Chancellor Challenge for Student Success, Community Engagement

December 10, 2024

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community:

This past May I issued a Chancellor Challenge inviting our faculty and staff to collaborate across schools and departments in proposing game-changing new initiatives for student success and community engagement—a select few of which would be developed, funded, and implemented with support from the Chancellor’s Office.

Rutgers–New Brunswick faculty and staff came through with 45 intriguing proposals. Today, following a competitive review process, I am proud to announce the three proposals that will move to the next stage of development. They are:

• “RU Engaged” Service-Learning Byrne Seminars with Integrated Alternative Spring Breaks, a proposed partnership between the Division of Student Affairs, Byrne Seminars, the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS), and Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy to provide first-year students with a suite of seminars on the inner workings of community engagement, focused on social determinants of health. Each seminar would link with an alternative spring break of service-learning with community-based organizations in the City of New Brunswick. This proposal is led by Kathe Newman, Professor in the Bloustein School and Director of the Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement, and Cara Cuite, Associate Extension Specialist and Undergraduate Program Director at SEBS.
• Faculty Career Fellows, a proposed collaboration between Career Exploration and Success (CES) and the Institute for Teaching, Innovation, and Inclusive Pedagogy (TIIP) to provide faculty members with the skills and resources needed to help their students connect their classroom learning goals with career readiness competencies, thus building the skills that will lead to post-graduation success. This proposal is led by Rania Plazas, Assistant Director of Rutgers Internship and Co-Op Programs at CES, and Tracie Addy, Director of TIIP.
• Student Wellness Collaborative, a proposed partnership between the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the Division of Student Affairs, and ScarletWell to pilot a holistic wellness hub that would leverage IFNH’s green spaces and other facilities to offer programs addressing the eight dimensions of financial, social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, physical, and environmental wellness; reduce stigma around wellness services; offer experiential learning and leadership opportunities for students; and support a culture of community-building and resilience. This proposal is led by Ann Gould, Dean of Academic Programs at SEBS; and Patty Oehmke, who currently serves in Michigan State University as a Project Manager of the University Health and Wellbeing Strategic Plan, and who will join Rutgers as Director of Wellness at SEBS on July 1, 2025.

The Office of the Provost has invited the leaders of each proposal to the next phase of the Chancellor Challenge, which will involve clarification and development of their ideas and, ultimately, the awarding of grants as part of the Chancellor Challenge plan to invest $15 million over five years to support the objectives of our Rutgers–New Brunswick Academic Master Plan across four Pillars of Excellence: Scholarly Leadership, Innovative Research, Student Success, and Community Engagement. The Chancellor Challenge website will provide further updates. Implementation of each project is expected to begin July 1, 2025.

I am deeply grateful to every community member who took the time and effort to submit a thoughtful proposal. Your efforts reinforce my belief that we—the Rutgers–New Brunswick community—are in the business of human potential.

We all share the AMP vision of Student Success—Providing all qualified students with a world-class education that is accessible and affordable; supporting students to graduate on time, with minimal debt; and ensuring they are prepared to thrive in their chosen pursuits and as engaged citizens.

Please join me in thanking the members of the review committee for their thoughtful consideration of each proposal, and in congratulating our colleagues whose proposals have been chosen for development through the Chancellor Challenge.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University–New Brunswick