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While Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed 6 percent increase in direct aid to public colleges and universities would be useful for tuition support, I would urge our governor, a formidable former prosecutor, to revisit the deeper issues of governance, oversight and accountability in New Jersey’s higher education system.

The New Jersey Commission of Investigation, chaired by the late Attorney General W. Cary Edwards, a man of foresight and integrity, warned us in its thorough, illuminating investigative report that the present system is vulnerable to abuse. Now is the time to revisit this report and to implement its findings.

Isn’t the documented corruption at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and other institutions — including the happenings at Kean University — sufficient to establish that the current system of higher education is vulnerable to abuse? Isn’t it a shame that students at Kean University had to march to Sen. Raymond Lesniak’s office to seek redress for their grievances (“Kean’s decision to keep president spurs student protest,” Feb. 17)? Isn’t it time to establish a mechanism for effective oversight?

I urge the governor to revisit Edward’s findings. In the long run, that could be his lasting legacy.

Mervyn D’Souza, Edison

from http://blog.nj.com/ledgerletters/2012/02/nj_needs_more_oversight_accoun.html

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