By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer. The Record.
Rutgers University would absorb most of New Jersey’s beleaguered medical university under a brokered deal announced Monday that Governor Christie now expects to be fast-tracked to meet his July 1 deadline for massive reorganization of higher education in the state.
Under the proposed legislation, the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark and New Brunswick — including its sizeable debt, but excluding University Hospital – would be absorbed by Rutgers.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark and New Brunswick – including its sizeable debt, but not its University Hospital – would be absorbed by Rutgers; Rowan University in Glassboro would be designated a major research university in South Jersey by partnering it with Rutgers-Camden, which will be granted autonomy from the flagship in New Brunswick.
Rutgers in Newark would also become more autonomous after its paring with the state medical schools in that city – a move advocated by North Jersey Democrats.
After months of public hearings and largely private negotiations involving some of the biggest political players in the state – including South Jersey power broker George Norcross, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and, most recently, the Democratic contingent from North Jersey — the bill made public provides a legislative framework for Christie’s overhaul plan.
And it will be decided in the coming weeks as Christie and Sweeney negotiate another top priority for the Republican governor, the start of his 10 percent income tax cut. Both the merger and the tax cut must be approved by Democrats who control the Senate and Assembly.
This bill, sponsored by Sweeny, D-Gloucester, goes farther in breaking up the medical school than what Christie originally sought and it also would significantly alter the way Rutgers is governed and managed – unmooring the Camden and Newark campuses from central control in New Brunswick.
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