NJ Governor wants to merge TESC into Rutgers

Interesting. As a 1994 graduate of TESC, I did not get my email yet...hummmm. I am not sure what I think of this. I know a couple of years ago North Carolina Wesleyan College was approached by UNC system to become UNC-Rocky Mount. They (NCWC) soundly turned it down.

Edit: I just got the email.

 

I could be happy with a Rutgers University on my diploma....LOL

 

To further my thoughts, I was against North Carolina Wesleyan College going to the UNC system because it was private and the smallness is what attracted me to it in the first place. (http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/18th-school-could-join-unc-system) I did not want the school to lose it. As much as I love the UNC system, (North Carolina Central University is part of it), I thought they should and are staying private. Now with Thomas Edison, I could see the real possibility of this happening. Sure, TESC would lose what it had been a pioneer in ( well, maybe not), but gosh with Rutgers on a diploma....LOL

 

Me too. I like the new last paragraph:

I wonder how we will be asked to help? I know if they ask me to write to NJ state officials on their behalf I will promptly dispatch a letter in support of the merger!

 

As a former TESC grad the only thing I fear is probably the worst case scenario, TESC becomes a college under Rutgers, it becomes a less attractive possibility to students due to implemented changes (including potentially a residency requirement), and eventually shuts down. Oh well, I guess as long as I have a way to continue obtaining transcripts to validate my degree it really doesn't matter. I've never laid eyes on the campus, didn't attend graduation, and don't really have that deep connection to it... it was simply a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

 

I don't think Rutgers likes the idea either

This is from the TESC board

Link: http://president.rutgers.edu/letter_031710.shtml

Full Text:State Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2010–2011
(March 17, 2010)

Members of the Rutgers Community:
Yesterday Governor Christie presented his budget proposal for fiscal year 2010–11. The governor’s plan addresses a multibillion-dollar structural deficit in the state budget through funding cuts in many areas, including state executive departments and aid to public schools, towns, and colleges. For example, the governor’s proposed budget reduces school aid by $819 million, municipal aid by $445 million, and aid to higher education by $173 million.

Under this proposal, Rutgers’ direct state operating aid in 2010–11 would be cut 15.1 percent and therefore would be $46.6 million lower than the university’s original appropriation for the current fiscal year. In actual dollars, Rutgers’ operating aid would be the lowest the university has received since 1994. The governor’s proposed budget also does not provide funding for the salary increases that were negotiated between Rutgers and its bargaining units last year.

In addition, the proposed state budget reduces funding for Tuition Aid Grants and the Educational Opportunity Fund and does not provide funding for incoming freshmen in the NJ STARS scholarship program.

Given the depth of the state’s fiscal crisis, these budget cuts are not a surprise. Indeed, Governor Christie made clear when he visited the New Brunswick Campus last fall that the state’s fiscal problems would make a cut in higher education funding unavoidable. It will, nonetheless, be very difficult for Rutgers to absorb these proposed reductions, following so many years of state budget cuts, including the $18.5 million midyear rescission the governor announced last month.

Managing the proposed reductions will require greater efficiencies, hard choices, and shared sacrifice. We are firmly committed to preserving the academic core of the institution and to the delivery of outstanding instruction to our students, recognizing that this is made possible by the hard work of all our faculty and staff. We also know that we cannot solve the problem by transferring the burden of these cuts primarily to our students and their families. In the weeks ahead, as the state budget is deliberated and finalized in Trenton, we will formulate our responses inclusively, and with a primary focus on protecting Rutgers’ core missions and values. Beginning tomorrow, I will convene the university’s senior leadership to lay out plans to meet this challenge.

As we make difficult decisions on our campuses, Rutgers will also continue to make its case assertively in Trenton. We will inform policymakers that while public universities across America face cuts in the midst of a global recession, New Jersey is among the three states that have seen the greatest losses in state higher education appropriations per full-time equivalent student over the past five years. We will point out that funding higher education is an investment that drives economic expansion and opportunity; indeed, we are an essential part of the process of stimulating needed job growth that the governor and legislature must develop.

The governor has also proposed to merge Rutgers with Thomas Edison State College, stating that “the combination will allow new classroom-based services for students in Trenton, while leveraging the two institutions’ distance learning programming.” Under this unsolicited proposal, Rutgers also would take over the operations of the State Library and State Museum. Rutgers appreciates the confidence expressed in us by the governor’s proposal, and we will explore how these excellent institutions could be aligned with Rutgers to strengthen and enhance the missions of all. However, the task of vetting this proposal and performing due diligence will require consultation within and beyond the university community and would ultimately require approval by our boards of governors and trustees.

Rutgers’ enormous budget challenges will call on all of us to work even harder to sustain the high-quality education and cutting-edge research that our faculty provides and the supportive environment for learning and scholarship that our staff ensures. As our record numbers of applications and enrollments attest, the public has recognized Rutgers’ success in preparing students to contribute significantly to our state and the world. The extraordinary record we have achieved in winning grants to support our research attests to our competitiveness on a global scale. In the months ahead we will all be challenged to sustain what Rutgers has become—and that can only be achieved by our working together. I ask, and I know I can count on, your help.


Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

 

This was from when UNC Board Of Governors wanted North Carolina Wesleyan College. I do think it is relevant.


Dear Wesleyan Alumni:



As many of you are aware, a recent independent study has been conducted by the UNC System to determine if Wesleyan should become a 17th member of the UNC System. A statement was released yesterday from Wesleyan’s President, Dr. Ian Newbould.

Tom Maze

Director of Development & Alumni Affairs

North Carolina Wesleyan College Response to the

Leutze Commission Report on the UNC System Needs



For the past several months, North Carolina Wesleyan College has been involved with the study to determine if a UNC campus should be established in Rocky Mount. Chancellor Leutze’s Report, made public earlier this week, has concluded that several issues prompt the Commission to recommend against that possibility. The Report concludes that the cost of establishing a UNC campus could not be justified when measured against what the Commission regards as an insufficient number of qualified high school graduates in the region. Moreover, the Commission determined that the recently-announced eighteen month study to determine how the UNC System could accommodate future growth, and what delivery models and locations might be required, should be completed before any recommendations could be made.

Throughout all of this, The College has been prepared, and continues to be prepared, to continue to do what is has done during its first fifty years – to serve the educational needs and aspirations of eastern North Carolina. Our College is in a stronger position than it has ever been, and our plans for growth and development continue. Applications are twenty-five percent higher than last year. This summer, we plan to break ground on a major library expansion that will double the size of the Elizabeth Braswell Pearsall Library. An agreement with the Hyvinkaa-Riihimaki Educational Region of Finland should see our international student population grow beyond our current complement of students from over one dozen countries. The recent appointments of Mr. Malcolm Woodall, Vice President of Development, and of Dr. John Thornell, Vice President of Academic Affairs, set the stage for our next phase of economic and academic growth. The College enters its second half century with optimism and opportunity. We are proud of what has been achieved, and look forward to continued service to the citizens of eastern North Carolina and beyond.

 

One thing that could cause the proposal to fail would be opposition from the Rutgers community.

There are obviously a lot of well-connected Rutgers alumni in New Jersey. And many seem skeptical (at best) about the potential merger with TESC, as per the following quotes from a message board that covers Rutgers issues:

 

Suppose TESC does become part of Rutgers and loses some of its flexibility. Will the DL world lose much that's not available at Excelsior and COSC? There was a big TESC advantage before Excelsior started offering its own courses and financial aid, but now you're basically paying more than twice the cost of Excelsior for the same service. Hopefully the TECEP exams and FEMA transfers will continue, but otherwise there's not much you can't get for less money elsewhere.

 

TESC offered the best of both those schools, being a state school with actual majors. Their customer service stunk, but you can't have it all.

 

Tesc is Cheap for NJ Residents

TESC is not a new college or a new idea, it has been around since the 70's. TESC will take all 120 credits as transfer credits. I graduated with my AA from TESC with only 3 credits from them. I will graduate with my BA with only 9 credits from 2 classes taken at TESC. I will have a 3.9 GPA and if I had planned better I could have Paid only ~$2000 to TESC. That is notas possible elswhere

 

Excelsior has many majors in the arts and sciences, business, technology and healthcare. COSC is a state school. TESC does have both majors and state school status.

 

If NJ does make this move it could be something really big. Rutgers could be the first state flagship with a full selection of DL majors! That's a real opportunity. They could call it something like "The Thomas Edison School of Continuing Studies" or something similar so that Rutgers's existing degrees could retain a higher level of prestige.

 

Revised worst-case scenario:

State: We want to eliminate funding for TESC, and move its functions to Rutgers.

Rutgers: We have no interest in taking over TESC's job, especially without any funding. And our large, New Jersey-based pool of students and alumni will be very unhappy with any politician who tries to force it on us.

State: Oh. Well, in that case, we may have to shut down TESC, without replacing its functions. This may alienate TESC students and alumni, but that's safer than alienating Rutgers students and alumni. The TESC community is much smaller, and many of them are located out of state, so they don't vote in New Jersey elections anyway.

 

As a North Carolina Wesleyan College grad I was against the merger also. But NCWC was able to form a partnership with ECU and NC State via the Gateway Technology center:
http://www.gatewaytechnologycenter.org/

 

So, Behemoth State University wants to gobble up the SLAC?

 

If it merges?

If it merges would we now get our transcripts from Rutgers? If it dissolves where would we request transcripts from?

 

I recognized TESC's president, George Pruitt. He's a Union grad, where he earned the Ph.D.

 

Dr. Pruitt enrolled in the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities (UECU) doctoral program. He earned his Ph.D. from the UECU in 1976, and today, Dr. Pruitt serves as president of Thomas Edison State College.
In his words:

I don't think you have many programs like this today, taking life knowledge and work experience in to account at Doctoral level.

 

An update today from the Trenton Times. TESC is clearly against the proposed merger. Highlights below.