BREAKING: Chancellor Edwards is stepping down

He will be returning as a Professor after this academic year

President Barchi has just announced that Dr. Richard l. Edwards, our Chancellor since 2014, is stepping down from his position after the 2016-17 academic year.

Barchi sent out a university wide email that read: “Dr. Edwards will complete his duties as chancellor next June and, after a year-long sabbatical, will return to the faculty as a University Professor.”

The email goes on to briefly explain the role chancellor Edwards has played at Rutgers since 2014, and Barchi points out how much of an asset Dr. Edwards has been for the past two years.

“Dr. Edwards has served as chancellor since 2014, and previously had served as interim president, interim chancellor, dean of the School of Social Work, and, until 2015, executive vice president for academic affairs. He came to Rutgers in 2005 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a distinguished professor of social work and the former dean of UNC’s School of Social Work, and immediately made his mark as a strong administrator and exceptional citizen of the Rutgers community.”

Barchi also explains some of the programs and projects Chancellor Edwards has led, initiated and implemented during his time here.

“Chancellor Edwards’ work on implementing our new budgeting model, furthering our strategic plan, developing our international programs, and, most recently, forming the Rutgers–New Brunswick Task Force on Inclusion and Community Values and the Committee on Enslaved and Disenfranchised Populations in Rutgers History has been critically important in moving the university forward. Chancellor Edwards led the development of the New Brunswick Strategic Plan in 2014 and has guided its subsequent implementation, most notably in promoting important improvements in the student experience. Under his leadership, Rutgers–New Brunswick has put in place a much stronger student advising system and has established task forces to bolster University services and supports for first-year, graduate, transfer, and international students. He also worked with Police Chief Kenneth Cop on several initiatives to increase public safety, including collaboration with New Brunswick police to install video cameras to monitor off-campus neighborhoods where many of our students live.”

Once Chancellor Edwards officially steps down, “a national search for the next Chancellor of Rutgers–New Brunswick, with a committee co-chaired by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Lee and Board of Governors member Frank Hundley.”

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