles

and responsibilities as a legal institution within a declining urban community. As a result, the faculty

voted to create the Minority Student Program to make legal education more accessible to members of

groups historically excluded from legal career opportunities, and the Clinical Program to provide

practical lawyering experience to students and, at the same time, high-quality representation for

underserved individuals and communities.

From the early 1980s until the mid-1990s, the campus added an additional focus on graduate

education, which led to the creation of new master’s and doctoral programs. There was also an added

emphasis on the relationship between faculty research and applied graduate programs. Professional

education offered a means to distinguish the campus from the university’s campus in New

Brunswick, while also offering students an outstanding education with excellent faculty members

who performed cutting-edge research. Accompanying the growth of graduate education were new

initiatives on the undergraduate level, including the creation of the undergraduate Honors College.

The most recent phase, from the late 1990s on, represents a synthesis of the two earlier phases,

the success of which is shown through measures of external recognition. In 2007, the campus was

ranked 12th among Small Research Universities by the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index. It has

also been ranked the most diverse campus among Ph.D.-granting institutions in the United States by

U.S. News & World Report for 10 consecutive years. That the campus has been recognized in these

two dimensions—for the diversity of its student body and the quality of its graduate programs—

speaks to the mission of the campus and the goals that it has set for itself.

URBAN LOCATION

Rutgers’ Newark Campus is a modern and fully self-sufficient complex with a student population of

over 10,500. It is located on 37 acres in the center of the educational, medical, and cultural district

known as University Heights. Newark is also the business, financial, and legal center of New Jersey.

Rutgers and its academic neighbors—New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Medicine

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and Dentistry of New Jersey, Essex County College, and Seton Hall School of Law—provide a wide

range of higher education opportunities to a student population of almost 40,000, making Newark a

true college town.

In the 1980s, Rutgers–Newark took a gamble that few thought had any possibility of success.

Convinced that the decline of cities such as Newark would be reversed over time and that universities

in the heart of great metropolitan centers must be prepared to contribute to that revitalization, the

campus’s leadership developed high-quality research and graduate programs, emphasizing, in

particular, fields of inquiry relevant to the urban environment.

In fact, the campus’s location in downtown Newark has become an ever greater asset. Projects to

expand market-rate housing, retail, entertainment, and recreational facilities have developed all

around us, and the city's revitalization is now indisputable. Rutgers–Newark is both a beneficiary and

an agent of this revitalization. The campus is increasingly attractive and welcoming, symbolizing the

institution’s self-confidence as a dynamic part of a newly vibrant city. Newark's extraordinary

transportation links, and quick and easy access to New York City, provide opportunities to fully

exploit the campus’s location in one of the world's great global economic and cultural centers.

Proximity to Essex County College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and University of Medicine

and Dentistry of New Jersey has enabled Rutgers–Newark to build extensive collaborations in

instruction and research that enrich all four institutions.

In the past decade, the redevelopment of Newark as a cultural and business center has become

much more dramatic—the opening and continuing success of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center,

a new minor league baseball stadium, relocation of headquarters to Newark from the suburbs of

major corporations such as IDT, building of new office facilities by MBNA America, development of

University Heights Science Park (including relocation of the Public Health Research Institute to

Science Park from New York City), design of a park and promenade along the Passaic River, and the

new sports arena in Newark—these and a host of other planned projects have positioned Newark to

re-emerge as the state's major center of commerce, entertainment, sports, and cultural activity.

The physical enhancement of the Newark Campus also plays a role in the economic development

of the city by bringing people and resources to the city and by building a vibrant center of activity

that contributes to the well-being of the surrounding neighborhoods. In fall 2006, two new buildings

opened: a predominately undergraduate residence hall (University Square), which also contains

street-level retail stores, and a Life Sciences Building with research laboratories, seminar rooms, and

classroom facilities. Rutgers Business School will move into a newly acquired and refurbished

building at One Washington Park during fall 2009. The former site of Rutgers’ School of Law–

Newark at 15 Washington Street is in the first phases of redevelopment and conversion into graduate

housing. Other recent additions to the Newark Campus include the Center for Law and Justice and

the Management Education Center, directly across from it. Some 15 percent of the student population

now resides on campus, lending the area more of a 24/7 quality. The construction of new residence

halls is part of an ongoing effort to make the campus a place where students choose to live and where

a mix of residential and commuting students meet and interact.

Our urban location offers an abundance of experiential learning opportunities, internships, and

volunteer activities for students outside the classroom. Our students, faculty, and staff collaborate

with a wide range of community and social organizations. They conduct research on urban issues,

work closely with urban school systems, manage health clinics, foster public understanding of

American diversity, train state police officers, and produce skilled managers for the pharmaceutical

industry.

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ACADEMIC OVERVIEW—COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS

As the northern campus of Rutgers University, Rutgers–Newark offers what is expected from a top

research university: first-class academic programs, faculty who are leading scholars in their fields,

and cutting-edge research. With a student-faculty ratio of 14:1, both undergraduate and graduate

students are taught by first-rate faculty, of whom 99 percent hold terminal degrees in their field. In

2006–2007, the campus awarded 1,200 baccalaureate degrees and over 1,000 graduate degrees.

ENROLLMENT GROWTH

One measure of the campus’s evolution is its rapid growth over the past decade. In 1998, campus

enrollment had declined to a low of 9,084. In fall 2007, enrollment was 10,553, a gain of over 16

percent. The academic units that experienced the greatest growth were:

Fall 1998 Fall 2007 Percentage Gain

Newark College of Arts and Sciences 3,615 4,647 29%

School of Law–Newark 696 816 17%

College of Nursing 440 551 25%

Graduate School–Newark/SPAA 1,093 1,470 34%

FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES–NEWARK

A strong liberal arts education unites the different missions of the preprofessional programs and

professional schools. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Newark sponsors undergraduate and graduate

programs in the Newark College of Arts and Sciences, the traditional undergraduate day college;

University College–Newark, which is geared toward adult and specially admitted students; and the

Graduate School–Newark. Undergraduate majors are also sponsored by the College of Nursing,

Rutgers Business School, and the School of Criminal Justice, and discussions are under way for new

undergraduate majors within the School of Public Affairs and Administration and the graduate

Division of Global Affairs.

From its inception, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has prided itself on combining the best of the

liberal arts tradition with excellence in professional and preprofessional training. The Faculty of Arts

and Sciences teaches more than 60 percent of the undergraduates on the Newark Campus. It is the

largest academic unit on the campus and the second largest in the entire university. Students enjoy a

wide variety of course offerings and can choose from majors in nearly 60 fields. The general

education curriculum, which is completed by all undergraduates, provides students with a strong

liberal arts foundation and access to training necessary for pursuing specialized careers. Currently,

discussions are under way regarding an overhaul of the general education requirements, which have

grown far too detailed and complicated over the years and are somewhat out-of-sync with the

strengths of the faculty. Housed within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences are the departments of

African-American and African Studies, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Classical and Modern

Languages and Literatures, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Economics, English, History,

Mathematics and Computer Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Social

Work, Sociology and Anthropology, Urban Education, Visual and Performing Arts, and the Women's

Studies Program.

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COLLEGE OF NURSING

The undergraduate and graduate programs within the College of Nursing are accredited by the

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and the Commission on Colleges and Universities of

the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The college is approved by the

New Jersey State Board of Nursing and is a member of the Council of Baccalaureate and Higher

Degree Programs of the National League for Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of

Nursing.

The College of Nursing offers a bachelor of science degree, a B.S. program for registered nurses,

a master of science program that includes clinical expertise for advanced practice nursing, the only

public Ph.D. program in nursing in New Jersey that combines on-line and blended instruction, and an

online/blended doctorate of nursing practice. Students in the master’s program can pursue specialty

clinical options in acute care of the adult and aged; advanced practice in pediatric nursing; advanced

practice in women's health; community health nursing; family nurse practitioner; care of the adult and

aged nurse practitioner; and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. U.S. News & World

Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools" ranked the College of Nursing's psychiatric-mental

health specialty program as one of the top five in the nation; the master's program was ranked 59th of

175 schools. While the College of Nursing has traditionally drawn from top hospitals and clinics in

the area for support of its teaching and research mission, the school has also gone into the community

with its health care partners to establish centers and programs to serve the needs of some of the state's

most vulnerable populations.

RUTGERS BUSINESS SCHOOL—NEWARK AND NEW BRUNSWICK

Rutgers Business School offers undergraduate and graduate programs in Newark and New Brunswick

that equip graduates with the skills they need to function in today's diverse global business

environment. With a focus on a team approach, the curriculum teaches students to critically reason,

gather, and weigh evidence, and bring an innovative and thoughtful approach to problem solving in

real-world business settings. The business programs are accredited by the American Assembly of

Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). According to Business Week's 2006 M.B.A. rankings,

Rutgers ranked among the top 70 business schools out of the more than 1,200 business schools in the

United States. Graduates of Rutgers Business School include C.E.O.s and C.F.O.s of leading

corporations.

In Newark, Rutgers Business School offers undergraduate programs in accounting, finance,

management, and marketing to students who are broadly educated in the liberal arts. These programs

equip graduates to enter the workforce as skilled professionals, deal ethically and effectively with the

myriad complex problems that arise in business, and lead rich lives, appreciative of their cultural

heritage. As a secondary mission, the program prepares students wishing to pursue graduate study in

law, business, and other disciplines.

On the graduate level, students can earn an M.B.A. on a full or part-time basis, as well as an

executive M.B.A., an international executive M.B.A., or an M.B.A. in professional accounting. A

J.D./M.B.A. and a J.D./professional accounting M.B.A. are offered in conjunction with the School of

Law–Newark. Other graduate degree options include a master of quantitative finance, master of

accountancy in taxation, a master of accountancy in governmental accounting, a master of

information technology, and a Ph.D. in management.

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SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The School of Criminal Justice is a major national and international center for scholarly research on

all aspects of policing, delinquency, crime, and criminal justice administration. Through the Faculty

of Arts and Sciences, undergraduate students can obtain B.A. or B.S. degrees in criminal justice. On

the graduate level, the School of Criminal Justice offers B.S./M.A., M.A., M.A./J.D. (in collaboration

with the School of Law–Newark), and Ph.D. programs. Each program provides instruction and

research opportunities that prepare students for positions in research, teaching, and criminal justice

system management and policymaking. The Ph.D. program was ranked fourth in the nation in the

spring 2005 issue of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” by U.S. News & World Report.

GRADUATE SCHOOL–NEWARK

The Graduate School–Newark is dedicated to the advancement of scientific and human knowledge in

an environment that encourages scholarly inquiry and intellectual growth. Graduate students are

expected to develop the analytical and creative skills required for original scholarship, research, and

problem solving, as well as a thorough understanding of an academic discipline. The Graduate School

offers master's programs in American studies, applied physics, biology, chemistry, nursing,

economics, English, environmental sciences, geological sciences, global studies, history, international

studies, jazz history, liberal studies, political science, psychology, and public administration. Ph.D.

programs are available in American studies, applied physics, behavioral and neural sciences, biology,

chemistry, criminal justice, environmental science, global affairs, mathematical sciences, psychology,

and public administration. The Graduate School also offers joint programs with New Jersey Institute

of Technology, including the M.A. and M.A.T. in history, the M.S. in computational biology, the

M.S. and Ph.D. in applied physics, the M.S. and Ph.D. in biological sciences, the M.S. and Ph.D. in

environmental sciences, and the Ph.D. in mathematical sciences. The M.D./Ph.D. is a joint program

with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. A Ph.D. in urban systems is a joint

degree program with both New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Medicine and

Dentistry of New Jersey, as is the master of public health. The Ph.D. in integrative neuroscience is

joint with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

SCHOOL OF LAW–NEWARK

The Rutgers School of Law–Newark, the oldest law school in New Jersey, has a deeply rooted

tradition of commitment to the university’s threefold mission: teaching, scholarship, and service.

Through a unique combination of traditional doctrinal courses, clinical education, and pro bono

activities, faculty and students are at the forefront of resolving complex legal issues facing a global

society. The school's most prominent graduates include U.S. senators and congressmen, New Jersey

supreme court justices, and leaders in the fields of law, business, and the public sector. The law

school offers full-time and part-time programs for students pursuing a juris doctor. For those

interested in pursuing joint degrees, there are numerous opportunities for cross-registration within the

university with units such as Rutgers Business School, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and

Public Policy, School of Social Work, School of Criminal Justice, and Division of Global Affairs.

Additional dual degree programs are offered in conjunction with New Jersey Institute of Technology

and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The foreign lawyer program permits

persons with foreign law degrees to earn a juris doctor degree in two years.

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SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND ADMINISTRATION

Founded in 2006, the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers–Newark was the first

new school established at Rutgers–Newark in more than 20 years. The school equips future leaders

and educators with the tools necessary to deliver government services efficiently and effectively. It is

the only such school at a public university in New Jersey. The School of Public Affairs and

Administration enhances New Jersey’s capacity to develop more effective government at all levels,

offering degree and nondegree programs, and research and technical assistance to make government

more transparent to citizens. The school’s most recent initiatives include a national network on

performance measurement and reporting, a municipal public performance measurement system, and

the development of the E-Governance Institute.

In recent rankings by U.S. News & World Report, the school was ranked 11th nationally in public

management and 26th in public affairs. The school seeks to provide service to governments and

citizens by developing approaches to public affairs that are performance-driven: effective, efficient,

equitable, and accountable. It offers graduate-level programs that include the Ph.D. in public

administration, a master of public administration, an executive master of public administration, and

certificate programs in not-for-profit administration, public performance measurement, urban

educational administration, and business district management. The faculty is comprised of

distinguished leaders in research in public administration. Research areas include governmental

transparency, performance measurement and reporting, diversity in the workforce, performance

budgeting, and governmental privatization of services. The faculty is also recognized for its

initiatives in public affairs and administration in China, South Korea, South Africa, and other

countries.

INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATIONS

The campus’s close proximity to other institutions of higher education, especially the graduate health

complex at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the undergraduate and

graduate professional schools at New Jersey Institute of Technology, both within walking distance,

allows for other enhancements in our academic programs. The undergraduate majors in applied

physics, biology, computer science, environmental science, geoscience engineering, history, and

information systems are offered jointly with the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The

undergraduate major in clinical laboratory sciences is offered jointly with the University of Medicine

and Dentistry of New Jersey. Joint programs on the graduate level are discussed in the section on

graduate education. Undergraduates may also pursue simultaneous majors at Rutgers–Newark and

New Jersey Institute of Technology, for example, biology at Rutgers and architecture at New Jersey

Institute of Technology.

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SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

NDERGRADUATE STUDENT BODY

Undergraduates on the Newark Campus are highly diverse, a distinction that has been true of the

student body ever since the 1960s. Students bring with them strong preprofessional interests and are

attracted to the campus for both its academic offerings and the extent of its diversity. Many students

continue to be first-generation college students, although the number is declining, and many are

members of new immigrant groups. This reflects the demography of northern New Jersey, which the

campus has consciously embraced in all its diversity.

Indeed, the increase in student enrollments since the late 1990s has been accompanied by a

significant evolution in the demographic composition of the student body as described below.

RACIAL/ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

Undergraduates are racially and ethnically diverse, as is indicated in the following self-report data

from fall 2007.

Race / Ethnicity Percentage

White/Caucasian 28%

African-American/Black 19%

Asian-American/Asian 25%

Latino 19%

Other (as a chosen identification) 9%

The Rutgers University Fact Book

provides historical perspective on racial/ethnic identity at each

campus, over time. These data are reported annually. But the broad categories of identification may

conceal even greater dimensions of diversity. To take just one example, in 2004, 21 percent of the

students who self-reported as African American were actually noncitizens (permanent residents or

foreign born), an identification which broadens considerably the census-oriented definition of this

category. The wide range of student clubs, organized according to race and ethnicity, is another

indication of the diversity of the student body. Ethnic based clubs include groups for African

Americans, Latino, Asian, Indian, Pakistani, and West Indian, to name just a few of almost 20 ethnic–

based student organizations.

The campus is also diverse in religious affiliation.. Self-reported data from the 2006 Cooperative

Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Summary indicated that that 9 percent of incoming first-year

students identified themselves as Hindu, 12 percent as Islamic, nearly 36 percent as RomanCatholic,

and10percentashavingnopreferenceregardingreligion.

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MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS

That undergraduates speak some 50 languages other than English also indicates the degree to which

traditional census categories do not fully describe the multicultural nature of the campus. According

to surveys conducted by Minoo Varzegar, an instructor with the Writing Program, approximately 70

percent of entering undergraduates are multilanguage learners, including many Generation 1.5

students, i.e., students who entered the United States as children or were born here, but who

nonetheless were raised in households where English was not the primary language. Dr. Varzegar’s

research indicates that “these are students who may have been in the United States education system

for many years, may even consider themselves native English speakers, and speak without an accent,

but a closer examination reveals that they have specific issues with the learning of academic English.

Usually, this is a result of living in a linguistic enclave, where they speak another language at home

and in other contexts—with their friends, at part-time jobs, etc.—and only function in English when

they go to school.”

PARENTS’ EDUCATION

The 2006 CIRP Summary also reveals that nearly two-thirds of the parents of incoming

first-year

students have attended some college or received baccalaureate or graduate degrees. The Newark

Campus continues to serve students, especially transfer students, who are the first in their families to

attend college. But increasingly, this is no longer as true of the entire undergraduate population.

Increasing numbers of students are arriving on campus with a sense of collegiate life and knowledge

about student roles and general academic expectations. They are also increasingly more goal-oriented

and interested in the campus’s focus on preprofessional knowledge and skills.

AGE OF STUDENTS

Another characteristic of the undergraduate student body is the age of incoming first-year students.

At the traditional daytime college (Newark College of Arts and Sciences), 18 percent in fall 2006

were 25 years and older. At the evening college (University College–Newark), 36 percent were 25

and above. In both cases, students arrive at Rutgers–Newark more mature and with experience in the

workplace, attributes that contribute to the preprofessional and professional orientation of the student

body.

PREPROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION

Most undergraduates on the Newark Campus pursue preprofessional programs. Some 31 percent of

all undergraduates receive their degree in a business discipline, 13 percent in nursing, and 8 percent

in criminal justice. Among the 48 percent who graduate in the arts and sciences, there are

preprofessional programs, majors, and advising in the fields of education, social work, premedicine,

and prelaw. In addition, considerable numbers of students who pursue psychology, math, or one of

the science majors do so because of preprofessional considerations.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA AND RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES

The current application review process is a complex one that uses both an index number (based on a

weighted average of class rank and SAT scores) and a holistic review in which other factors are also

taken into account. The index is adjusted yearly depending on the total number of students to be

admitted, and along with holistic review seems to yield desired results in terms of overall enrollment

growth, diversity, and improving academic profile of the entering class.

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Students not achieving the base index score qualify for holistic review if they fall within a certain

range (which again may vary by year) beneath the base. Holistic review has become increasingly

important on the Newark Campus. Applications subject to holistic review are examined by counselors

in the Admissions Office to identify potential students who may enhance the student body and benefit

from the campus in a variety of ways that may not be captured by the traditional index.

Features considered in this holistic review include participation by the applicant in precollege

programs, extracurricular activities, community and volunteer service, awards and honors,

employment, family obligations, and an essay statement. In addition, a student's academic credentials

are reassessed based on the local school context. This is measured by socioeconomic factors,

municipality distress indicators, national free lunch program recipients, and whether or not the

secondary school is located within one of New Jersey’s Abbott school districts, the thirty-one poor,

urban school districts designated by the New Jersey supreme court, which are defined by their

relatively poor socioeconomic status. Other attributes in considering an application with holistic

review include level of parental education, ethnicity, foreign languages, and veteran status.

Since fall 2005, the Admissions Office has shifted the emphasis of its recruitment activities. The

Admissions Office began to recruit students most likely to enroll rather than pursue applicants who

could be admitted but who might not consider the campus a priority selection. Using this new

philosophy, nearby Hudson County was added to the campus’s recruitment territory with the thinking

that students who are from an urban environment would be least likely to be intimidated by the

environment in which our institution resides. Other new recruitment initiatives included additional

campus tours, more school visitation programs, and several on-campus events designed to bring more

students to the campus.

To further the ability of the Newark Campus to serve the local urban population, another

recruitment program, the Newark School District Initiative, targets specific Newark schools and asks

guidance counselors to select students to participate in the program. Transportation to the campus is

provided when needed. The Admissions Office also coordinates Instant Decision Days. These events

provide county college students an opportunity to meet with admissions counselors at their home

schools and receive an instant admissions decision based on the student’s academic profile. In the

spring 2007 semester, the Admissions Office targeted Hudson County Community College and

Passaic County College. At Hudson County Community College, more admissions decisions were

made at this one event than the entire number of applications received from that college the previous

year.

TRANSFER STUDENTS

Transfer students are a significant proportion of undergraduate students on the Newark Campus. In

fall 2005, they represented 45 percent of the incoming undergraduate student body, and in fall 2006,

42 percent. These students compare well with other matriculated students in terms of retention and

graduation rates. For example, for the cohorts of full-time transfer students who entered between

1995 and 1999, four-year graduation rates ranged from 51 to 56 percent, comparable to six-year

graduation rates for students who entered as freshmen. Furthermore, graduation rates for African-

American and Hispanic transfer students were somewhat lower than average, but comparable to six-

year graduation rates for similar minority students who entered as freshmen.

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LOWER-INCOME STUDENTS

Financial aid data confirm the overall image of our undergraduate population. Fourteen percent of

first-year students come from families with an annual income of less than $25,000; the national

average for public universities is 7.6 percent. And 53 percent of all of our first-year students come

from families earning less than $50,000, compared with a national average for public universities of

28 percent.

RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATES

Overall retention and graduation rates for the Newark Campus compare favorably with other urban

public universities nationally. For example, 54 percent of Rutgers–Newark students who entered as

freshmen in 1995 graduated within six years. Nevertheless, differences in retention and graduation

rates for major racial and ethnic groups on campus were observed, with African Americans and

Hispanics below the overall campus averages and whites and Asians above.

Among all regularly admitted, full-time, first-year students who entered between 1995 and 2000,

three-year retention rates fluctuated between 67 and 73 percent for white students, between 66 and 78

percent for Asian students, between 61 and 77 percent for African-American students, and between

61 and 69 percent for Hispanic students. For all regularly admitted students who entered between

1995 and 1997, the percentage that graduated within six years ranged from 52 to 57 percent. Among

these same cohorts, six-year graduation rates ranged from 52 to 59 percent for white students, from

52 to 63 percent for Asian students, from 47 to 49 percent for African-American students, and from

47 to 59 percent for all Hispanic students. Despite the overall positive rates of retention for students

at an urban-based public institution, the differences among groups based on ethnicity and race remain

a concern.

UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMICS AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT SERVICES

GENERAL EDUCATION AND MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Rutgers–Newark seeks to foster the broad intellectual and personal development of its students. The

spirit of this philosophy is reflected in a comprehensive and rigorous liberal arts curriculum. All

candidates for the baccalaureate degree are required to complete courses in a variety of fields of

learning, which provides an academic experience that meets the preprofessional learning needs of the

urban campus’s diverse undergraduate student body. In addition, each student must select a field of

knowledge for intensive study in order to gain some mastery of a particular discipline. This

combination of broad-ranging inquiry and concentrated investigation of a specific area of learning

prepares the student for effective and intelligent participation in the modern world. A student must

successfully complete at least 124 academic credits to graduate.

To ensure that every graduate has the opportunity to acquire a broad liberal arts education, the faculty

has prescribed general curriculum requirements for all students, regardless of major field. The general

education curriculum includes requirements in: English composition (6 credits), writing across the

curriculum (6), mathematics (3), foreign language (6 if not taken in high school), history (6),

literature (6), natural sciences (8–11), social sciences (6), fine arts (3), and interdisciplinary studies

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(3). An ongoing faculty review of the general education requirements is described later in this

section. All first-year students take placement exams in writing and mathematics to ensure proper

placement in these key areas.

In addition to fulfilling the general curriculum requirements, every degree candidate must select a

special field of knowledge for intensive study. As a general rule, a major consists of 30 to 70 credits

of coursework in a discipline, with specific requirements set by each academic department. Students

can choose from a wide range of undergraduate majors, each known for the depth of its academic

programming and faculty expertise.

All academic units endeavor to ensure that students receive sound academic advice and guidance

during their undergraduate years. First-year students and other students who have not yet decided

upon a particular course of study are advised by a special group of general advisers working through

the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. Students who have declared a major are advised by a

faculty member in the department of their major. Prebusiness and business students are advised by

general advisers in the business school, criminal justice students by advisers in the criminal justice

school, and nursing students through the nursing school. The Career Development Center is another

useful resource for students seeking information or guidance in selecting a major.

STRENGTH OF PREPROFESSIONAL MAJORS

The most popular majors offered on the Newark Campus enroll more than 100 students (2005–2006).

These are accounting, biology, criminal justice, English, finance, management, marketing, political

science, psychology, and social work. These 10 fields represent 17 percent of the 59 major fields of

study available to undergraduates, yet they account for 68 percent of all declared majors. Within the

professional schools, undergraduates can major in nursing, criminal justice, accounting, management,

finance, or marketing. These programs, as well as programs in education and social work, are clear

examples of the preprofessional interests of the undergraduate student body. Like many of the more

purely academic programs, the preprofessional programs use the urban environment as instructional

labs to foster experiential learning.

URBAN ENGAGEMENT OF THE CURRICULUM

The following areas of the curriculum by no means exhaust the campus’s engagement with its urban

surroundings. Nonetheless, they provide a varied sampling of the many ways in which the urban

setting of the campus is deeply entwined with its academic identity.

The social work curriculum is a prime example of an academic discipline and professional

program that makes considerable use of the urban location in its undergraduate curriculum. In many

courses, the topics and assignments are relevant to urban issues; speakers and visits to organizations

that serve urban populations or focus on urban issues are incorporated into the learning process.

Internships (primarily unpaid) are a major component of the social work curriculum; most placements

are in counties that are urban, i.e. Essex, Union, and Hudson.

In the criminal justice major, students are offered a wide range of internships that take full

advantage of the urban location, including placements with the ACLU, Port-Authority of New York

and New Jersey, U.S. Customs Office, Northern State Prison, various police departments, and

corporate security firms. Other initiatives that provide learning opportunities for students are the

Police Institute Research Center, in which student interns work directly with the I-95 Initiative, NJ

Cease Fire, and Newark Safer Cities. Internships are established, monitored, and reviewed by the

Career Development Center.

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Nursing students are provided with experiential learning in acute, chronic care, and community-

based settings in clinical courses, experiences that are concentrated in the last two years of the

curriculum and that take place in urban hospitals. Community-based placements include the provision

of home health care to vulnerable urban populations, participation in community influenza

immunization programs, and assessments that identify communities at risk for high-incidence health

care problems.

Within the Rutgers Business School, students can pursue majors in accounting, finance,

management, and marketing. Many business majors pursue internships and employment opportunities

with nearby Fortune 500 companies. The Department of Visual and Performing Arts is launching a

new integrated arts and media studies curriculum that calls for students to engage with the

communities surrounding the campus as part of their educational experience. It teaches students

strategies to accomplish that engagement and its potential for long-term civic betterment. The

Department of Political Science includes a concentration of faculty with urban interests, who offer a

substantial number of courses with a strong urban component. It also sponsors an internship program

that places approximately 35 students per year in political campaigns, government offices, and

nonprofit groups throughout the Newark and New York metropolitan area.

The Teacher Education Program in the Department of Urban Education prepares teacher leaders

for New Jersey's Abbott school districts. The program provides novice urban teachers with the

background, knowledge, skills, and modes of inquiry necessary to achieve high expectations for a

racially, ethnically, economically, and linguistically diverse student population.

Due to the increasing number of students of Portuguese heritage attending Rutgers–Newark,

researching and serving the thriving community of Portuguese and Brazilian immigrants in Newark’s

Ironbound neighborhood became a priority. The Portuguese Studies Program allows students and

adult learners to develop language skills and to learn more about their native culture and history at a

distinguished university. This reciprocal relationship between Rutgers and the Portuguese-speaking

community of Newark provides an exciting opportunity for students to combine experiential learning

with classroom instruction. Funding to inaugurate the program was supplied by the Portuguese

Consulate in Newark, the Instituto Camões, the Foundation for Luso-American Development, and the

J.P. Fernandes Memorial Fund.

HONORS COLLEGE WITH AN EXPERIENTIAL EMPHASIS

The Honors College at Rutgers–Newark is a four-year undergraduate "college within a college,"

drawing the top students admitted to the Newark College of Arts and Sciences. These students are the

focus of a major campus scholarship program (Provost’s Scholarships). At the conclusion of its

seventh year as a four-year program and with a student body of 423 students, the Honors College is

very well established. It enrolls some 100 new students per year, which represents about 15 percent of

the incoming first-year students. The Honors College offers special sections of English composition,

honors-only seminar classes in both history and literature during a student’s sophomore and junior

years, a senior-level capstone course, and an intensive program of internship placements (Honors

College Program Overview). Participating faculty benefit from small classes, topic-oriented seminars,

and the opportunity to provide linked literature-history courses. The Honors College has been

instrumental in broadening the student body to include both diverse and highly qualified students.

During 2007–2008, the Honors College, in cooperation with the Admissions Office, is beginning an

effort to recruit and award scholarships to high-achieving graduates of New Jersey county colleges.

One of the main goals of the Honors College is to provide its students with access to a wide range

of experiential learning opportunities. These enable undergraduate students not only to learn by doing

but also to gain valuable on-the-job skills, knowledge, and contacts. The students assist in faculty labs

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and research projects, work at local firms, agencies, and nonprofits, and serve the community through

local organizations and action groups. During 2005–2006, Honors College students served as interns

or research assistants at sites such as the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,

Newark Museum, Aljira (art gallery), Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Essex County Superior

Court, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg’s Office, St. Philip’s Academy (charter school), and the Joseph

E. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, a Rutgers–Newark research center.

The Honors College was expanded from a two- to a four-year program in 1999 in order (1) to

offer students a unique college experience focused on the city and experiential learning, (2) to offer a

fuller program of honors-only courses, internships, and research experiences, (3) to serve as a

recruitment tool for high-achieving students, and (4) to serve as a basis of fundraising for

undergraduate scholarships. In order to place greater emphasis on experiential education, a new

initiative, the Honors College Research Assistant Program, was launched. This program was

developed with the objective of complementing and deepening the experience in a student’s major.

Honors College research assistants are placed with faculty researchers. Faculty members submit

descriptions of projects that are related to their own research and that are appropriate for

undergraduates to pursue with some degree of independence. Descriptions of the projects are then

circulated to Honors College students, who are interviewed by the faculty member submitting the

project description. Each student who is selected receives a stipend of $500 from the Honors College

at the completion of his or her work.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT CENTER AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

The Career Development Center spearheads the majority of undergraduate internship initiatives,

viewing them as important stepping stones to postcollege careers. A growing number of academic

departments have recognized the importance of integrating internships into the curriculum. Twenty-

four academic departments offer credit-bearing internships or 1-credit service learning experiences as

part of academic coursework, programs in which more than 300 students enroll annually. These

programs extend the undergraduate curriculum into the urban environment by placing students at

businesses, such as Prudential, MTV Networks, and Madison Square Garden, and at nonprofit

organizations, such as Newark Museum, New Jersey Historical Society, New Jersey Immigrant

Policy Network, North Jersey Developmental Center, ACLU, and New Community Corporation,

throughout the metropolitan area.

ACADEMIC SUPPORT PROGRAMS FOR A DIVERSE STUDENT BODY

To address directly the learning needs of students from the greater Newark area, Rutgers Newark has

developed a number of innovative programs.

Minority Biomedical Research Support Program

There are several campuswide undergraduate research programs. The longest standing of these is the

campus’s Minority Biomedical Research Support Program. Supported in large part by grant funding

from the National Institutes of Health’s Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement, the program

provides academic support and professional development to graduate and undergraduate students

with minority status in biomedical research fields.

Students participating in the program are financially supported to work a minimum of 15 hours

per week in a research laboratory ($7,134 for undergraduates in 2006–2007), gain structured

mentoring from a faculty adviser responsible for the laboratory, and also receive funds for travel and

professional conference attendance and participation ($1,000 per year). In addition to their laboratory

research experiences, undergraduate and graduate participants jointly participate in required monthly

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meetings featuring presentations by a range of guest speakers or discussions of particular kinds of

challenges—personal, professional, and academic—that students face.

The program, which is in its 23rd year of continuous operation, has graduated 82 undergraduates,

23 M.A. or M.S. students, and 18 doctoral students. Sixteen students currently participate in the

program, including seven undergraduates. Of the 39 undergraduates who have completed the program

and graduated within the past 10 years, 14 have pursued or are pursuing advanced degrees in research

fields, 16 entered nursing or medicine, and five are employed in research or clinical positions in

pharmaceutical companies or hospitals. The program currently involves the participation of the

College of Nursing and several departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Newark, including

biological sciences, chemistry, physics, and psychology, and the Center for Molecular and Behavioral

Neurosciences. It is independently evaluated by an external consulting firm, Partnerships for Creative

Action, on an annual basis.

Academic Foundations Center/Educational Opportunity Fund Program

The AFC/EOF Program continues to build on its longstanding tradition of helping students overcome

cultural, economic, and social obstacles to receive a quality education. It serves as a center for

innovative teaching and learning on the campus and in the community through constructive

collaborations with university faculty, middle and high school teachers, guidance counselors, college

students, and middle and high school students. The Academic Foundations Center has two major

structural arms, one focused on the academic support of undergraduate students (largely through the

Educational Opportunity Fund Program) and the other focused on the academic support of precollege

students (largely through the Institute for Precollege Education and Community Outreach). It also

added a Student Support Services Program (one of the federally funded TRIO programs) and the

READY Program (a locally funded program targeting selected young people from Newark). In

addition, it continues to offer precollege programs to support the aspirations of middle and high

school students. During the 2005–2006 academic year, the EOF Program served 572 students, with

90 first-year students enrolled in its summer 2005 bridge program (Academic Scholars Institute).

Newark Academic Transition Program

The Newark Academic Transition Program is an academic enrichment program designed for

incoming freshmen whose academic profile is not strong enough for them to be admitted to the

Newark College of Arts and Sciences, but who have displayed academic potential on the admission

application. As part of this special program, students receive one-on-one counseling, special

assistance with financial aid applications, and workshops and counseling on topics such as time

management, dealing with stress, and choosing a major.

College Algebra and General Biology Support Initiative

This program sponsors support classes in mathematics and biology for undergraduate EOF students

that teach learning and study skills alongside the academic coursework. The College Algebra and

General Biology courses are general education requirements for undergraduates and essential for a

student’s success. Instructors, EOF counselors, and students meet regularly in an effort to reverse the

historic failure pattern of EOF students in these two courses. To assess the effectiveness of the

program, a study compared grades of participating EOF students with other students in these classes

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(who were enrolled with the same instructor). Depending on the semester, between 59 and 70 percent

of the students received a grade of B or higher in the algebra group, compared to 20 to 30 percent in

the control group. Similar results occurred in the biology classes.

ASSESSMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

During the past three years, three successive faculty committees have assessed critical aspects of the

undergraduate enterprise, with the work of each building on the previous and resulting in significant

recommendations.

STUDY GROUP ON UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS

The first committee, the Study Group on Undergraduate Admission, met during the 2004–2005

academic year. Its charge was to assess the admissions process and academic support services in light

of the campus’s mission. Two-thirds of its members were faculty and the remainder were directors of

student service areas. The study group assembled and examined relevant campus-level data on

student admissions, retention, and graduation rates. The director of admissions gave the study group a

detailed look at the current application review process. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences associate

dean reviewed new initiatives to enhance developmental education and first-year courses in English

and math. The directors of the Educational Opportunity Fund Programs in the Faculty of Arts and

Sciences and the College of Nursing provided an overview of academic and other services provided

to EOF students.

The study group found that Rutgers–Newark continues to succeed in attracting both highly

qualified and racially/ethnically diverse students. Overall, the campus has been attracting an

increasing number of applicants in recent years and admission has become more competitive. The

Honors College, which attracts high-achieving students, and the Educational Opportunity Fund

Programs, which attract economically disadvantaged students who show academic promise, provide

high levels of student advising and support. The EOF Programs require student participation in

summer preparatory classes, provide ongoing academic counseling and mentoring, and administer

academic support courses for selected regular course offerings.

Based on these findings, the Study Group on Undergraduate Admission made several substantive

recommendations:

• Increase the use of holistic review in the admissions process: An increased and possibly

modified use of holistic review could result in the admission of greater numbers of

promising candidates whose academic strengths are not captured by class rank and

SAT scores. This recommendation has been implemented.

• Enhance academic support services to improve retention: As the review of the Honors

College and EOF Programs indicate, student success is bolstered through high levels

of academic advisement and support services. There are concerns, however, about

student retention and graduation rates, especially among students placed in

developmental courses. Consideration should also be given to enhancing academic

support services for all admitted students. Such enhancements, which are warranted

even for the current student population, would be absolutely vital with any expansion

of holistic review in the admissions process. A reorganization and refocusing of the

Office of Student Affairs, which handles advising, is currently under way.

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• Strengthen transfer recruiting: Transfer students are a significant proportion of

undergraduate students on campus and compare well with other students in terms of

retention and graduation rates. The transfer system is a major pipeline to the campus

for traditional minorities, and this pipeline should be strengthened in order to ensure

that the student body remains highly qualified and diverse. Enhancements to the

transfer pipeline have been implemented by the Admissions Office.

COMMITTEE ON ASSESSMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

The second major committee to review undergraduate education was initiated by the dean of the

Faculty of Arts and Sciences in spring 2005 and was composed of faculty, staff, and students

(Committee on Assessment of Undergraduate Programs Report

). Its charge was to evaluate

undergraduate liberal arts education on the Newark Campus and to probe issues central to its

continued growth and vitality.

In particular, the curriculum subcommittee undertook a review of the undergraduate mission of

Rutgers–Newark; the current general curriculum requirements; the quality of writing by students and

the current writing across the curriculum requirement (see the Writing Program case study later in

this section); what specific learning outcomes should be expected from graduates; how to assess their

achievement; and the identification of possible new undergraduate majors.

Based on extensive research and discussion, the subcommittee found the following:

• The campus’s mission lacked clarity in many people’s minds and should be defined

as that of an urban research university with a strong liberal arts tradition. A revised

Campus Vision-Mission Statement

is now available.

• The general education requirements were not well understood by most faculty and,

once explained, were found to be too burdensome for the students and to appear to

have a “distribution for distribution's sake” foundation. The current general education

curriculum is over 20 years old and reflects priorities and learning goals from the

mid-1980s. The student body and its educational needs have changed considerably

since that period. The Committee on the Future of Undergraduate Education (see

below) pursued this issue further.

• In discussing student learning outcomes, the quality of writing by students was by far

the biggest concern and discussions focused on the Writing Program and writing

across the curriculum requirement (see the Writing Program case study later in this

section for subsequent changes in the writing program).

In spring 2006, the Committee on Assessment of Undergraduate Programs of the Faculty of Arts

and Sciences made a series of recommendations that would be considered subsequently by a

campuswide committee:

• Develop mission statements and articulate student learning outcomes: The committee

recommended that clear mission statements be developed for the undergraduate

colleges that tie into the campus and university missions. The undergraduate colleges

need to develop a list of student learning outcomes that fulfill the many purposes and

goals of the undergraduate curriculum. The articulation of learning objectives and

outcomes will aid in the design of a new general education curriculum. The stated

outcomes will also provide a basis for future assessment of student learning, which in

turn would be used for ongoing improvement of the undergraduate educational

experience. The campus has a new mission/vision statement, and each academic unit

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has formed as assessment committee which is charged with the review of learning

objectives and outcomes assessment.

• Revise the general education curriculum: The committee proposed that a committee of

faculty, staff, and students be convened in fall 2006 to create a new general education

curriculum that should be competitive with the new New Brunswick core curriculum

being developed by the Transforming Undergraduate Education initiative on that

campus. It should be no more than 30 credits, contain both horizontal and vertical

components (i.e., some of the general education requirements can be completed

within the major at the senior level), require a capstone experience for all majors, and

have a significant interactive and integrative learning component. The Committee on

the Future of Undergraduate Education (see below) pursued this issue further.

• Assess student learning within academic programs: Each major program should define

its own student learning outcomes and tie them into the broader general education

learning outcomes described above. Each program should then use its stated

outcomes to measure student learning and initiate appropriate improvements as

indicated. As mentioned above, each academic unit has formed as assessment

committee which is charged with the review of learning objectives and outcomes

assessment.

COMMITTEE ON THE FUTURE OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

In December 2006, the Newark provost convened a campuswide Committee on the Future of

Undergraduate Education (CFUE), comprised of representatives of every academic unit on the

campus. He charged the committee to consider the recommendations contained in the spring 2006

report of the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Committee on Assessment of Undergraduate Programs,

since many of these recommendations had clear implications for the entire campus. In particular, he

asked the Committee to assess the general education core curriculum in light of the increasingly

preprofessional nature of the undergraduate student body, over half of whom now graduate with

professional majors. And more broadly, he asked the group to develop a comprehensive vision for

undergraduate education that reflects the distinctive character and unique strengths of the Newark Campus,

in particular our urban location, the diversity of the student body, and the preprofessional aspirations of so

many of our undergraduates.

The CFUE met biweekly during the academic year and considered recommendations regarding a

coordinated first-year experience, the strengthening of learning objectives, a greater emphasis on

academic major and away from general education requirements, the possibility of requiring students

to select two fields of concentration (two majors, a major and a minor, a major and a certification

program, etc.), capstone courses, and five year baccalaureate/master’s programs for outstanding

students.

The Committee issued its final report to the provost in the fall of 2007. The provost has appointed

a working group, chaired by the deans of Arts and Sciences and the Business School, to further

elaborate a concrete proposal which can then be considered by the respective faculties on the campus.

This will include ongoing work on refining the vision for the Newark Campus, recommendations for

general education, and specification of the kinds of outcomes departments must have as part of the

majors they sponsor – including competencies in writing, ethics, critical thinking, as well as clearly

defined and measurable learning goals and assessment criteria.

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PROGRAMMATIC REFORM:

CASE STUDY OF THE WRITING PROGRAM

Program assessment and reform occur at Rutgers–Newark through both internal and external review.

The data-driven internal review of student outcomes in the Writing Program was followed by an

intensive external review. Data from both of these reviews were used for fundamental program

reform to better meet student learning needs. This case study demonstrates the extent to which data

are necessary for both program assessment and innovation, and documents the need for dedicated

campus-based institutional research function.

In keeping with its urban mission, the campus has maintained a longstanding commitment to

recruiting and supporting students whose traditional academic credentials may be relatively weak, but

who demonstrate their potential for success in other ways. About 31 percent of first-time, full-time

incoming students place in one or more developmental courses. Longitudinal data on student

performance in writing classes that emerged from a study conducted in 2001 prompted a closer

examination of how students learn to write. For example, the data, Success Rates in English Comp

indicated that 30 to 40 percent of students did not complete the college-level yearlong required

writing sequence by the end of their

first year on campus. The students who were placed in

developmental courses, and who therefore had a two-year required sequence of writing classes, had

even lower success rates. Only 50 percent of these students had completed the requirement after two

years.

Several patterns of student performance emerged from the data. Although 90 percent of the

students who were placed in developmental courses received a grade of C or better the first time they

took the course, their success did not necessarily lead to success in college level required courses in

English composition. As a result, students who began in developmental courses made slower progress

and were less likely to graduate than other students. Among all students who first entered Rutgers–

Newark between 1993 and 1999, graduation rates for students who were placed in developmental

English were 8 to 17 percentage points lower than those of other students.

It also became apparent that, in addition to the usual challenges of teaching writing, writing

instructors faced the more fundamental issue of teaching students whose exposure to written English

had been limited, i.e., who were first-generation English speakers. This group is disproportionately

represented in the Newark student body, and neither the traditional English 101-102 sequence nor the

ESL sections of English Composition appeared to be good placements.

In response to these concerns, the campus retained the nationally renowned National Center for

Developmental Education at Appalachian State University to conduct an extensive external

assessment of developmental education activities on the Newark Campus. In September 2003,

reviewers met with faculty, staff, and students involved with developmental education. Evaluation

activities included a comparative assessment of the Rutgers–Newark developmental education

program in the context of similar programs in public urban institutions across the country, an

assessment of the effectiveness of our placement testing, an exploration of a unified curriculum in

which all writing classes would be located in a single academic area (rather than split between the

English and education departments), establishment of a quantitative baseline and database to ensure

consistency and to enable periodic and meaningful outcomes tracking, an assessment of current

organizational structures and recommendations, and an examination of our ESL efforts and their

possible integration into the writing program.

The resulting report, Evaluation of Developmental Education at Rutgers University–Newark

included a series of recommendations; most have already been implemented.

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• Create a plan for evaluating writing (accomplished).

• Create a task force to articulate a vision for writing at Rutgers–Newark. (An advisory

committee of senior administrators and faculty department chairs was established. An

acting director has since been appointed who has assumed the responsibilities of the

advisory committee.)

• Institute professional development as an ongoing program for writing instructors

(accomplished).

• Involve instructors in discussions of curriculum and matters related to the teaching of

writing (accomplished).

• Provide adequate space for the Writing Program and Center. (Newly renovated

offices and Writing Center lab were established to house all instructors and writing

activities.)

• Reduce the class size of developmental and regular English courses (accomplished

but then partially retracted due to budget cuts).

• Unify the curricula of composition and basic writing (partially accomplished; an

ongoing project).

• Focus the composition and basic writing courses primarily on the writing process

(partially accomplished; an ongoing project).

The external review led to an extensive reorganization of the Writing Program: the integration of

developmental with regular writing classes into a coherent sequence (a unified writing curriculum

the merging of the physically separated developmental writing faculty in the Department of Urban

Education with the writing composition faculty in the Department of English, the relocation of both

along with the Rutgers-Newark Writing Center

to refurbished quarters in a third building, the

formation of a Writing Advisory Group with representatives of the dean’s and provost’s offices and

with academic department chairs to oversee the development of the unified program, the purchase of

TutorTrac software, and a host of other changes. Another innovation involves the use of

ACCUPLACER, a computerized placement test developed by the College Board, to provide

information about students’ level of skill and accomplishment in reading and writing.

Preliminary data (Success Rates in English Comp - Updates

) indicate that these changes have

been very successful, with one-year completion rates now ranging between 70 and 80 percent for

students enrolled in the year-long English Composition sequence and similar improvements in

achievement for students who begin in developmental writing classes.

OUTREACH, COMMUNITY COMMITMENT, AND THE URBAN MISSION

Our commitment to educational opportunity extends beyond our own students to an extensive range

of precollege programs; at last count Rutgers–Newark sponsored 20 such programs. These include

the Abbott Leadership Institute, which helps parents play a larger role in the management of their

children’s schools; a faculty initiative from the Department of Urban Education to bring about

systemwide improvement of mathematics education in the Newark Public Schools; the support for

charter schools provided by our Community Law Clinic at the School of Law; the tutoring of Newark

students by students in our Honors College at St. Benedict's Preparatory School and the Thirteenth

Avenue Elementary School in Newark; and the efforts of the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the

Modern Experience to bring cutting-edge scholarship to Newark teachers through the Teachers as

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Scholars Program. The Newark Campus recently negotiated its largest grant ever for a precollege

program, over $1 million, for the Academic Foundations Center to assume oversight of the READY

Program over the next eight years. This program provides counseling, tutoring, scholarships, and

other kinds of assistance to low-income youth.

The campus’s commitment to the Newark community is shared by our student leadership. More

than 30 student organizations—groups as diverse as the History Club, the Christian Fellowship, and

the Gay and Lesbian Alliance—work on projects that provide services to low-income people in the

surrounding areas. For instance, Rutgers students greet arriving Central High School students on the

first day of school, and have worked with Habitat for Humanity on the construction of a house three

blocks from campus.

Following are brief descriptions of just a few examples of the Newark Campus’s outreach efforts.

History High School

The Department of History, Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, New Jersey

Historical Society, and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History have partnered with the

Newark Public Schools to establish History High School. The school offers a college-preparatory

curriculum with a primary emphasis on the study of U. S. history, culture, and population. Begun in

fall 2006 as a magnet program within an existing high school, it became a stand-alone school in fall

2007.

McNair Academic High School ITV Program

This program uses instructional television with students at McNair Academic High School, a magnet

school within the Jersey City Public School System and currently ranked No. 27 on Newsweek’s top

1,500 schools in the United States. The program, which began in September 1999, enriches the

McNair curriculum with college-level, advanced placement courses taught by Rutgers–Newark

faculty. It also introduces students to the format and academic style of college study. Innovative

instructional technology tools are used, such as Blackboard and podcasting. Regularly scheduled

courses are televised to McNair in real time and also videotaped for later review and study by McNair

students. There are approximately 250 students enrolled in the program each academic year.

High School Poetry Contest

In spring 2007, for the 18th year, New Jersey high school students were given the chance to bare their

souls in writing as part of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation annual New Jersey High School Poetry

Contest. The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Newark College of Arts and Sciences are the

sponsors of this popular annual poetry competition, which is open to all New Jersey high school

sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Nearly 700 young poets from across the state participated—

submitting 3,990 poems for consideration—and from that talented group, 20 winners were selected.

GlassRoots, Inc.

GlassRoots, sponsored by Rutgers Business School since 2001, is an organization that provides

artistic and life skills training to Newark-area youth through workshops in glassmaking, graphic

design, and basic business and entrepreneurial concepts. GlassRoots is unique in its dual focus—

building the artistic skills necessary to create beautiful objects and reinforcing that accomplishment

with solid business training that allows youngsters to bring their creations into the marketplace.

Precollege Academy of Criminal Justice and Law

Sponsored by the School of Criminal Justice, Academic Foundations Center, and School of Law, two

dozen Newark high school students from Newark’s University High School spend the month of July

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learning about the legal system while earning extra class credit toward graduation. Students in the

program attend classes four days each week on the Newark Campus, in addition to hearing

presentations by special guest speakers and taking field trips designed to give them first-hand

knowledge of how the legal system works. They visit places such as the Essex County Courthouse

and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Run Art

Run Art is a Department of Visual and Performing Arts program of Saturday art classes for high

school students in the northern New Jersey area. Run Art offers a 10-week college level program that

develops students’ art skills while introducing them to an undergraduate education experience. This

initiative is a community partnership in keeping with the department’s new interdisciplinary

curriculum that is rooted in community-centered pedagogy.

Additional Programs

Several programs are designed to bolster academic achievement:

• Saturday Academy is designed to strengthen skills in English, mathematics, and

reading comprehension in preparation for the SATs. This two-semester program

involves students in the spring of their junior year and the fall of the senior year.

• In the North Star Academy Tutoring Program, the Academic Foundations Center and

the Department of Urban Education provide tutoring sessions for middle school

children attending North Star Academy Charter School. Tutoring sessions are hosted

at the Rutgers Learning Center.

• The Newark America Reads Program, in partnership with the Newark Literacy

Campaign and the Office of Financial Aid/Student Employment, provides academic

tutorial support in the areas of math and reading.

Rutgers students routinely participate in the planning of service learning activities through the

Office of Student Life and Leadership and through the Office of Campus and Community Relations.

Through

RU-NEW LEADS, students work with Habitat for Humanity on issues of housing,

homelessness, and environmental conservation. The student newsletter, The Newark Metro, covers

metropolitan life. Articles often begin as writing assignments at Rutgers–Newark and take students

out into the surrounding community.

The

Student Ambassador Program is a special initiative to recruit Newark high school students

and to provide opportunities for outstanding students to be involved in civic and community

activities. Rutgers students chosen to serve as ambassadors visit Newark high schools to talk about

the importance of college and the value of a college education. The provost selects students for this

prestigious program.

As part of the campus’s commitment to the city of Newark and the surrounding region, campus

facilities are open for use by a wide range of groups. During 2006–2007, for instance, 22 area

schools, community groups, and private clubs used the athletic facilities in the Golden Dome Athletic

Center and Alumni Field. The facilities in the Paul Robeson Campus Center were used by

organizations such as the Jersey Urban Debate League, the Children’s Literacy Initiative, Law School

Admissions Council, North Star Academy (a Newark charter school), the Essex County Prosecutor’s

Office, and Educational Testing Service. The campus also cohosts the Three Doctors Foundation, a

nonprofit organization whose objective is to inspireandcreateopportunitiesforinnercity

communitiesthrougheducation,mentoring,andhealthawareness.Altogether, over 100

groups held meetings, banquets, workshops and training sessions, graduation ceremonies, classes,

conferences, and cultural performances and gatherings in the campus’s facilities.

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The Paul Robeson Galleries present exhibitions and educational programs to Rutgers University

and Greater Newark audiences. Exhibitions champion regional artists who employ scholarly and

multidisciplinary approaches to the investigation of exhibition topics. Educational programs include

ArtReach, an outreach program bringing arts, arts education, and arts therapy to communities and

audiences that do not have ready access to the arts.

Art in Society, a gallery and off-site arts education

program for regional high school students—in partnership with Newark Public Schools—stresses

skills in critical thinking through visual literacy and multidisciplinary approaches to the study and the

making of art, through free interactive tours and workshops.

Teacher Professional Development

Workshops are also offered in partnership with Newark Public Schools and the Department of Urban

Education.

Dana Library serves as the primary library for the Newark Campus, with a collection of about

300,000 books, 100,000 bound periodicals, 200,000 federal and state publications, 600,000 pieces of

microform, and 15,000 audiovisual items. As part of the Rutgers University Libraries, the Dana

Library also provides access to over 100,000 electronic books and government documents, as well as

more than 25,000 electronic journals in all academic disciplines. This enables Dana to serve students

and residents in northern New Jersey who visit the Newark Campus.

Dana Library has also developed a collection of Newark-related material. Complementing the

400 physical items in the collection are two extensive annotated web-based bibliographies by Dana

librarians, “The Newark Experience” and “Newark by the Numbers.” Dana now has over 1,000 titles

in Portuguese; support from the Camões Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, accounted for over half of this

collection, which covers subjects ranging from history and culture to literature and Lusophone

studies. Dana librarians also provide instructional sessions to groups of students from local public

schools (e.g. Central High School, North Star Academy, and Westside High School) and to campus-

sponsored programs (e.g., the Prudential/Rutgers Future Business Computer Institute). In

collaboration with the New Jersey Small Business Development Center, Dana librarians offer

counseling services and teach workshops to entrepreneurs, especially in developing business and

marketing plans.

The Dana Library hosts a lunchtime concert series. Six concerts, all free and open to the public,

were held in 2006–2007. Dana has an active series of art exhibitions, featuring artists and artisans

from New Jersey and at Rutgers. Librarians and staff of the Institute of Jazz Studies host the weekly

radio program, Jazz from the Archives, which has aired on Newark's NPR-affiliate WBGO-FM since

1979. The institute also conducts the monthly Jazz Research Round Table, which is open to the

public.

GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Rutgers–Newark supports the university's mission of creating new knowledge, providing top-quality

education to its students, and sharing our academic and intellectual resources with the state's citizens.

To accomplish that mission, Rutgers–Newark has established a variety of research centers where our

faculty are involved in cutting-edge research and where faculty and students are actively engaged in

community outreach. The centers provide students with interactive, experiential learning

opportunities to complement more traditional academic experiences.

The Newark Campus of Rutgers ranks 12th in the nation among Small Research Universities,

according to the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, which ranked 61 universities with fewer than

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15 doctoral programs as part of its inaugural evaluation of nearly 7,300 doctoral programs

nationwide. Tied for 12th place with Clark University, other universities ranked in the top 20 include

DePaul, Bryn Mawr, San Diego State, and the College of William and Mary. To determine the

quality of doctoral programs, the index based its rankings on quantitative criteria, including the

number of books, journal citations, journal articles, grants, honors, and awards by an institution’s

faculty.

Rutgers Newark hosts 24 master’s and Ph.D. programs in the sciences, professions, and

humanities, which together graduate annually 50 to 60 Ph.D. candidates and over 300 master’s

students from programs in the Graduate School–Newark, School of Criminal Justice, and School of

Public Affairs and Administration, as well as over 400 master’s candidates in business administration

and 250 juris doctor candidates in the School of Law. In short, the Newark Campus has developed a

major presence in research and graduate education.

In the mid-1990s, the campus began to recruit and attract faculty members whose research

agendas resonated with the urban mission of the campus. Today, faculty members whose research

engages with the city can be found in every school and college on the campus. For some, this focus

entails a historical or contemporary interest in the city of Newark itself, a rich site of investigation for

those concerned with issues of immigration, education, race relations, mobility, and exclusion. Others

explore issues of urbanness at a macro-level, a focus that generates lively interest in the city as a

dynamic space in which the local, national, and global converge. To foster such initiatives, the

campus has allocated significant resources to support faculty research consistent with the campus’s

urban orientation. In tandem, it provides students with rich training opportunities that deepen their

experience and investigation of the urban environment. See the Faculty Research and the Urban

Mission report for detailed lists of faculty hires, funding grants, and awards and honors that reflect

the campus’s urban focus, commitment to diversity, and dedication to community involvement.

RESEARCH CENTERS, CLINICS, AND OTHER PROGRAMS

The research centers, programs, and initiatives highlighted below serve as examples of the Newark

faculty’s rich and varied involvement in and commitment to the campus’s urban focus.

INSTITUTE ON ETHNICITY, CULTURE, AND THE MODERN EXPERIENCE

This interdisciplinary institute serves as a hub for the promotion of research, collegial discussion, and

especially, scholarly service to and interaction with the public. It seeks to promote interracial and

multicultural understanding through research, lectures, symposia, film, performances, exhibitions,

and other programs open to the public. For example, the institute presents the annual Marion

Thompson Wright Lecture Series, which has drawn thousands of citizens to the Newark Campus

since 1981 in observance of Black History Month in New Jersey to hear and interact with some of the

nation’s foremost scholars and humanists conversant with African-American and African history and

culture. It has become one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious events of its kind.

Other institute programs include City Children and Their Cultures, a five-year-old, community-

based lecture and symposia series that explores the influence of postindustrial urban life on children.

Presented by some of the nation’s foremost scholars, the series is attended by parents, teachers, social

workers, and health care providers. Still another institute program, the Heningburg Civic Fellows

Program, creates partnerships between Newark's established and rising leaders and distinguished

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scholars at Rutgers and beyond. In 2004–2005, Rutgers, through the efforts of the institute, brought

the Teachers As Scholars Program to Newark. The program is a national initiative in professional

development that involves K–12 teachers in lifelong learning through ongoing interaction with

university scholars. In 2005–2006, nearly 300 Newark public school teachers spent two days on the

Newark Campus in seminars that explored the arts, humanities, social sciences, education, and law.

In a unique program in 2004 requested by the New Jersey state attorney general, the institute

mounted several cultural awareness sessions for all 2,700 members of the New Jersey State Police.

INSTITUTE OF JAZZ STUDIES

The Institute of Jazz Studies is the largest and most comprehensive archive of jazz and jazz-related

materials in the world. Its mission is to promote, preserve, and extend the heritage of this unique

American art form. Housed at Rutgers–Newark since 1966, the institute is an unmatched resource for

students, teachers, scholars, authors, independent researchers, musicians, the media, record

companies, libraries and other archives, and arts agencies.

CAMÕES INSTITUTE CENTER FOR PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Founded in 2001 in association with the Camões Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, this center at the Dana

Library on the Newark Campus, houses over 2,000 volumes and other rich source materials on

Portuguese literature, history, and culture. The archive includes over 100 oral histories gathered by

Rutgers–Newark students, recording the life histories of Portuguese and Brazilian immigrants in

northern New Jersey.

INSTITUTE ON EDUCATION LAW AND POLICY

Founded in 2000, the Institute on Education Law and Policy at the School of Law is New Jersey’s

premier center for interdisciplinary research and innovative thinking on education policy. The

institute holds invitational meetings and conferences to improve public understanding of complex

educational issues. Recent projects have included School Choice—A Closer Look at Public School

Choice in New Jersey, Education Funding—Toward a Rational New Jersey Policy on School

Funding and Accountability, and Excellent Schools—Pockets of Educational Excellence.

JOSEPH C. CORNWALL CENTER FOR METROPOLITAN STUDIES

Also established in 2000, the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies promotes research

and interchange among scholars of urban and metropolitan life, government leaders, businesses,

community-based organizations, and private citizens. The center advances analysis and research of

complex issues facing urban areas, in particular metropolitan Newark and northern New Jersey,

concentrating on such topics as housing, social justice, education, health, and community and

economic development. Recent research projects include the Greater Newark Health Systems Survey,

Greater Essex Council of Child Welfare Collaboratives, Project Evaluation for the St. Matthews

NIDA, Program Evaluation of the Newark Literacy Campaign, and Program Evaluation for the Stella

Wright HOPE VI Project.

RUTGERS BUSINESS SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Rutgers Business School sponsors a series of programs and centers that advise and assist local area

businesses.

• The M.B.A. Interfunctional Team Consulting Program brings the knowledge and

experience of seasoned M.B.A. students to bear on a challenge or problem identified

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by a client company. Since 1971, hundreds of businesses, large and small, have

discovered this unique, university-based resource that delivers professional and cost-

effective consulting services. Students get the opportunity to sharpen their problem-

solving and team-building skills, and the sponsoring company receives a detailed

report full of insightful analysis and valuable recommendations.

• Founded in 1977, the New Jersey Small Business Development Center network is

composed of a headquarters, housed at Rutgers Business School in Newark, and 11

full-service regional centers and 16 affiliate offices located throughout the state.

Center staff assist clients in exploring their business ideas, developing and assessing

business plans, making cash flow projections and accurate financial statements, and

formulating marketing strategies. International trade, government procurement,

technology commercialization, e-commerce, and information services specialty

programs are coordinated from the center’s headquarters.

• The Rutgers University Technical Assistance Program provides technical assistance to

nonprofit groups, community-based organizations, and government agencies, helping

them to develop plans to achieve their economic goals, including the creation of

sustainable jobs in economically distressed areas.

SCHOOL OF LAW PROGRAMS

The School of Law sponsors eight legal clinics, several of which are described below. These clinics

have a direct impact on the city of Newark and afford Rutgers students an opportunity to experience

public interest law practice centered on urban issues.

• Students in the Child Advocacy Clinic work on a variety of cases and projects

concerning children and low-income families. In some cases, students act as law

guardians (attorneys) for children who have been brought before the family court

because of child abuse and/or child neglect concerns, and are responsible for

protecting the children’s legal interests and representing them in court. On other

cases, students represent family members in fair hearings (like mini-trials) where

individuals have been wrongly denied needed public benefits or incorrectly

terminated from benefit programs. Students also do community education and

outreach.

• The Community Law Clinic provides corporate, transactional, and intellectual

property attorney services to New Jersey nonprofit corporations, start-up for-profit

businesses, and charter schools. The clinic's primary focus is on businesses and

organizations that provide services to and opportunities for poor and low-income

people in Newark and nearby urban areas. In addition, the clinic strives to make a

contribution to the cause of social change and social justice by representing resident

groups and community development corporations regarding urban redevelopment

planning.

• The Environmental Law Clinic serves New Jersey's environmental community

through trial and appellate litigation, administrative advocacy, and policy

development, while providing law students with the opportunity to practice

environmental advocacy. The clinic has been the sole public interest law firm for

New Jersey's environmental community since 1985. To date, more than 500 law

students have helped successfully resolve hundreds of cases. Students provide

thousands of hours of pro bono legal assistance each year. The clinic has litigated

many of the most important environmental cases in the state on topics as varied as

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land use/sprawl, transportation, clean water, clean air, environmental justice,

endangered species, hazardous waste site remediation, public access to beaches and

other public lands, open space, parkland preservation, and energy policy.

• The Special Education Clinic, one of the first of its kind in the nation, was created in

January 1995. The clinic provides free legal services to indigent parents of children

with disabilities seeking to obtain appropriate educational services for their children,

trains law students to handle special education cases, and seeks to educate both

parents and school personnel concerning their mutual rights and responsibilities. The

need for legal representation and training in this specialized area of law is enormous,

as parents in poorer communities often have difficulty in securing adequate

educational services and have few resources to ensure that the rights of their disabled

children are protected.

• The Urban Legal Clinic was established over 30 years ago to assist low-income

clients with legal problems that are caused or exacerbated by urban poverty. Civil

matters handled by the clinic include housing, consumer protection, bankruptcy,

matrimonial, civil rights, and Social Security/disability. The clinic's Criminal

Defense Project provides representation to clients who have been charged with minor

criminal offenses. In recent years, clinic students have successfully litigated matters

involving truth-in-lending, conditions in Newark's public housing projects, and

unlawful searches and seizures by the police, among many others.

POLICE INSTITUTE

The Police Institute, which is part of the School of Criminal Justice, is dedicated to enhancing public

safety and the quality of life through problem-oriented research, analysis, and practice; through

educating high-level criminal justice researchers, practitioners, and policymakers; and by serving as a

"neutral convener" of public and private sector resources to analyze problems and craft solutions. The

institute provides innovative programs to law enforcement and community members throughout New

Jersey. Among them is the Executive Development Program, which is a training initiative that

provides an advanced curriculum for upper-level management in the New Jersey State Police and

other regional law enforcement agencies. The Safer Cities Partnership is a coalition of criminal

justice, social service, community and faith-based organizations whose mission is to improve public

safety in New Jersey through problem solving and collaboration. The partnership was named an

“Innovative Prevention Strategy” by the U.S. Department of Justice for its work to reduce gun and

gang violence.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC PRODUCTIVITY

Founded in 1972, this center is devoted to improving productivity in the public sector through the

study, dissemination, and recognition of performance measurement initiatives in government. In

addition, the center specializes in research and teaching in the engagement of citizens. Through the

support of the Sloan Foundation, the center has undertaken research and teaching in citizen-driven

government performance, developing curricular resources and delivering online training for public

managers. The center offers extensive publications on productivity and performance measurement.

Other projects include online certification in public performance measurement, case studies of

jurisdictions working to measure performance and increase productivity, and recognition of best

practices and exemplary cases. The center bridges the gap between the theory and practice of

productivity improvement.

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CONCLUSION

The urban aspect of the campus’s mission is characterized by an ongoing, vocal, self-conscious, and

multi-layered discussion among faculty, students, and administration. The campus appears to function

well as a gateway to the metropolitan area and the world beyond, and it is itself a microcosm of the

local and the global. In its immediate vicinity is a concentration of institutions, companies, and

cultural activities that enrich the learning environment. The metropolitan area affects all units of the

campus; it influences the research the faculty conduct, the academic programming they engage in,

and the availability and composition of the students who enroll at Rutgers–Newark. The campus’s

urban mission is actualized in a variety of different ways: through preprofessional undergraduate

programs, professional schools and programs on the graduate level, experientially based clinical

programs, outreach programs in nearby high schools, internships, faculty research, research grants,

academic courses, the selection of students, and the interactions of faculty and students with one

another.

The self-study process provided a rich opportunity for the campus to assess the extent to which

Rutgers–Newark is engaged in activities toward the fulfillment of its mission. It demonstrated the

noteworthy extent to which critical activities of the campus—from preadmissions programs to faculty

research and the dissemination of new knowledge—are propelled by the mission. And the self-study

provided the opportunity for the campus community to begin to mine the depth of this institutional

self-knowledge. What finally emerged is an awareness of and appreciation for the varied definitions

and applications of the campus’s urban mission. Moreover, the self-study revealed a vibrant academic

community in which there is no need for uniformity. Ongoing dialog about the meaning of the urban

mission and the ways in which it can continue to be fulfilled provides a window into the campus’s

future.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Refine and implement policies and procedures to improve recruitment, academic support,

retention, transfer recruitment, general education requirements, and the review of student

learning outcomes.

Primary responsibility:

Provost, Newark

Assessment:

Monitor outcomes and progress relative to recruitment, retention,

transfer, and student learning outcome plans and goals.

Expand program planning and evaluation efforts on the campus.

Primary responsibility:

Provost, Newark

Assessment:

Monitor campus outcomes and progress over time relative to plans

and goals.

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WEBSITES REFERENCED IN SECTION VII

Goals for Rutgers−Newark, Revised 2005

http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/provost/index.php?sId=goals

2006-07 Rutgers Fact Book - Enrollment Section

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/instchar/factpdf/enroll06.pdf

2006 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Summary

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/cirpnwk06xls.pdf

Rutgers−Newark Honors College Program Overview

http://honorsnewark.rutgers.edu/Program_Overview.html

Report of the Study Group on Undergraduate Admission - May 2005

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/Rpt_Stu_Grp_Und_Adm.pdf

Committee on Assessment of Undergraduate Programs - Faculty of Arts and Sciences 2005-2006

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/UAC090606.pdf

Rutgers−Newark Vision – Mission Statement

http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/provost/index.php?sId=mission

Committee on the Future of Undergraduate Education

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/FUE-cover-charge-members.pdf

Success Rates in English Comp

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/SuccessRates--EngComp101.pdf

Evaluation of Developmental Education at Rutgers University – Newark

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/Consultants-Report.pdf

English Curriculum Handbook – Unified Writing Curriculum

http://english.newark.rutgers.edu/01_undergrad_09_writing_program_handbook.htm

Rutgers−Newark Writing Center

http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~nwc/

Success Rates in English Comp – Updates

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/SuccessRates--English-updates.pdf

Faculty Research and the Urban Mission

http://oirap.rutgers.edu/reports/MSA2008/Self-Study-Reports/Faculty-Research-and-the-Urban-Mission.pdf