<p>I have seen some articles online regarding this possible merger, and I don't like it. My son is considering Rowan School of Engineering for it's reputation, small size, and intimate classroom instruction. If he wanted a large research institution he would be applying to Rutgers. This is definitley going to factor into his decision of where to attend this Fall! Can anyone provide any inside information please?</p>
<p>I work at Rowan (so I’m digging the internet for news on this merger too!). I can provide some insight: NJ’s governor will get a report from the task force on Dec. 31 recommending or discouraging a merger. We should all know soon enough. However, even if approved, the first 1-2 years would be planning stages only. I believe the first “merger” freshman class would be recruited for Fall 2014 or maybe Fall 2015 entry. The faculty at Rowan have the same concern as you (as voiced in the President’s open forum last month, google-able) and wish to keep the small Rowan class sizes small. Therefore if your son is considering Rowan’s engineering program (which is a fine program indeed) for this fall, he will likely reap the Rowan benefits for the full time he’s there and barely be affected by the merger (maybe the tail end of it). You should know, however, that Rowan’s Engineering school is highly involved in research projects (which is something you want for your son as an Engineer!)</p>
<p>PS- I have no stake in Rowan’s ENG program. I’m a central office staff member. Hope this helsp!</p>
<p>Thank you Guest. Please keep us posted on additional insights. My son has already been accepted for Fall 2012 with a generous scholarship but he’s also applied to other schools and does not need to decide until the Spring. I hope it all works out for the best.</p>
<p>Hi Busybeemom, </p>
<p>have you considered TCNJ? They also have an engg program. How do they compare with Rowan and Rutgers?</p>
<p>TCNJ is not even in the ballpark with Engineering. I’m hoping Guest1245 can provide some more insight now that Dec 31st has passed</p>
<p>I am trying to figure out how to rate engg colleges. If we keep cost aside and the top 20 engg colleges aside. Where does one then find the 21st college and how can we really rate their program?</p>
<p>U.S. News and World Report ranks Engineering Schools and many other college majors. If you are interested in Engineering (especially Chemical Engineering) you might want to consider the Univ. of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. Its Chemical Engineering Program is ranked 10th in the nation, above all Ivy League Schools except Princeton. It has about 16,000 undergrads, about twice the size of Rowan, is much smaller compared to Rutgers N.B., but has a much smaller college feel to it. From Glassboro it is faster (less than an hour) to get to UD as compared to getting to Rutgers N.B… It has one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country. I can almost guarantee you will fall in love with it if you visit. You might want to give it a look. However it may be to late to apply for this coming Fall.</p>
<p>Mwallenmd, I need to correct you. There are 2 categories of USNWR engineering rankings, one for schools where doctorate is highest degree, and the other for schools where doctorate not offered. They do not list the raw score for the engineeering specialties, so it may be hard to compare between the two categories, but below are the rankings for 2012 Chemical Engineering only. They only list 3 for the first category, of which Rowan ranks #3 (tied with Bucknell). UDel ranks #11 in second category. Both good choices.</p>
<p>2012 Rankings for non-doctorate chemical engineering</p>
<h1>1 Rose-Hulman</h1>
<h1>2 Cooper Union</h1>
<h1>3 (tied) Bucknell and Rowan</h1>
<p>Note: Rowan also ranks #8 in Mechanical</p>
<p>2012 Rankings for doctorate chemical engineering</p>
<h1>1 MIT</h1>
<h1>2 UCal Berkley</h1>
<h1>3 Stanford</h1>
<h1>4 CA Institute of Technology</h1>
<h1>5 U Minn Twin Cities</h1>
<h1>6 U Wisconsin Madison</h1>
<h1>7 U Texas Austin</h1>
<h1>8 Princton</h1>
<h1>9 GA Tech</h1>
<h1>10 U Illinois Urbana Champaign</h1>
<h1>11 UDel</h1>
<h1>12 (tied) Purdue West Lafayette and U Michigan Ann Arbor</h1>
<h1>14 (tied) Cornell and U CA Santa Barbara</h1>
<h1>16 Penn State</h1>
<h1>17 Northwester</h1>
<h1>18 Carnegie Melon</h1>
<h1>19 (tied) Columbia and NC State</h1>
<p>Anyway, going back to my original post, I have not seen any updates but have learned that this talk of a merger is nothing new. It has been recommended a few times in past years and nothing ever came of it so it may be a non-issue. I will call the school directly sometime soon to get an update. In the interim, I came across this petition if anyone wants to sign it:</p>
<p>[Petition:</a> Governor Chris Christie’s Task Force on Higher Education.: Stop the proposed plan of a unified University of South Jersey. | Change.org](<a href=“http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-chris-christies-task-force-on-higher-education-stop-the-proposed-plan-of-a-unified-university-of-south-jersey]Petition:”>Petition · Stop the proposed plan of a unified University of South Jersey. · Change.org)</p>
<p>The deadline for the report was extended beyond Dec. 31 (I think two weeks). It is believed the Gov. now has the report. We actually thought he might make an announcement yesterday at his State address, but he did not. Our Provost expects an announcement within 2 weeks.</p>
<p>No, the talk of a Ro-Ru merger is not new, but I do know that Rowan is preparing in the event of a very different Freshman 2014 class. Rutgers-Camden is not an accredited school, being a branch, therefore the main campus would have to be in Glassboro if a merger took place (we’re actually calling it “absorb” now, rather than merger). The Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden has requested to be involved in the merger, and the School of Osteopathic Medicine at UMDNJ is also a possible collaborator (I do not know if they actually requested to be; my guess is no since UMDNJ is one of the few free-standing medical schools in the country). Another branch of UMDNJ was just absorbed by Rutgers NB, which has also been proposed several times in the past. </p>
<p>Some background, as explained by our interim president in a public address. Politicians believe (and of course, Donald Norcross believes) that Southern Jersey needs a research institution—they state we have fewer students, classroom seats, residents with college degrees, and resources. If Rowan absorbs Ru-C, our classification will be changed to Research Institute; that classification alone guarantees 50% more monetary support (every dollar we get now would be $1.50 as a research institute). So is it about the money, associated prestige, or educational enhancement? I’m sure only a select few know for sure. (If you’re interested, the campus presidential search committee has narrowed the field to three finalists. Stay tuned!)</p>
<p>P.S. Busybeemom is right–Rowan is highly ranked in Engineering for non doctoral schools. The main competition for the Rowan ENG department is Drexel.</p>
<p>Guest, what do you mean be “Rowan is preparing in the event of a very different Freshman 2014 class”? Are you saying that if this merger happens, that Rowan will be attracting a different pool of applicants? If so, will these be stronger or weaker? </p>
<p>Also, if Rowan’s classification changes to “research institution”, won’t Rowan now be ranked against “national” universities, and not “regional” universities? If yes, then their overall ranking, as well as engineering ranking will go way down, since now they’ll be compared against schools offering a doctorate.</p>
<p>I am anxious to know how this all works out. I search the internet frequently but there is nothing. It almost seems like this is all being hushed for some reason. The fact that the president resigned during all this, also does not sit well with me.</p>
<p>Guest1245: Correction on your comments about Rutgers-Camden.<br>
(1) Rutgers-Camden is a fully accredited institution of higher education through the middle states commission on higher education, as well as the AACSB for the Rutgers School of Business, and the Rutgers School of Nursing-Camden by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and is approved by the New Jersey State Board of Nursing (NJSBN).
(2) Rutgers-Camden is not a branch of Rutgers-New Brunswick. The Rutgers University system is a rather large regional campus system which means all 3 campuses are regional (main campuses). Academics are equal at all three, the size of the campuses are the major diferences with Rutgers-Camden being the smallest.
(3) Providing hypotheticals without actual knowledge of the merger and specifics is not good for either Rowan or Rutgers. We need to wait this out to see what will happen.</p>
<p>Busybeemom: Rankings are not everything. Don’t get too concerned about what school is ranked over another school. The experience, education, and internships mean a lot more to employers than what the ranking of a certain school may be. Rowan has a very strong engineering program and if your son is interested in Engineering, the best thing he can do is tour the various campuses, visit with professors, and talk with the folks from the career/internship centers about how they will help your son be successful after graduating.</p>
<p>Rutcam2012, agree rankings aren’t everything. But people do look at them. Rowan itself boasts of its engineering rankings. Yes students absolutely must visit the schools and do their research. My son visited Rowan twice in fact, loved what we saw, applied and accepted but not yet decided. However this post isnt about rankings or how to find the right college. Its about the future of Rowan and its impact and experience on the students. This talk of a merger may change what we liked about Rowan. What will the next 4 years and beyond hold for my son if it happens?</p>
<p>@rutcam2012 I work in central administration. I hear more than I want to. Why in the world would I try to advise someone if I didn’t know anything?</p>
<p>[NJ</a> gov seeks Rowan takeover of Rutgers-Camden | Washington Examiner](<a href=“http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/01/nj-gov-seeks-rowan-takeover-rutgers-camden/2133676]NJ”>http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/01/nj-gov-seeks-rowan-takeover-rutgers-camden/2133676)</p>
<p>Done deal? Of course not. But know we know where the Gov stands.</p>
<p>How do you not know that Rutgers-Camden is an accredited/not branch campus if you are so informed?</p>
<p>Rutgers refers to its campuses as “regional campuses”. Don’t know what that has to do with accreditations…[Rutgers</a> University Undergraduate Colleges and Schools](<a href=“http://admissions.rutgers.edu/ApplyNow/UndergraduateCollegesandSchools.aspx]Rutgers”>http://admissions.rutgers.edu/ApplyNow/UndergraduateCollegesandSchools.aspx) I did look and see that both Camden and New Brunswick have AACSB accreditations for their Business Schools.</p>
<p>I get the impression that the main goal is to have South Jersey have it’s own research level University. That would bring increased grants and the research status might attract more students. I think the idea is to increase enrollment so more students come from out of state and less NJ students leave to attend research institutions in other states. This would be a good thing as far as raising the reputation of NJ as a place to attend college. </p>
<p>Obviously, those currently in Rutgers Camden will be mad. They should have some special designation on their diplomas that allows them to say they graduated from Rutgers. Maybe juniors and seniors would get Rutgers and the others get Rowan? Offer some of them a chance to attend Rutgers NB?</p>
<p>Check out collegeboard.com. Rutgers Camden admission stats (SAT and class rank) are more like Rowan’s that Rutgers NB. There are people on the Camden campus who didn’t get into the NB campus…just saying…</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents</p>
<p>I did not mean to imply that “I” knew anything. Sorry if that came off the wrong way. I simply was trying to provide busybee with inside information (which does mean “informed” I suppose). And the information (not facts) I gave her was never created by me (I either learned it during public addresses or from superiors). I tried to make that clear in my posts. Wrong or right information, I was simply trying to deliver what I had heard because she is obviously very invested and interested in her son’s education. I thought it might be helpful for her to know the word around Rowan (again, right or wrong). </p>
<p>For the exact reasons RutgersCam13 points out, I can’t possibly speculate about what the future of Rowan/Rutgers-Camden might hold. Did President Houshmand mention a very different Freshman 2014 class? Yes. Do I know what that means? No idea.</p>
<p>Anyway, busybee, I hope some of my posts have been helpful and not misleading in the days leading up to the news you awaited. I would rather not engage in turf wars; as you can see the merger is a very delicate subject. Best of luck to your son!</p>
<p>@njfootballmom</p>
<p>My friend went to Beaver College and the school changed names during her college career (now Arcadia University). She was able to choose which school name she wanted on her diploma. Maybe Rutgers-Camden will allow the same option?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t sweat it. There’s been talk of a “College of South Jersey” for decades, several studies done, and the bird has never flown. I don’t see how it affects Rowan Engineering at all. My son attends Rowan Engineering and he loves it for the same reasons you cite.</p>
<p>If the merger does ever go through, I’d imagine that it would eliminate duplication in, say, the medical and business schools. It would give Rowan a proven law school. Again, the Engineering school stays where it is and continues to grow. It might be bad for senior administrative workers (I’m a recruiter and I’ve dealt with it for 20+ years); some “high-priced vets” will get “bought out” in favor of hiring two rookies for less money. Just guessing, but I’m pretty good at this stuff.</p>
<p>I hope you check out my “Why Rowan?” epic reply on this site. Good luck, Mom!</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your information. I do feel a bit better knowing that Rowan will retain it’s name, and that this merger appears to want to strengthen Rowan, not break it apart. </p>
<p>SpacemanEd, I read your “Why Rowan?” post and appreciate the further insight!</p>