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A lack of public support for the proposed merge of Rutgers University's Camden campus into Rowan University may stem from a missing assessment of benefits, along with a rush to combine the issue with the proposed merge of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in Newark, into Rutgers.
That's how Daniel Thomas Cook, media campaign head of the Rutgers Council of American Association of University Professors Chapters and associate professor of childhood studies at Rutgers-Camden, interprets a Rutgers-Eagleton poll, released earlier today, that shows 57 percent of New Jerseyans oppose the Rutgers-Rowan merger. Seventy-one percent of South Jersey residents oppose such a merge, according to the poll of 914 registered New Jersey voters.
"We thought those living in South Jersey would be more supportive than most, since the proposal is put forward as significant enhancement for the region," Rutgers-Eagleton poll director David Redlawsk said in prepared remarks. "But the reality is this is a deeply disliked proposal. Governor (Chris) Christie's plan to merge Rowan and Rutgers-Camden may be the most unpopular idea he has put forward to date."
According to Cook and a Rowan representative, the opposition stems from a lack of information about the effects of the proposed merger, which would consolidate Rowan and Cooper Medical School of Rowan, and eliminate Rutgers' undergraduate, law and business schools at Camden.
"As more information gets out and people see that there's actually no concrete plan from Christie's report, people are realizing that it will be a great loss to southern New Jersey and Rutgers as a whole," Cook said. "Rutgers-Camden goes deep in South Jersey roots, and it has a great value to the people here. … If everything associated with Rutgers is taken away from the area — from the education value and statewide resources, to the Rutgers name on degrees — then potential students with strong credentials will leave."
According to Cook, members of the Rutgers AAUP support a consortium between Rutgers-Camden and Rowan to share university resources, but still maintain Rutgers' identity in Camden — a proposal they planned to offer during today's board of governors meeting.
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