NEWARK — Should Rutgers University take over part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey? Should New Jersey Institute of Technology open its own medical school? Who should oversee Newark’s University Hospital? Those are some of the big questions that will be decided by Sept. 1 by a newly appointed task force, Gov. Chris Christie said...
NEWARK — Should Rutgers University take over part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey? Should New Jersey Institute of Technology open its own medical school? Who should oversee Newark’s University Hospital?
Those are some of the big questions that will be decided by Sept. 1 by a newly appointed task force, Gov. Chris Christie said Monday.
The Governor named five people to the UMDNJ Advisory Committee to consider multiple changes to graduate medical education across the state. Earlier this year, another task force, chaired by former Gov. Tom Kean, proposed giving one of UMDNJ’s medical schools to Rutgers.
The new committee will be chaired by Sol Barer, executive chairman of Celgene, a biotechnology company. Barer, of Mendham, has a doctorate in organic chemistry from Rutgers and serves on the university’s board of trustees.
The other members of the committee are: Robert Campbell, former vice chairman of Johnson & Johnson; Joyce Wilson Harley, Essex County Administrator; Anthony Perno, president and chief executive of Cooper’s Ferry Development Association; and Harold Shapiro, former president of Princeton University.
The members, who will not be paid, will solicit opinions from the public, the UMDNJ community, health care institutions and other parties before they make their final recommendation to Christie, state officials said. The committee will also consider combining various nursing schools around the state and dividing pieces of UMDNJ among colleges in North Jersey and South Jersey.
This will be at least the third time New Jersey has considered breaking up or merging UMDNJ with other schools. Similar proposals were discussed by task forces and legislative committees in 2003 and 2006 before the idea was abandoned.
Rutgers and UMDNJ officials were optimistic about the new committee, though they are on opposite sides of the issue. Rutgers is pushing to take over UMDNJ’s 650-student Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. UMDNJ officials are reluctant to break up their university.
"UMDNJ shares a common goal — helping the committee reach recommendations that will improve higher education and specifically medical education and health care in New Jersey," said Jeffrey Tolvin, a UMDNJ spokesman.
Richard McCormick, Rutgers’ president, called the new committee strong and experienced.
"Most important, it is comprised of individuals with open minds who will surely fulfill the governor’s charge to identify and investigate how New Jersey would benefit from developing a world-class medical education system and the best ways to achieve that important goal," McCormick said.
Union members at UMDNJ said they were disappointed no representatives of organized labor were named to the committee. "Front line workers . . . should be part of the conversation," said Jean Pierce, a public policy staffer with the Health Professional Allied Employees, which represents 4,000 employees at UMDNJ. "We certainly encourage them to have public hearings."
Any major higher education changes will probably need to be backed by Christie and approved by the state Legislature and the schools’ governing boards.
On Monday, Christie also named a separate Higher Education Council to advise him on all higher education matters. The five-member council will be chaired by John McGoldrick, the chairman of Zimmer Holdings, who served on the previous higher education task force with Kean.
The other members are: Anne Evans Estabrook, chief executive of Elberon Development; Patricia Nachtigal, former vice chairwoman of the Rutgers Board of Governors; John Wefing, law professor at Seton Hall University; and Richard Wellbrock, former chairman of Raritan Valley Community College Board of Trustees and chairman of Hilltop Community Bank of Summit.
Each member will serve for five years, the governor said. They will not be paid.
Star-Ledger staff writer Ginger Gibson contributed to this report.