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Pres. McCormick speaks

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Here are McCormick's seven stated priorities, along with some analysis: 1.Reunite the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School with Rutgers; - McCormick is optimistic that the Christie administration will be on board with the desperately-needed merger. 2.Improve our students’ academic achievement and their graduation rates; - New Brunswick will lower enrollment next year by 4%, which will both ease overcrowding, and improve the university's academic reputation. If they're going to forgo those tuition dollars, then fundraising must be going well, and the administration is optimistic about the higher ed bond passing. 3.Increase funding for research; - see point 2. This is wonderful, and sorely needed, but resources are as always a question. 4.Extend our international reach in strategically selected countries; - this is another way to pad their coffers considering that many foreign students come from relatively well-off backgrounds. Rutgers of course is a natural partner with India and China given local demographics in New Jersey. 5.Bolster our faculty by adding many more endowed chairs; - it's about time, considering the past few years of faculty raids given the budget crisis. Hope the money pans out for this. 6.Expand and improve our campus facilities; - apparently the plan is to get a higher education bond on the ballot in November, 2012. 7.Increase private giving to achieve our ambitions. - all of the above objectives are not going to happen in a vacuum. Alumni are going to have to open their checkbook in a way that they have historically not been inclined to do. It's hard to find much to fault McCormick for in his stated list of priorities. He's always had a good handle on a vision for the future of Rutgers moving forward. At points the implementation of that vision has been sloppy, and Rutgers students and alumni will have to adjust their expectations accordingly with that giant caveat in mind.