Local Entrepreneur Pledges $1 Million to Rowan Tech Park

Atlantic City Press (26 September 2006): Samuel H. Jones, Mantua Townhip resident and venture capitalist has pledged $1 million dollars toward the construction of the South Jersey Technology Park at Rowan University.

“The Technology Park is important for technology and growth in our region,” state Jones. “It will be a place for people with an entrepreneurial spirit to make things happen.”
Read the full story here.

State isn't doing enough to keep college costs in check

Asbury Park Press (13 Sept 2006): Two reports recently issued are critical of New Jersey's commitment to higher education. One report is the 2006 report for New Jersey Policy Perspective by Anastasia Mann and Mary Forsberg called "Flunking Out: New Jersey's Support for Higher Education Falls Short." This report cites a steady drop in support for higher education from 9.8 percent of the state budget in 1983 to about 5.3 percent currently.

The second is a just-released report of the National Conference on State Legislatures that singles out the Garden State, with a 2.5 percent drop in appropriations, and Texas, with a 0.7 percent drop, as glaring departures from the average 6.3 percent growth nationally in general fund support for higher education between FY 2006 and FY 2007.

New Jersey is not living up to its obligation to share the costs of funding quality state colleges and universities. We now have among the highest four-year public college/university tuition rates in the nation. We are cutting back at a time when other states are investing in higher education. It is time for the state and colleges and universities to work together more closely.

Read DARRYL G. GREER's analysis and recommendations for improving the situation, click here.

Princeton Challenges Harvard’s African-American Primacy

Princeton Challenges Harvard’s Af-Am Primacy - It took just a week for Princeton to take Harvard’s cue in abolishing early admissions—but 37 years after Harvard established a black studies concentration, Princeton is only now following in its Cambridge rival’s footsteps. The New Jersey school is establishing a new Center for African American Studies and expanding its faculty in the field from 5 to 11—challenging Harvard’s position as the premier hub of black studies.

To read more, click here.
Related story here.

Economics send more students to WCCC

Economics send more students to Warren County Community College (WCCC) - A 70 percent increase in Warren County Community College's enrollment over a six-year stretch is threatening to reignite a debate over expanding the college. Fueling the growth are changing attitudes about community colleges, school President Will Austin said, as more students recognize that a less expensive alternative is available.

To read more, click here.

A Trans-Atlantic Research Alliance Comes to Fruition

A Trans-Atlantic Research Alliance Comes to Fruition: Universities from the state and England team up to develop innovative health care products - The White Rose Health Innovation Partnership (WHIP), has paired universities and health care companies along their respective Atlantic Coasts in an effort to facilitate the commercialization of medical research. The White Rose University Consortium, made up of three British research schools, chose the Garden State’s health care community to be part of the effort in March.

Spearheading the Partnership on U.S. soil are the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. WHIP will disperse about $9 million, largely in the form of grant awards, won from the Higher Education Funding Council of England.

To read more, click here.

UMDNJ gets $1.8M in Grants

UMDNJ gets $1.8M - Star-Ledger (19 September 2006) - The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has received two federal grants totaling nearly $1.8 million for nursing education programs.

The grants are supporting a new Doctor of Nursing Practice program, as well as a new Accelerated Second-Degree BSN/MSN program on the Stratford campus.

To read more, click here.

NJ Clean Energy School of the Year: Monmouth University

NJ Clean Energy School of the Year: Monmouth University (West Long Branch, NJ)

Award criteria: A public or private educational institution that demonstrates that energy efficiency and/or renewable energy is just plain smart when it comes to saving energy, lowering costs, and protecting the environment.

Monmouth University, a small liberal arts college in West Long Branch, NJ is recognized for its commitment and energy leadership encompassing renewables and conservation. The recent installation of a 454 kw solar PV system is noted as being the largest installation at an institution of higher education east of the Mississippi River - saving the university an estimated 468,569 kwh a year or $150,000 in electricity costs. In addition, the University has undertaken extensive building upgrades and renovations that will save 1,302,386 kwh annually and about $150,000, which contribute to the University's environmental stewardship and the reduction of greenhouse gases.

From: Clean Energy is Smart Business in New Jersey; Clean Energy Conference and Awards Highlight Business Leaders, Renewable Energy and Public Benefits (19 September, 2006)

John Hurley Appointed to NJLN Review Board

Rutgers Trustee and Woodbridge Township Library Director John Hurley was recently appointed to the New Jersey Library Review Board.

"I look forward to the opportunity to provide the State Library with a local perspective on ways to leverage tax dollars to expand the services provided by the Library Network," Hurley stated. Hurley is also past president of the Eastern New Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, INFOLINK.

Read the full story here

TCNJ to receive $5 million donation

The College of New Jersey is slated to receive a $5 million gift, the largest in its history, school officials said. Tom and Carol Loser of Langhorne, Pa., whose donation in honor of their 25th wedding anniversary was announced Friday, are to give the money to the college's School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Science during a campus ceremony. Read more here!

University libraries will be quieter this semester.

Effect of aid cuts evident at Rutgers Home News Tribune Online - Real cuts are having real consequences for students and faculty alike. "People will take a hit," said Michael Joseph, a rare-book librarian at the New Jersey Reading Room in the Alexander Library building on College Avenue. "Reduced hours means reduced availability." Read more about the impact of budget cuts at Rutgers, the State University.