Dean's Letter
Scholarly Activities of the Dean's Office
Office of Development
Research Centers and Initiatives
Academic Departments and Programs
Undergraduate Programs
The Graduate School
Student Services
Appendices
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The Center for Children and Childhood Studies had an exciting year, with new funding, new initiatives, and new colleagues. Senior Program Director Angela Connor received a major grant of
$473,000 from the William Penn Foundation to continue her work on
the Professional Development Pathways Initiative for childcare workers
in Camden. This project fosters the professional development of
childcare workers, helping them become better able to support the
development of Camden’s children. Angela’s work continues
to earn her accolades throughout the state. Juveniles and the Justice System The Center aims to encourage the integration of high quality research with practice. Toward this end, the Center for Children and Childhood Studies sponsored (along with the law school) the seminar series “Rethinking Childhood: Juveniles and the Justice System.” The series focused on issues surrounding juvenile incarceration and explored new ways of dealing with youth in the justice system. Over 200 attendees participated in the four events that were held during the spring semester. Topics consisted of:
Young Adult Authors Panel Three exciting young adult writers discussed writing novels, finding publishers, and building successful literary careers in a panel discussion moderated by Lauren Grodstein, Assistant Professor of English and author of the young adult novel Girls Dinner Club. In addition to the panel discussion, the authors also spoke to an undergraduate creative writing class. The authors were: Mary Hogan, the author of Perfect Girl, The Serious Kiss, Susanna
Sees Stars, Susanna Hits Hollywood, and the upcoming Susanna Covers
the Catwalk and Pretty Face. African-American Illustrators Exhibition The Center co-sponsored an artist lecture and elementary school visit of artist Adjoa Burrowes, who was featured in the Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts exhibition “Picture Stories: A Celebration of African-American Illustrators.” Ms. Burrowes spoke at the opening reception for the exhibition on her work and the place of African-American illustrators in children’s literature. Her visit concluded with teaching two art classes at H.B. Wilson School in Camden, where the students created works based on Ms. Burrowes’ most popular book, Grandma’s Purple Flowers, which discusses how a young girl deals with the death of her grandmother. Website on Childhood and Migration Launched The Center supported the creation of an international website focused on the issues of childhood and migration. The founders of the website, which include Cati Coe, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, seek to study and report on issues such as how migration changes children's notions of self, strategies that parents and families use to handle child-rearing when they find they must migrate, and changing notions of childhood across cultures. The fifty-eight scholars affiliated with the site are especially interested in informing and reforming how societies can better nurture children's natural capabilities, inclinations and needs, specifically as they are interrupted or altered by migration. Infant Research Lab Under the direction of Dr. Sean Duffy, a developmental psychologist who specializes in infant perception, the Center supported the creation of an infant study laboratory. The lab will explore a variety of questions about how infants see the world. Dr. Duffy’s research addresses how infants understand continuous quantities such as size, length, or distance. His research has shown that the ability to encode the object size develops much earlier than previously thought, and that features of the visual environment help bootstrap what eventually becomes the ability to measure. Rutgers University Press Series on Childhood Studies Three new books have been added to the Rutgers University Press book series in childhood studies. Imagined Orphans: Poor Families, Child Welfare, and Contested Citizenship in London by Lydia Murdoch explores the discrepancy between the representation and reality of children’s experiences within welfare institutions in Victorian London. The second book released was Vietnam’s Children in a Changing World by Rachel Burr. Using ethnographic material gathered on the streets of Vietnam, from international aid agencies, orphanages, reform schools, and Vietnamese governmental organizations, Burr explores the complex lives of children who work and live on the streets in urban Vietnam. The most recently released book, Girls in Trouble with the Law by Laurie Schaffner, offers an in-depth look at the life of adolescent girls in secure juvenile facilities across the United States. The 2007-2008 academic year will include the release of several new books on children and the spaces they work, live and play in; children and religion; the origins of girls’ organizations in the US; and adolescents and sexual education. Also slated to be released through the series is a book by Rutgers’ own Jane Siegel, Associate Professor of Criminology. The book series in childhood studies is edited by Dr. Myra Bluebond-Langner, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Founding Director of the Center for Children and Childhood Studies. Awards Center Director and Professor of Psychology Daniel Hart and his colleague, Assistant Professor of Nursing (Newark) Robert Atkins, received recognition for their work with the Camden STARR Program (Sports Teaching Adolescents Responsibility and Resiliency). The Camden STARR Program seeks to foster the development of responsibility and resiliency in young teenagers from Camden through sports, community service, academic enrichment and the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with caring consistent adults. The two were recognized by both the Campbell Soup Foundation and the Philadelphia 76ers as “Hometown Heroes.”
CENTER FOR STATE CONSTITUTIONAL STUDIES In 2007, the Center for State Constitutional Studies celebrated its tenth anniversary as a formally recognized center at Rutgers University. In 2006-2007, the Center’s research continued to have national and international impact. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center, coauthored the seventh edition of American Constitutional Law, as well as law review articles and book chapters. His book, Understanding State Constitutions, was translated into Spanish and published in Mexico, and he contributed book chapters on state constitutions that were translated into Spanish and published in Spain and Mexico. Robert Williams, Associate Director of the Center, published the fourth edition of State Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials, the leading textbook on the topic. His writings also appeared in leading law reviews and, translated into Spanish, in a volume published in Mexico. Several states have called upon the Center's expertise with regard
to constitutional reform. Professor Tarr served as primary academic
consultant on the American Bar Association's State Court Assessment
Project, which analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the Missouri
court system. Professor Williams delivered the keynote address at
a conference at Marquette University that focused on the reform
of the Wisconsin Constitution. He also testified before the Joint
Committee on Constitutional Reform and Citizens Property Tax Constitutional
Convention of the New Jersey Legislature and before the State Government
Committee of the Pennsylvania Senate.
The MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES (MARCH) During the past academic year, MARCH has achieved a critical mass in outside support through three major grants and a generous gift to extend publication of the newsletter a second year. These investments have allowed the organization to diversify its audience as well as to attain increased visibility. The next challenge is to review the two-year strategic plan coming to a close and to adjust the goals set for the last three years in the five-year plan adopted in 2005. Through investment in the newsletter, which goes out to more than a thousand readers in paper form and another 450 electronically, MARCH has found a powerful means for cementing relations: reporting best practices, conveying news across jurisdictions and disciplines, and opening doors for new relationships. As the first volume came to an end, we found increased interest from organizations wanting to be represented. We hope over the coming year to use that interest to help us broaden our funding base as well as to initiate new collaborative efforts. Back issues of Cross Ties are archived on our website, and we find activity goes up on the site when a new issue is published, suggesting that after some experimentation we have found the right balance in our communications strategy. Over the year, we managed to secure enough funding and more to sustain Shan Holt’s role as director of programs. With support from the 1772 Foundation, described below, we have been able to test a set of diagnostic tools she has developed to help cultural organizations better manage their finances. It is our hope that over time MARCH can offer such analysis to clients for a fee that will serve to boost the organization’s revenue stream. To develop this service, MARCH drew on the advice of area cultural administrators, including advisory council member Barbara Irvine, and then acting dean of the Rutgers Business School Bill Reynolds, who has since joined MARCH’s university steering committee. Ford Foundation. Through a third round in funding, this time in the amount of $90,000, MARCH supported the ongoing documentation of the cities of Camden and Richmond, California by Camilo Jose Vergara. Although work continued in Camden, the focus shifted initially to Richmond, a second Ford target city, where MARCH organized a conference in October on regional equity issues in cooperation with the departments of geography and urban planning at the University of California-Berkeley. Among those responding to Vergara’s web-based portfolio of the city were Brown University’s Robert Self, UC-Santa Cruz’s Manuel Pastor, and University College-Dublin’s Liam Kennedy. In the transition to developing a web-based “encyclopedia of the American ghetto,” Vergara added some 400 photos of Harlem to the invincible cities website, thereby promising to draw an even greater audience. An application to the Open Society for future funding was turned down, but Vergara will continue his work in the coming year as a research fellow at the New York Public Library. Additionally, MARCH has continued to maintain close relations with foundations supporting Camden’s revitalization, as Howard Gillette hosted and participated in meetings on workforce development in October, and opportunities for philanthropy in January. The first conference was supported jointly by the Ford and Annie E. Casey foundations. They were joined in the second conference by the Wachovia Regional Foundation and the councils of Delaware Valley and New Jersey grantmakers. New Jersey Humanities Council. MARCH offered teacher workshops in the summer of 2006 with the support of a $5000 grant, one on New Jersey literature, by Tyler Hoffman, and the other on the formation of early American institutions, by Andrew Shankman. A further grant of $35,000 came to support a Clemente interdisciplinary course in American history for Camden-area residents of limited means who have never made their way to college. Offered with the support of Bard College and in cooperation with Cooper Hospital, this course has drawn 28 students to seminars involving Rutgers and area scholars. Shan Holt organized the course syllabus and launched the effort. Diane Turner, having recently left a position at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, subsequently assumed the position as course director. We expect to work with Diane on other related projects, as part of a larger workforce development effort in the greater Camden area. 1772 Foundation. Thanks to a $25,000 grant, MARCH program director Shan Holt has organized a year-long consulting effort with six major historical organizations (D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Brooklyn). Each faces especially acute financial and/or organizational issues, which were addressed in a preliminary meeting at Rutgers in February. Also participating were Rutgers public history graduate students and advisory council members Nancy Davis, Martin Sullivan, and Barbara Irvine. Working with the graduate students, who have been given their own training in financial analysis, Holt will use her diagnostic assessments to point to particular actions that can pave the way to greater sustainability, whether in the area of earned income, membership, or some other fundamental aspect of operations. The results of the first stage of analysis will be used both as the basis for a second conference and as a mode of expanding MARCH’s service to other cultural organizations. Once this grant period is over, we will seek longer term funding to help launch this phase in MARCH operations. National Endowment for the Humanities. Working with a Bethlehem-based
coalition of cultural organizations, MARCH has secured a $45,000
grant to develop an interpretive plan at the 120-acre site of Bethlehem
Steel. Drawing together national and regional scholars with local
stakeholders, this planning grant builds around a June conference
co-sponsored in Bethlehem by the city government, from which will
derive a broad-based plan for interpreting industrial heritage associated
with but not confined to the site, which is now slated for mixed
use retail and casino development. As in the historical societies
project, Rutgers graduate students are involved in doing preliminary
research for the conference on other regional industrial sites and
how their stories could be linked to Bethlehem’s own interpretation.
Outside consultants include representatives of the Smithsonian Institution,
Lehigh University, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
This model heritage site promises to set a new standard for heritage
tourism through partnership with private investment partners. At the initiative of MARCH director Gillette, the National Constitution Center hosted an exhibit of photographs by Jonathan Hyman to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Program director Shan Holt represented MARCH on a panel discussing regional historical work at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians in Minneapolis. Finally, the New Jersey Historical Commission commended MARCH Director Howard Gillette at its November 2006 conference for his work with MARCH, most notably in Camden. That recognition, combined with the university’s top service award in May, has provided necessary statewide recognition for MARCH’s vital role in the state, recognition we seek to further extend to the other participating states.
THE SENATOR WALTER RAND INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS For the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs (WRI), the 2006 – 2007 academic year was one of continued organizational development and enhanced service to the South Jersey region. WRI also continued its commitment to providing financial support along with significant professional development and research opportunities for students on our campus. This past year due to university budget cuts, WRI lost one of two associate director positions. The individual in the remaining position, John Hart, accepted an offer to serve as Chief of Staff at the NJ Department of Education. However, we were able to recruit a very strong replacement, Gwendolyn Harris. Ms. Harris is completing her Ph.D. at the Bloustein School of Public Policy and has a distinguished career in public service and non-profit leadership. She has served as the Business Administrator for the City of Trenton and Commissioner of the NJ Department of Human Services. Jennifer Ping (M.P.A.) and Tracy Swan (M.P.A.) are project managers, having progressed from research interns to these professional positions. At the end of 2006-07 it was decided that WRI would report to the Dean of FAS and align more closely with the Department of Public Policy and Administration (DPPA). Specifically, it was agreed that the Faculty Director for WRI will be a tenured member of the DPPA and consult closely with the DPPA Chair. In addition, the DPPA’s proposal for a doctoral program in Public Affairs will place graduate fellows in applied research positions with the Institute. As in previous years, WRI hosted a scholarship fundraiser to support student interns. This year’s event was held at the Camden County Boathouse and honored Congressman Robert Andrews, Provost Roger Dennis, and Reverend Albert Kelly (President and CEO of the Tri-County Alliance) as South Jerseyans of the Year. The event raised $36,000 in scholarship support for students to work applied research and public service projects. The students working at the Institute in 2006-07 were: Adam Huron (D.P.P.A.); Thomas Beaver (D.P.P.A.); Anne Martinez (C.J.); Ysaura Rodriguez (C.J.); Derek Sexton (Liberal Studies); Tatiana Poladko (D.P.P.A.); Atnre Alleyne (D.P.P.A.); Jason Rivera (D.P.P.A.); and Tanya Fiedler (Psychology). Camden City Capacity-Building ($590,000): WRI continued with its multi-year state grant to build the governmental capacity of Camden City government. In phase II of the project, WRI designed, implemented, and analyzed the training needs of all levels of city government. Subsequently, WRI organized customized trainings on the Rutgers campus for Senior Executives (department heads), Middle Managers, and City Council and its staff. In delivering these trainings, WRI engaged not only its own staff under the leadership of Dr. Richard Harris and Dr. Deborah Wright, but also faculty from the Department of Public Policy and Administration (Dr. Christine Brenner and Dr. James Garnett), but also Law School faculty. The project involved four M.P.A. students. The project is now complete and the draft final report was delivered to the COO’s Office in June 2007. The Governor’s Office is now in contact with WRI to review the results of our work to inform them better on how best to proceed in Camden. Camden Safer Cities Initiative ($60, 000): WRI continued to serve as neutral convener/facilitator and data analyst under a grant from the NJ Attorney General for this pilot public safety initiative in Camden. The CSCI 40+ member Steering Committee, comprised of law enforcement, criminal justice, and social service agencies, along with community leaders, meets monthly at the Campus Center to monitor and problem-solve on the offender-based strategy WRI helped design. These forums also provide much needed opportunities for the criminal justice system to interact, network, and break down traditional organizational silos. CSCI involves a Project Manager (an M.P.A. graduate now working on her C.J. master’s degree), two M.P.A. students and a C.J. master’s student. Project Safe Neighborhoods ($40,000): Pursuant to the CSCI grant, the NJ Attorney General’s Office engaged WRI to evaluate several major Public Safety Initiatives in Camden. The project is led by a project coordinator who is an M.P.A. graduate and two M.P.A. students. The Volunteer Center of Gloucester County ($1,200): WRI has developed
training for Prisoner Reentry Initiative – RE$PECT ($55,000): The Walter Rand Institute, acting as a sub-grantee for the NJ Department of Corrections, will design and implement outcome and process evaluations of the Prisoner Reentry Initiative, RE$PECT. This initiative is designed to decrease recidivism among inmates released to Atlantic, Essex, Hudson, Union, and Passaic counties by providing employment opportunities and other key transitional services. WRI will collect data from DOC and the PRI staff pertaining to the process and implementation of the program. Based on this data, WRI will provide the DOC RE$PECT team with ongoing technical assistance and will produce quarterly reports, as well as a final evaluation report. These reports will include best practices recommendations that will enable the DOC to better assist inmates in becoming employed upon their release. Prisoner Reentry Initiative – Camden Offender Reentry Program
–PRI-CORP ($49,000): WRI, acting as a sub-grantee for the
NJ Department of Corrections, will offer objective evaluation, feedback,
and recommendations for quality improvement, as well as coordinate
the flow of data and facilitate regular case review meetings between
partner agencies. WRI will report on the progress and/or challenges
presented by members of the case processing group and provide information
on additional services available in Camden County. Outcome and performance
measures and post-release activities of participants will be reported
to WRI to compile, analyze and prepare reports. To ensure continual
evaluation, WRI, working in conjunction with a Project Development
Specialist from the NJ Department of Corrections, will present findings
to the PRI-CORP Advisory Board.
CENTER FOR STRATEGIC URBAN COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP During the 2006-2007 academic year, the Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership continued to advance its agenda to promote and institutionalize the concept of engaged scholarship as the central impetus for its programs and priorities. In doing so, the Center continued to play a leadership role for the campus in bridging the gap between research, scholarship, and civic engagement. Two major initiatives were at the forefront of the CSUCL’s work this year: development of the Early Learning Research Academy and expansion of the M.P.A. Educational Policy and Leadership concentration under the Graduate Department of Public Administration. While these two efforts were priority areas, the CSUCL continued to sustain and expand other ongoing initiatives, including: replication of new and innovative practices in education; strengthening and sustaining the Rutgers/LEAP Initiative and its Centers of Excellence; diversifying the leadership and professional-development program portfolio; and research, evaluation, and faculty collaborations. An effective fundraising campaign yielded funds amounting to $4,788,627
with grants from private and government organizations. Most significant
among grants received were $2,000,000 from the John S. & James
Knight Foundation for construction of the Early Learning Research
Academy, and, $1,000,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
to support an expansion of our health programs to include a Teen
Clinic, a mental health component and a pre-natal/infant component
to be housed at the Early Learning Research Academy. Other funders
included: the NJ Departments of Community Affairs and Human Services;
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Washington Mutual; New Brunswick
Tomorrow; William Penn Foundation; Camden Board of Education--Abbott
Early Childhood Program; Schumann Fund; Fund for New Jersey; Verizon;
and US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition,
contracts were received from LEAP Academy for technical assistance
services in a variety of programmatic and training areas. Two Endowment
Funds generated $1,155,469, as follows: $113,533 to the Sila Calderon
Fund; $1,041,936 to the Alfredo Santiago Scholarship Fund. Consistent with the CSUCL’s focus on engaged and public scholarship, the ELRA is being structured as a learning and research lab that brings together opportunities for faculty, students and community. Its design provides for applied research, experimentation, clinical teaching experiences, curriculum development, and professional development. The Educational Policy and Leadership Track: As Faculty Director of the Educational Leadership and Policy Track of the Graduate Program of Public Administration, Dr. Santiago has continued to work diligently in strengthening the curriculum and positioning the program in the region for future growth. Follow-up with program alumni shows that almost 100% of the graduates from the first cohort have been promoted to positions of leadership within the Camden City Public Schools. Five students graduate with the Class of 2007. Through the CSUCL’s work with the LEAP Academy, funds in the amount of $125,000 were secured to provide fellowship support to talented students interested in engaging in graduate level coursework, while utilizing their skills and experiences in a K-12 environment. Fellows are receiving a combined assistance package that covers their tuition, provides a housing allowance, and a stipend. Six fellows were supported during the 2006-2007 school year. Partnership with University of Havana: Through our ongoing academic exchange with the University of Havana, one student completed a one-year placement in Cuba. Two students will begin their placements in September 2007. A number of other synergies have also been sustained, resulting in collaborative work on papers to be presented at international conferences. Dr. Santiago has been accepted to present at the upcoming Latin American Research Association Conference in Montreal in September 2007. Faculty colleagues from the University of Havana will join her. Building Reciprocal Relationships for Community Growth—PreK-12 Initiatives: The CSUCL continued its work targeting PreK-12 education. Consistent with the commitment to engaged scholarship, our efforts in education are a reflection of the commitment to utilizing the vast university resources and capital to address public problems. Three key initiatives are the major staples under this effort—the LEAP Academy University Charter School and its Centers of Excellence; our Early Childhood Development Initiative; and the Teacher Development and Performance Institute. The Rutgers/LEAP Initiative and its Centers of Excellence: The
Rutgers/LEAP Through the Rutgers Centers of Excellence, the CSUCL was successful in securing funding for a variety of programs to support the LEAP Academy, including: the GEAR-UP Program, offering pre-college education and preparation; the Health Center; the Law Clinic; and the Professional Development Institute. A Psychology of Reading course was offered under the Psychology Department to students interested in urban education. The course combined seminars with on-site experiential learning. Three LEAP Academy seniors enrolled in courses at Rutgers-Camden during their senior year. Early Childhood Development Initiatives: 2006-2007 marked the fourth year in our work with Camden City Abbott Pre-School Classrooms. With support from the Knight and William Penn Foundations, the CSUCL continued to implement a comprehensive program geared at strengthening early childhood education and family literacy in Camden City through ongoing training and coaching activities. The program is reaching 148 classrooms, 148 teachers, 2,220 children and 600-800 parents. Teacher Development and Performance Institute: Central to the CSUCL’s work in the field of education is the efforts for replication of best practices. The Center is engaging other partners and practitioners in a public discourse and national dialogue about collaboration and partnership building to improve urban education. With support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Washington Mutual, the CSUCL continued to offer the Teacher Development and Performance Institute (TDPI). The TDPI has remained focused on providing teachers with opportunities to engage in rich and sustained educational experiences that contribute to their intellectual development, enrich their spirits, and expand their understanding of their craft. Since 2000, the TDPI has worked with 225 teachers from 30 schools. In an effort to sustain the growth of the alumni base for the program, this year a series of seminars was offered. Diversification of the leadership and professional-development program portfolio: CSUCL continued to expand and diversify its training portfolio with programs with New Brunswick Tomorrow and launching of a revamped South Jersey Regional Leadership Institute. Twenty leaders successfully completed the SJRLI and benefited from a curriculum that provided for simulations and experiential learning opportunities designed to develop the human capital for the region. The CSUCL also delivered the Latino Fellows Leadership Institute through an ongoing partnership with the NJ Department of Community Affairs. This program offers a 10-week summer internship experience to thirty-five Latino college students. Each of the CSUCL leadership programs has been designed to prepare regional and local leaders with the necessary competencies and skills to work together cooperatively and form strategic alliances that will foster community development and economic growth for their hometowns. The focus is on developing and strengthening the leadership skills of participants, including the ability to apply new ways of thinking about their own roles as leaders and acting effectively in their personal, professional and community lives; applying new knowledge about how communities, agencies and organizations function; and using new management paradigms to lead these agencies and organizations to increased success.
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