Pursuing Excellence in a Tough Economy

September 25, 2009

Members of the Rutgers Community:

Each September at the first University Senate meeting of the year, I deliver an annual address to the university community highlighting recent achievements and setting forth plans and a vision for Rutgers’ future. With thanks to all who were in attendance this afternoon and to those who asked questions afterward, I encourage all of you to read the text of the speech, which deals with serious issues facing Rutgers.

Here is a summary of the key points, which the full text will illuminate in more detail:

• The economic recession poses serious challenges to colleges and universities, including Rutgers. Our students, faculty, and staff have all felt its effects. To date, however, Rutgers has escaped some of the worst possible impacts through a combination of factors—including efficiencies and savings, shared sacrifice, good management, the federal stimulus legislation, and the growth of revenues from other than state sources.
• Rutgers has received only a reprieve, not a pass, from the economic difficulties. To fulfill its loftiest and most ambitious goals as a university, Rutgers must continue to make hard choices and to become more entrepreneurial than ever before. Above all, this means expanding significantly the university’s revenue from new academic programs, from private giving, and from research grants.
• To prepare students for global lives, we must increase dramatically the number of Rutgers undergraduates who have meaningful international exposure by the time they graduate.
• During the year ahead, I will visit every college and school at Rutgers to discuss with my colleagues the difficult decisions they will face and the entrepreneurial actions they will take to fulfill our academic goals and to meet our financial challenges.

The speech also notes our efforts to meet the needs of student veterans, reiterates our commitments to our host communities, offers a progress report on the undergraduate reorganization in New Brunswick, and asserts our intention to advocate for greater state funding, especially for the facilities we need.

A copy of my full remarks is available at www.president.rutgers.edu/address09.shtml. I welcome your thoughts, questions, or comments on any of the topics raised.

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