Giving Rutgers its own medical school was the easy part. Will Christie go for a University of South Jersey? And what happens to what’s left of UMDNJ?
By Mark J. Magyar
This is the second article in a two-part series
For Gov. Chris Christie, deciding to merge Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the School of Public Health, and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey into Rutgers University to give the state’s flagship university its own medical school was the easy decision.
Understandably, officials at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and their allies in Newark and Essex County were not happy about Christie’s quick – although not unexpected — decision. It took away three of UMDNJ’s major schools in order to immediately implement the merger recommendation of his UMDNJ Advisory Committee.
For Christie, the tough decisions now revolve around what to do with what’s left of UMDNJ. Should , other mergers of higher education institutions be considered? And how can he satisfy the regional interests of George Norcross and Joseph DiVincenzo, the powerful South Jersey and Essex County Democratic leaders whose continued support the Republican governor needs to continue to advance his agenda in what is still expected to be a Democratic-controlled legislature after the election?
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