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To enable Rutgers to more fully address educational needs of the state and region, a Vice President for Continuous Education and Outreach was appointed. This action was taken to complement and strengthen the university's existing continuing education structure which functioned to meet very specific needs of constituent bodies. The new office of the Vice President for Continuous Education and Outreach catalyzes more broadly based continuing education development and is responsible for the university's initiatives in continuous education and distance learning emanating from all three campuses. Continuing professional education is crucial for an increasing number of Americans. With its long and distinguished history of professional service, Rutgers will continue to play a vital role in providing continuing education programs to prepare and maintain a work force for a competitive global marketplace. Through enhanced continuing education programs, developed in collaboration with business, industry, and labor unions, as well as education, health care, and government institutions and agencies, the university will become increasingly responsive to the educational needs of New Jersey adults. Rutgers already has a distinguished history of outreach in specialized areas, such as government service, management education, environmental sciences education, and agricultural education. Exemplary programs provided by such units as the Center for Government Services, the Graduate School of Education, Cook College Continuing Professional Education, the Center for Management Development, Nursing Continuing Education, and summer sessions offered by faculty at all three campuses are characterized by clear missions and excellent relationships with constituent audiences. Through increased incentives specialized units will be encouraged to define their continuing education missions more broadly and thus serve the university and the state more effectively. The office of the Vice President for Continuous Education and Outreach will establish university-wide standard practices and uniform financial reporting oversight. This coordination will result in uniform measurement of performance and cost-effectiveness, consistent standards, and a unified vision of the mission and the resources required. The office will serve as a clearinghouse for existing programs and will encourage services to new audiences and nontraditional constituencies. Coordinated planning will provide the flexibility required to serve the diverse needs of professional groups and individuals throughout New Jersey. A coordinated continuing education operation will allow for rapid response to new opportunities. For example, planned initiatives in the international arena, including instruction in critical foreign languages not currently taught at any of our campuses, can be supported by a continuing education structure that is not limited by affiliation with any single existing university unit. The response by the university to the need for a high-speed data network is RUNet2000. A comprehensive voice, video, and data communications network to connect all three campuses, RUNet2000 has been in the research and planning stages by the university since 1994. The transformation of computer and information technology at the university is recreating a university in which communication will be facilitated by a high-speed data network that extends the network backbone both between and within campus buildings including all appropriate offices, all dormitories, and all libraries. Completion of the RUNet2000 voice, video, and data communications infrastructure is a critical institutional priority. There is widespread institutional support and recognition of the priority nature of this major project, with a strong relationship between the university's information technology infrastructure and the priorities of the Strategic Plan. The university-wide Project Advisory Committee has been identifying and prioritizing the university's voice, video, and data communications requirements for the next 15 years. It has been determined that the best strategy for RUNet2000 is to proceed with procurement in three phases. The first two phases involve the design, construction, and implementation of a state-of-the-art, university-wide communications infrastructure including all external and internal voice, video, and data wiring plus core network data electronics and video equipment. The third phase involves recommendations on a range of communications services and is projected to go forward in 1998. In addition, Rutgers currently is collaborating in an Internet 2 regional network on a high-speed point of interconnection with the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Lehigh University, and the University of Delaware. The development of the information network will have profound consequences. The ability to deal with information and an understanding of the increasingly complex system for its creation, analysis, organization, and dissemination are already essential prerequisites for any educated person. Emerging technologies offer us the opportunity to actualize the concept of one university. Intercampus integration will be buttressed significantly through the appropriate use of information technology, and especially through the development of new modes of distance learning. For example, information technologies, including desktop video-conferencing, could improve coordination between the law schools in Camden and Newark. With investments in technological infrastructure, law library resources could be shared. Sharing courses via electronic media would increase options for students on both campuses. New technologies not only promise more effective use of resources among the three campuses, but offer the possibility for significantly enhanced outreach efforts throughout the state, and indeed potentially worldwide. |