Helping Navigate the Transition at Rutgers–New Brunswick

August 21, 2007

Dear Rutgers Students:

In a few days we will begin a new academic year at Rutgers and with it a new era in undergraduate education on our New Brunswick Campus. We have made major changes to our academic structure to enhance learning for all our undergraduates. The School of Arts and Sciences, formed out of the liberal arts colleges of Douglass, Livingston, Rutgers, and University, makes its debut and welcomes its first students. Cook College has become the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Douglass Residential College, which gives undergraduate women an opportunity to join a community providing a supportive intellectual and social environment, also will launch this fall. Newly appointed campus deans for Busch, College Avenue, G. H. Cook, Douglass, Livingston, and the University College Community will generate academic programs and events that bring faculty and students together beyond the classroom. And each of the residential campuses will have its own dean of students to ensure that you have a positive, safe, and successful experience.

This is an exciting time to be at Rutgers. To help you navigate the transition, I recommend that you regularly visit key websites that contain the latest information on our changes:

• the transforming undergraduate education site, with frequently asked questions geared for both new and returning students;
• the Office of Undergraduate Education site, where you can learn more about the many academic opportunities that await you;
• the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs site, with links to newly organized departments such as recreation, university student centers, judicial affairs, and other student life areas;
• the RU-info site, a clearinghouse of information about Rutgers offices, programs, facilities, and much more.

Complementing these websites are the women and men at campus information services who are ready to answer your questions at 732-932-info. You can also ask questions in person at any of our student centers. I also encourage you to watch a special edition of Inside Rutgers that focuses on the changes, which will be shown frequently on RU-tv at the start of the semester.

A transformation of this magnitude will inevitably hit a few bumps along the way, and I ask for your patience as we work our way past them. But please let us know if you are having difficulty finding an answer; it is likely that addressing your concern can help us to help others. We want to do all we can to make Rutgers–New Brunswick a great place to study, to live, to get involved, and to grow.

You have my best wishes for the remaining days of summer and for an exciting, productive, and rewarding year at Rutgers.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey