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NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 21, 2003
CONTACT: Jeanne Oswald
(609) 292-4310

Commission Adopts First Stage of Long-Range Plan for Higher Education

The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education today adopted Stage 1 of New Jersey’s long-range plan for higher education: A Blueprint for Excellence. The plan calls for a new compact between higher education and the state to prepare more students for the future, support economic development, and enhance quality of life in New Jersey.

“The approval of Stage 1 of the plan is the result of a collaborative process among all segments of the higher education community and other stakeholders,” said Laurence M. Downes, chairman of the Commission. “It is the first step in creating a template for the future of higher education in the state.”

The plan’s vision calls for a system of higher education that is among the best in the world. Seven principal state objectives are identified to achieve the vision:

  • Achieving greater levels of excellence
  • Increasing capacity to serve more students
  • Expanding student financial aid
  • Providing adequate and predictable state operating and capital support
  • Enhancing collaboration with the P-12 community and among institutions
  • Creating innovative partnerships with business and other sectors
  • Expanding research and excellence at the public research universities
(A complete list of the seven objectives is attached.)

Consistent with its statutory responsibility, the Commission on Higher Education is facilitating the development of the long-range plan. Work began in April 2002 through an open, collaborative process involving the New Jersey Presidents’ Council, representatives from institutional boards of trustees, and hundreds of other stakeholders.

“I am grateful to the many individuals who contributed their time and talents to this dynamic process and look forward to continued collaboration through Stage 2,” said Mr. Downes. The broad-based commitment to a high-quality higher education system is critical to the state’s economic competitiveness and well-being.”

With the adoption of the plan today, initial implementation will get underway. At the same time, the Long-Range Plan Steering Committee will begin Stage 2 of the planning process, further developing performance measures and integrating recommendations regarding public research universities and economic development.

(Stage 1 of the plan, A Blueprint for Excellence, is available, in Adobe PDF format, by clicking HERE.)

# # #

A BLUEPRINT FOR EXCELLENCE
New Jersey’s Long-Range Plan for Higher Education

PRINCIPAL STATE OBJECTIVES

I.
Achieve and sustain higher levels of excellence in teaching and learning, research, and public service in all sectors, valuing differences in institutional missions and using resources effectively and efficiently.
II.
Support targeted, multi-faceted increases in capacity and specific state and campus programs to (1) prepare a growing and increasingly diverse population for responsible citizenship in a democratic society, and (2) attract more New Jersey students to New Jersey institutions and prepare them for high-demand occupations.
III.
Support financial aid programs that enable New Jersey students from all backgrounds to afford higher education of high quality.
IV.
Establish and implement funding policies and methodologies that provide sufficient and reasonably predictable state operating support and ongoing state capital investments for the public research universities, state colleges and universities, community colleges, and independent institutions to provide the fundamental infrastructure necessary to achieve the state’s vision for higher education.
V.
Encourage and enhance coordination and collaboration between and among all educational institutions in the state, including P-12 schools and associate and baccalaureate degree-granting institutions, to facilitate transition from each educational level to the next, to develop mutually beneficial partnerships, and to improve the quality of teaching and learning at all levels.
VI.
Encourage and expedite systemic, innovative, and institutionalized partnerships and other collaborations between higher education and other sectors of society, including business and industry, the non-profit sector, and the public sector to help meet the state’s most pressing workforce needs and to develop nationally competitive programs of research and development.
VII.

Restructure the public research universities to improve (1) the overall educational excellence of the universities, (2) collaboration in teaching, research, and service, and (3) the state’s competitiveness for federal and other support for biomedical, biotechnology, and related research.

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Commission on Higher Education
PO Box 542
Trenton, NJ 08625-0542
Last Updated:November 21, 2003
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