Higher Education Council appointments made by governor

Trenton – Gov. Chris Christie Monday created a Higher Education Council, and appointed members to both that Council and the University

Trenton – Gov. Chris Christie Monday created a Higher Education Council, and appointed members to both that Council and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Advisory Committee. 

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Both the Council and the Advisory Committee came as a result of recommendations from the Higher Education Task Force, chaired by former Governor Tom Kean, which made recommendations to the Governor earlier this year.

Christie signed an executive order Monday  creating the Governor’s Higher Education Council.  The Council will serve as an advisory body to the Governor on all higher education matters and provide recommendations on statewide initiatives for the higher education system.

The Governor’s Higher Education Council will be chaired by John McGoldrick, who previously served on the Higher Education Task Force and is Chair of Zimmer Holdings, Inc. and members will include: Vice Chair Anne Evans Estabrook, Chief Executive of Elberon Development Co. and longtime college trustee; Patricia Nachtigal, former Vice Chair of Rutgers’ Board of Governors; John Wefing, Esq., Law Professor at Seton Hall University; and Dr. Richard Wellbrock, former Chairman of Raritan Valley Community College Board of Trustees and Chairman of Hilltop Community Bank of Summit.  Each member will be appointed to a 5-year term.  These direct appointments by the Governor do not require Senate confirmation and each member will serve without compensation.

The UMDNJ Advisory Committee will be chaired by Dr. Sol J. Barer, Executive Chairman of Celgene, and members will include: Robert E. Campbell, former Vice Chairman of Johnson & Johnson; Joyce Wilson Harley, Esq., Essex County Administrator; Anthony J. Perno III, Esq., President & CEO of Cooper’s Ferry Development Association, Inc., and Harold T. Shapiro, Ph.D., former President of Princeton University. 

A final report to the Governor outlining the Advisory Committee’s recommendations is due no later than Sept. 1, 2011. 

Specifically, the UMDNJ Advisory Committee will consider the following:

Whether Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the School of Public Health should be merged with Rutgers University’s New Brunswick-Piscataway campuses;

  • Whether UMDNJ’s Newark-based schools should be merged with any of the senior public higher education institutions in Newark;
  • Whether UMDNJ’s South Jersey-based school should be merged with any of the senior public higher education institutions in South Jersey;
  • The role and mission of University Hospital;
  • Whether NJIT should start its own medical school;
  • How graduate medical education should be delivered in South Jersey; and
  • Whether the various public nursing schools should be merged.

Higher Education Council appointments made by governor