TRENTON – Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) today issued the following statement on the State Commission of Investigation’s (SCI) report on New Jersey’s public higher education system:
“The SCI should be commended for its thorough and nuanced study of New Jersey’s public higher education climate. We share the SCI’s concern for being proactive to protect the integrity of our learning institutions and to ward off any potential problems in the future.
“Many of these shared concerns came to light when Senator Turner held an Education Committee hearing to examine the governance structure of higher education. Since then, we have been in the process of pursuing many of these recommendations.
“In the case of UMDNJ, we have already increased the number of voting members on their board of trustees in order to create greater oversight and accountability.
“Our Joint Task Force on Higher Education and the Economy is examining many of the SCI’s concerns as we speak, particularly when it comes to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our research institutions.
“We also have legislation being introduced by Senator Lesniak (S2874) that would restore some of the oversight that was dismantled in the mid-1990�s by providing the state Commission on Higher Education with greater oversight responsibilities.
“We look forward to a closer examination of the SCI’s report. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll work closely with the Governor and our counterparts in the Assembly to keep our higher education institutions vital, affordable and among the best in the nation.”