Observer

Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: News

Chancellor Diner

In a room full of anxious faculty and staff awaiting news on the developments from the previous academic years, Chancellor Steven Diner gave his annual state of the school address on Oct. 2.

The first concern addressed by Diner were the possible effects from the Wall Street Crisis. Due to the government's need of money, he explained, the possibility of a recession can arise.

If a recession does occur the government can take back some of the state funding they have given to the university, which could lead to the university seeing lower endowments. Overall, the change may further reduce the budget of spending for the departments on campus.

Diner also addressed the hundredth anniversary of the Law School. To commemorate the event the first ever Rutgers-Newark Founders Day Celebration will be celebrated on Oct. 7, which serves to give special recognition to over two hundred R-N Alumni who now work as part of the campus' faculty and staff and other alumni who have already graduated.

Diner went on to boast of this year's increase in enrollment: last year, 10,550 students were enrolled at R-N, while the number has grown to 11,000 this year. The Chancellor noted that the increase in high school graduates and parents slowly losing their fear of Newark helped contribute to the rise in enrollment.

One of the main themes of the annual address was diversity. It came as no surprise when Diner announced that U.S. News and World Report had picked R-N as the most diverse campus for the twelfth year in a row.

The data collected from last year's freshman survey showed a great difference in religion in comparison to other college campuses. Out of the 2007 freshman class, 11% were Hindu, 9% were Muslim, and 3.3% were of Eastern Orthodox. The national average for these religions usually is less then 1%.

Another issue addressed was the new business school on 1 Washington Park is almost near completion. Talks are currently underway with other universities in the area to see if a mega bookstore would benefit the students.

The current idea for the store would involve a location somewhere on Broad Street. Another big change coming to the area is the new establishment of Sbarro. The pizzeria is currently under construction at University Square. Students will be able to visit it next to NJ Books once it opens.

Research was another major theme of the address. Diner began by mentioning that the executive MBA program at R-N has been ranked 19th in the world. He then went onto say how the programs at R-N are beginning to grow with the completion of the final floors in the scientific research building. The chemistry floor will be finished soon and the biology floor will start soon after.

Talks of a child care center were also mentioned for students with children. Further changes being made will affect classrooms. Three million dollars are being spent towards classroom upgrades.

A smart class will be added, one of the lecture halls will be renovated with new seats, lighting, technology, and air conditioning and five of the smaller classrooms on campus will be turned into seminar rooms. Finally, the opening of deck three has a tentative date of fall 2010. Due to hazardous conditions and zoning codes, the deck will not be ready for quite some time.

Diner ended the annual address by saying that the campus is about to see "brighter days." With more students enrolling, new construction being done on campus, improvements to departments, and more programs opening up, it's hard not to be excited.

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