Information
for New Jersey's Policy Leaders
March 2007
Campus News |
Service to the State |
People in the Know
CAMPUS
NEWS
$2 Million Grant to launch Camden Institute
Rutgers Camden launched an institute designed to transform early childhood education in Camden and elsewhere, thanks to a $2 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. A ceremonial groundbreaking for the John S. and James L. Knight Early Learning Research Academy at Rutgers–Camden earlier this month featured such dignitaries as U.S. Representative Robert Andrews and New Jersey Assemblyman Lou Greenwald; Camden families and children; Knight Foundation officials; and members of the Rutgers community. The institute will seek to apply Rutgers scholarly research toward the societal and educational issues challenging successful childhood learning.
Rutgers Plant Biomaterials Initiative funded by NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF), under its Partnerships for Innovation program, awarded $600,000 to the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials (NJCBM) based at Rutgers, to support a two-year plant biomaterials initiative. Under the project, led by NJCBM Director Joachim Kohn and Assistant Research Professor Carmine Iovine, the Rutgers team will be looking to plants as a source of materials for cardiovascular stents, bone and tissue grafts, antiviral and antibacterial food packaging, and personal care products. The research will develop “hybrid” materials by combining naturally occurring plant substances, such as starch from corn or potatoes, with synthetic degradable polymer biomaterials and can yield cost-effective, bio-based materials to replace petroleum-derived plastics while creating new economic opportunities for American farmers now threatened by low commodity prices.
Rutgers makes Best Undergraduate Business Schools list
The New Brunswick Undergraduate program of Rutgers Business School was ranked at #32 overall in BusinessWeek’s second annual “The Best Undergraduate Business Schools” national ranking. Of the 540 business schools accredited nationwide by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), 93 programs made the BusinessWeek list and the New Brunswick-based program is the only New Jersey school ranked on the list. The program achieved particularly high marks for its academics, the quality of its students, the preparedness of its students for work and graduate school, and for giving students a strong return on their tuition dollar.
Gambling Studies center established
A new academic center has been launched by the School of Social Work at Rutgers to help scholars understand how gambling works, why people gamble, how society should deal with gambling, and how best to help problem gamblers. The new Center for Gambling Studies is intended as a source of objective, expert information for state lawmakers in New Jersey and elsewhere.
SERVICE TO THE STATE
Meadowlands Action Plan
The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) was developed in response to Governor Corzine's call for more efficient and effective government. The CAP was a collaborative process, and was prepared in conjunction with the National Center for Public Performance at the Rutgers–Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration. It provides a roadmap for the NJMC to follow in the implementation of a more strategic approach to its management, budgeting and planning operations. The Plan will serve the residents of the Region and State for the next five years and will establish the foundation for continuous improvement in the foreseeable future. It can also serve as a model for other State agencies as they move toward more effective and efficient operations. For the full text of the
Comprehensive Action Plan, visit the NJ Meadowlands website at
www.njmeadowlands.gov
New Planning and Zoning Manual & DCA Course
Rutgers Center for Government Services (CGS) offers municipal planning and zoning board members and interested citizens a new manual called
“Planning and Zoning in New Jersey,” an illustrated, 151-page publication which contains clear, non-technical explanations of the state’s Municipal Land Use Law and practical advice on making zoning, subdivision and site plan decisions. In addition, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has certified the Rutgers center as an “approved provider” of the department’s mandatory basic training course in land use law and planning. For more information and to order copies of the manual, call the Center for Government Services at 732-932-3640, ext. 628 or e-mail
info@cgs.rutgers.edu.
PEOPLE IN THE KNOW
If you'd like to know more about:
New Jersey’s Hospital Funding, contact DEREK DELIA, assistant professor and senior policy analyst at the Center for State Healthy Policy (CSHP) at Rutgers. Delia can comment of his recent study
“Evaluation of the Hospital Charity Care Program in New Jersey” which found that subsidies provided through New Jersey’s Hospital Charity Care Program and two related programs play a pivotal role in maintaining the financial solvency of many of the state’s general care hospitals. Contact DeLia at 9732) 932-4671 or by email at
ddelia@cshp.rutgers.edu.
Looking for Rutgers expertise on a particular topic? Browse the
Rutgers Speakers Bureau:
http://ur.rutgers.edu/speakers/
For additional information and news, click on the following links:
Questions and comments, please contact
staterel@oldqueens.rutgers.edu
