University President Richard L. McCormick allowed students to ask him their concerns regarding the University at last Monday's Engineering Council Meeting and students took advantage of the opportunity.
"The headlines this year have been taken by [the success of] our football team, and the astounding success of our women's basketball team," McCormick said, "but of most importance is academics."
He said to the room the University's budget took a big hit last year, referring to the $60 million cut in funding this past year, but McCormick told EGC that the recent $12 million increase approved by the New Jersey legislature is a small step back in the right direction, and it will be utilized to fulfill the University's priorities.
"Our main objective is reinstating the classes," McCormick said. On the other hand, that $12 million would hardly be enough to pay for the problems the University has found itself in.
University President McCormick admitted to students there are millions of dollars needed to repair and maintain buildings at the University in good condition.
In response to a student who asked what the University would do to improve any existing problems, in addition to new building projects over the next few years, McCormick said "Rutgers has about half a billion dollars in deferred maintenance…deferred maintenance isn't sexy."
While building a new Biomedical Engineering building is high profile and publicly visible, filling in places on campus where puddles form when it rains is not, as important as that is, he said.
One student, EGC Senator Brian Spattaco, brought up the issue of the Outstanding Scholars Recruitment Program, from which the New Jersey legislature has cut funding. The program, established in 1997, has brought students with high academic credentials to Rutgers through scholarship money.
McCormick said New Jersey leads the nation in the number and percentage of students who leave the state for college. The University was able to fund the program internally this past year, bringing in students who are part of the class of 2010. But for the class of 2011, the University will almost certainly lose some students that the Outstanding Scholars Recruitment Program would have brought to the school, he said.
McCormick also said there may be a prospective rise in University tuition costs for the coming year, and he hopes the hike will be smaller than in recent years.
McCormick said the amount of the rise in tuition had not been discussed so specifically and the decision had yet to be made. He said the rise might be in the 6.5 to 7 percent range, where in past years increases have been around 8 or 9 percent.
Students were also concerned about the new housing process.
The housing selection process at Rutgers has undergone massive changes, with students now able to apply to virtually any campus and to take any major no matter where they are located.
Members of EGC are pursuing the possibility of having the university create a preferred housing system for Engineering and other professional students on the Busch Campus. According to the Council, preferred housing would allow easier access to classes and laboratories for students enrolled in these programs.
McCormick said he understood the desire of students to live on the most convenient campus for them, but the administration is "afraid of carving out [too much preferred housing], and locking the University up into an inflexible housing situation."
McCormick said he felt the process of assigning housing based on area of study, or number of credits on a certain campus, could undo the changes made to the housing selection process.
He described the process as a balancing act, where the values of an open and fair housing selection process and student need for access must both be considered.
"We would like to maximize the ability of students to live where they want," McCormick said.
Plans are also underway to break ground on an improvement project for the Livingston Student Center, a campus which has long been neglected in some areas, McCormick said. There are also plans for a new dining hall on Livingston, and for the transfer of the Tillett Dining Hall facility to academic use.
The University is also initiating a campaign to raise $1 billion in funds for the school, he said. Alumni support in the form of small donations is important, he continued, but it would take a number of very large donations to reach the funding goal.
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