Accountability:
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Mission
and Goals
Mission
Fulfillment
Cost
Containment
Sum.
of Key Co. Ind.
Board
of Gov. & Trustee
Cost Containment:
Part
I
Section
1:
Section
2:
Part
II
Part
III
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As the state's only comprehensive public research university, Rutgers is the flagship institution in New Jersey's higher education system. As a land-grant institution, Rutgers fulfills a three-fold mission of instruction, research, and public service. The university community - through a strategic planning process conducted on the Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick campuses - rededicated its efforts to serve the people of New Jersey by the creation of new knowledge, and the transmission of that knowledge to the citizens of the state through excellent instruction and distinguished public service. However, since the late eighties higher education in New Jersey has sustained nearly-annual budget cuts which threaten access and excellence. Faced with the challenge of restricted resources, Rutgers has responded with a number of cost-saving innovations. ­ Rutgers, The State University of
New Jersey is administratively lean. By accomplishing more administrative
tasks with fewer resources, Rutgers is able to support proportionately
more faculty lines than peer universities. Rutgers University and Public AAU Institutions*, Fall 1995  - Rutgers is fully engaged in the implementation of its university-wide strategic planning efforts. Specifically, the Strategic Resource and Opportunity Analysis (SROA) process is designed to leverage funding from a variety of internal sources toward further development of priority academic/research programs. The $4 million of administrative cost savings gained from this new method of financial planning has been and will continue to be reallocated to fund strategic initiatives in 13 academic growth areas throughout the university. During last year over $8 million was internally reallocated for strategic planning implementation, $4 million for Fiscal Year 1997 SROA projects plus $4.375 million for Fiscal Year 1998. The Fiscal Year 1998 reallocation covered 62 SROA projects on all three campuses. University-wide projects received 17.4% of that amount. ­ The university is active in the area of enrollment management, always evaluating the need for a program's effectiveness. Graduate and undergraduate programs are suspended or even eliminated if enrollments are too low or if costs exceed acceptable limits. Some recent examples include the suspension of new enrollments to the doctoral program in Materials Science and Engineering, elimination of the Master of Science for Teachers in Biology, and suspension of undergraduate programs in Hebraic Studies; Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences; Labor Studies; and Archaeology. An additional six graduate programs and two undergraduate programs were merged or consolidated to make better use of limited resources. - Rutgers is greatly increasing its collaboration with other institutions of higher education. Rutgers has cooperative arrangements to offer programs at Sussex County Community College and the County College of Morris. Rutgers and New Jersey Institute of Technology jointly offer doctoral programs in Mathematical Sciences and Applied Physics, master's programs in History, and bachelor's programs in Computer Science; Information Systems; Applied Mathematics; Applied Physics; and Science, Technology, and Society. Rutgers and NJIT plan to jointly offer bachelor's programs in biology, botany, and zoology and a graduate program in biology. Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey jointly offer master's and doctoral programs in Public Health; Biochemistry; Biomedical Engineering; Cell and Developmental Biology; Microbiology and Molecular Genetics; Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology; Physiology and Neurobiology; and Toxicology; as well as the Human Exposure Assessment Option for the Ph. D. in Environmental Sciences. Rutgers and UMDNJ also jointly offer a master's program in Physical Therapy, a bachelor's program in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, and articulated bachelor's/M.D. and B.A./M.S. in Physician Assistant programs. ­ In addition to having joint academic programs, Rutgers achieves cost-effectiveness by sharing with other institutions technology, equipment, facilities, and libraries. Certain Rutgers-Newark and NJIT academic departments have been federated, and the two schools maintain cross-registration of courses. Rutgers conducts many joint research programs with UMDNJ, NJIT, and Stevens Institute of Technology. For example, a radioactive waste program is being established to service both Rutgers and UMDNJ. - Rutgers has contained costs through administrative restructuring and innovative approaches to the delivery of services. The administration of the New Brunswick campus in 1996 was completely reorganized in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The university's total quality management (TQM) initiative - the University Program for Organizational Quality and Communication Improvement (Rutgers QCI) - is led by one of the nation's foremost authorities on TQM in higher education. To enhance services for students the university installed touch-tone telephone course registration. Rutgers was one of the first institutions in the nation to move to direct lending, which significantly enhanced student financial aid services and reduced costs associated with the process. The university also has expanded student employment to reduce labor costs while providing practical work experiences. ­ A new team approach for enrollment management was initiated to increase admissions yield and improve retention. The student support services of undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and the office of the registrar were brought together under one umbrella, with stronger links to the academic units. - Since costs increase the longer it takes a student to graduate, it is important to shorten time to degree. Rutgers therefore makes special efforts to reduce the time it takes students to complete their programs of study. Rutgers maintains dual admissions agreements with all 19 New Jersey county colleges. The university accepts advanced placement credits, offers college-in-high-school programs and Summer Session courses. Learning Resource Centers on each campus provide instructional assistance on a one-to-one level for students and offer programs to help individuals become better students. Teaching Excellence Centers on each campus foster advances in classroom instruction. The Rutgers Dialogues Grant Program annually funds faculty projects which enhance instruction and learning in the undergraduate curriculum on all three campuses. Rutgers also offers several dual bachelor's/professional degree programs. ­ The university has reduced its energy costs by purchasing natural gas directly on the open market, building cogeneration plants in New Brunswick and Camden to produce electricity and heat with less expense, using automatic management of heating and cooling systems to reduce consumption during evenings and weekends, and installing efficient lighting fixtures in major buildings in New Brunswick and Newark. The university has developed creative approaches to other routine, recurring costs. Examples include recycling waste at one-third the cost of disposal, and using the purchasing power of the New Jersey Department of Transportation to save on contract work for university roads and parking. - Rutgers continues to seek new sources of additional funding. Sponsored research grants and contracts have continued to increase dramatically, to over $154 million annually. Private giving to the university from corporations, foundations, alumni, and friends totaled over $53 million last year, an increase of 23% over the previous year. Rutgers entered into a long-term agreement with Coca-Cola that provides the university with $1 million annually. By refinancing its long-term debt, the university will realize a debt-service savings of $2 million annually or $40 million over the amortization period. |