Enrollment places strain on campus

Record-breaking University enrollment numbers are creating some difficulties, but administrators are working to alleviate the strains.
The University continues to break its own records with the University’s administration projecting enrollment numbers of 54,649 University-wide and 37,319 for New Brunswick.
“[54,649] is a [University] record,” Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Philip J. Furmanski said. “It reflects increasing recognition of the great value of a Rutgers education and economic conditions that lead students and their parents to consider that value in making their choices about which university to attend.”
According to a national survey by SmartMoney magazine examining earning value — college costs versus salaries earned by graduates — the University ranked sixth in the nation based on median salaries three years and 15 years after graduation.
Public universities ranked above most Ivy League and private schools, according to the study.
“It also reflects our continuing efforts to fulfill our mission to provide access and opportunity to as many students as we can who will benefit from what Rutgers has to offer,” he said.
The New Brunswick-Piscataway Campus University enrollment has increased steadily since 2007 and University-wide enrollment increased since 2006, according to the Office of Institutional Research. In 2007, there were 34,804 students on the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus and 36,041 in 2008.
There are about 10,000 first-year and transfer students University-wide and at New Brunswick campus there are more than 2,000 transfer students enrolled.
“We understand that this places additional strains on our facilities and resources and we are working very hard to alleviate those stresses, with construction of increased housing, additional and improved academic facilities, new programs and, as we are able, expanding our faculty,” Furmanski said.
The increase of new students led to a housing shortage last year resulting in nearly 500 students moving to nearby hotels such as the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Somerset. These students moved back to University housing as spaces opened up.
This year, 500 students will stay permanently in the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
“We are planning our design phase for adding 1,500 beds of dorm space on the Livingston Campus,” Furmanski said. “Plus the newly renovated student center has opened and the final design for a new dining facility has been completed and will start construction in a few months.”
New projects include various improvements to the University including new housing buildings on Busch and Livingston campuses, an improved Livingston Student Center and various new academic facilities.
The new 1,500-person housing structure will reach completion in Fall 2012 and the 500-person housing building on Busch campus will be open in Fall 2011.
 “We are finalizing design of a new business school building to accommodate major growth in enrollment in that area,” Furmanski said.
Another project is the classroom improvement project which is in year two of a three-year plan, said University spokesman E.J. Miranda.
“There are a total of 262 classrooms and 20 lecture halls. Rutgers reserved $15 million to improve classrooms on all campuses,” he said.
These classrooms will not only be renovated but include audiovisual and electronic teaching equipment.