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Approximately 65 faculty, staff and students attended the Dean's Town Hall meeting on October 24. During the half-hour meeting, Dr. Johnson provided updates on a number of areas.
Budget - The FY05 audit is complete and available on the UMDNJ web site in the About Us section, the second bullet under Quick Information. http://www.umdnj.edu/about/Audited_Financial_Statement_2005.pdf
The report indicates that while University Hospital carries a $25 million deficit, the school budgets are in good shape.
Ethics - Representatives from New Jersey's state colleges and universities met to develop a statement for the State Ethics Board to request that state employees in higher education be exempt from current ethics rules that currently bar them from accepting honoraria and other payment for academic activities and travel. The statement is supported by Governor Corzine.
Merger - Two political bodies are currently reviewing the possibility of a merger of the state's public universities. One, organized at the Governor's request, is headed by former state Treasurer Richard Leone, and is analyzing issues at New Jersey's state universities and colleges, specifically accessibility, design and efficiency. The second group was convened by State Senate President Richard Codey and Assembly Speaker Joeseph Roberts to look at a reorganization of New Jersey's state universities.
The Governor believes that if any merger plan involves additional costs, it will be difficult to get off the ground. Dr. Johnson remarked that he personally does not see a benefit to a merger as academics know that you don't need to be in the same university to collaborate.
Accreditation Update - In June, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the entity that accredits the university, placed the university on probation, pending the completion of a report outlining how the university has addressed concerns related to finances, the board of trustees and the leadership. A site visit on Tuesday, October 24, provided representatives from Middle States an opportunity to review documents and interview a number of people regarding these issues. We expect that given the developments of the last few months that the concerns will be alleviated.
Cancer Center - Two components comprise the cancer center: clinical and research. Due to budget constraints, University Hospital removed from their budget allocations for opening the clinical portion of the center. However, NJMS pushed to bring the research component on-line and over the past few weeks, have moved people and equipment into the building. At present, there are 78 occupants in total with 12 PIs. An opening event for the research program will take place some time after the holidays.
Newark Initiatives - NJMS is involved in a number of initiatives with the City of Newark. According to Dr. Johnson, the new city administration has brought new life to the school's relationship with the city and he sees some great things coming in the future.