Promoting Econ., Educ., and Soc. Growth
Several new initiatives designed to expand Rutgers–Camden’s commitment to serving the citizens of southern New Jersey and the Delaware Valley while also promoting economic, educational, and social growth throughout the city and the region were announced today by Rutgers–Camden Chancellor Wendell E. Pritchett.
The announcement was made before a capacity crowd at the first Rutgers–Camden Civic Engagement Symposium, which spotlighted current service learning work conducted by Rutgers students and faculty. A panel discussion, “The Role of Universities in our Communities,” featured Camden Mayor Dana Redd; Feather Houstoun, president of the William Penn Foundation; George Norcross, board chair of Cooper University Hospital; and Angel Osorio, community justice director at the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. The Rev. M. William Howard Jr., chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors, delivered the keynote speech.
In announcing the new programs, Pritchett noted that “Today’s Civic Engagement Symposium represents our first step in an ongoing commitment to evolve Rutgers–Camden into a national model for a civically engaged university. Service is intrinsic to the core mission of Rutgers. Our challenge at Rutgers–Camden is to remove barriers between service, teaching, and research… to bring all of these elements to life every day, across all that we do here at Rutgers.
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“Certainly, there is no one answer,” continued Pritchett. “We start today, here, as good neighbors should -- with everyone at the same table. The city, South Jersey and the Delaware Valley need strong universities such as Rutgers to serve as anchors. At the same time, the anchor institutions will not be able to grow and flourish without an efficient government and optimism for the future. Working together, we can achieve both of these goals at the same time.”
The creation of an Office of Civic Engagement at Rutgers–Camden was among the announcements. Pritchett noted that the office will be responsible for leveraging Rutgers resources in ways that benefit the community as well as Rutgers students, faculty, alumni, and staff. The appointment of Andrew Seligsohn as the director of the office also was announced. A resident of Trenton, Seligsohn currently serves as director of civic engagement learning at Princeton University. Upon his arrival at Rutgers–Camden in mid-February, Seligsohn will seek to promote civic learning opportunities into Rutgers courses as an opportunity for students to apply their skills in real-world settings while also having a direct impact on their communities.
In an effort to promote increased Rutgers collaborations with the Camden school district, Pritchett announced the establishment of a director of public school partnerships at Rutgers–Camden and the appointment of Nyeema Watson in that role. A resident of Camden, Watson currently serves as administrative director of the Rutgers–Camden Center for Children and Childhood Studies. She served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Camden school board. “There is great potential for Rutgers to be of increased assistance to the school district in a meaningful fashion,” said Pritchett. “Nyeema will serve as a primary campus liaison with the Camden school district, and will seek to forge new collaborations between Rutgers and our host city’s schools.”
Both Seligsohn and Watson will lead an ongoing Rutgers–Camden endeavor that will seek to define “a strategy that will take Rutgers to new levels of excellence in this area.”
Seeking to increase the enrollment of talented students from Camden and other economically disadvantaged areas in New Jersey, Pritchett announced the creation of the Rutgers–Camden Achievement Initiative. “Through this initiative we will double the number of students from Camden enrolled in the 2010 freshman class and significantly increase the number of students from targeted school districts. From there, we seek to increase the 2010 numbers by at least 50 percent in 2011,” he explained. Cherry Hill resident Deborah Bowles will lead the effort in the new role of associate chancellor for college access. Bowles most recently served as associate chancellor for enrollment management at Rutgers–Camden, where she has led the campus’ admissions efforts for more than 30 years. In her new capacity, Bowles will develop programs to promote college access by working closely with students, guidance counselors, teachers, and administrators in Camden public schools and other targeted school districts in southern New Jersey to identify and support talented students who will benefit from enrollment at Rutgers–Camden.
Noting that “It is the duty of research universities such as Rutgers to develop those ideas that will advance our communities,” Pritchett announced the creation of the Rutgers–Camden Center for Urban Research, which will be dedicated to promoting cutting-edge research in urban affairs and to developing strategies that improve the lives of people within urban communities. This center will unite Rutgers scholars and regional practitioners, and will serve as a one of the primary vehicles through which Rutgers–Camden faculty, staff, and students collaborate with the public and private institutions of the City of Camden and the region.
Pritchett concluded with the announcement of the Rutgers Economic Support Initiative that seeks to encourage business growth in the City of Camden. “For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009, Rutgers–Camden spent $942,000 with businesses based in the city of Camden; we spent $2,742,000 with businesses based in Camden County,” said Pritchett. “This initiative seeks to increase the spending in these areas by 25% within the next two fiscal years, and double overall campus spending in both the city and county within the next five fiscal years.”
In an additional effort to increase economic activity in the City of Camden, Rutgers will host a series of small business “marketplaces” that will invite local business owners to introduce their goods and services to the Rutgers–Camden community. “This initiative will work closely with students, faculty, staff, the Camden Urban Enterprise Zone, and other interested stakeholders to ensure that local businesses understand the needs of the campus community, as well as helping the campus community understand to the depth and quality of the products and services offered by these businesses,” said the Rutgers–Camden chancellor.
The initiatives have received support from such agencies as the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Drumcliff Foundation, as well as Rutgers–Camden alumnus and entrepreneur Dean Ragone.
Approximately 200 community leaders, regional citizens, and Rutgers students and professors attended the Rutgers–Camden Civic Engagement Symposium. More information about the event is online at camden.rutgers.edu/civic-engagement-symposium.
Author: Press Release
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