2008 Bridge Award Recipients

Recipients of the 2008 Bridge Awards were honored for demonstrating an exceptional spirit of collaboration and the sharing of information and resources while pursuing the broad goal of excellent service to the benefit of the university.

Emergency Management Exercise Team
Huddle With the Faculty Team
Keys to Success Team
REX Development Team
Science MBA Team
Transforming Undergraduate Education Information Development Subcommittee


Emergency Management Exercise Team
Nominated by: Daniel Pascale

In light of events such as the tragedy that took place at Virginia Tech a year and a half ago, this team of dedicated individuals came together to coordinate the university’s largest-ever full scale emergency management exercise in July of 2007. Representing areas including Public Safety, University Relations, Housing, Environmental Health and Safety, and the Department of Genetics, team members worked countless hours over the course of a tight 8-week period to coordinate the efforts of more than 20 university departments and 10 community partners. Ensuring the safety of all involved, the Emergency Management Exercise Team successfully demonstrated the university’s ability to respond to any emergency quickly, while communicating and coordinating across departments throughout the university. The exercise has been used as a model at other educational institutions, and drew local, state, and national attention in the public safety and security communities.

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Huddle with the Faculty Team
Nominated by: Peter D. Klein, Linda Bassett, and Terre L. Martin

Capitalizing on the popularity of the Rutgers football program, the Huddle with the Faculty team developed a seminar series to bring attention to the accomplishments of the university’s academic team. The Office of Community Affairs led the interdepartmental effort to coordinate and market the program, addressing challenges ranging from gaining the confidence of faculty to promote their work in a nonacademic setting, to the logistics of transportation and event timing based on changing television schedules. The Huddle with the Faculty: Gameday Seminar series was successfully launched, giving football fans, alumni, and friends of the university the opportunity to hear first-hand from Rutgers' nationally and globally recognized scholars. The seminar series continues as a means of creatively showcasing the intellectual depth of Rutgers to the citizens of New Jersey.

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Keys to Success Team
Nominated by: Nancy G. Rosoff and Mary Beth Daisey

Team members representing both academic and administrative offices came together to establish the Keys to Success program for incoming first year undergraduate students at Rutgers–Camden. Held in June and July, the program assists students in registering for classes in a timely and efficient manner, establishes an earlier and deeper academic connection to the university, and introduces students and their parents to the unique academic opportunities available at Rutgers–Camden. Students are invited to attend sessions, and through indication of an intended major, are divided into advising groups and matched with peer mentors. An extensive welcome program for parents is offered as well, providing insight to everything from financial aid to social networking websites. Through the Keys to Success program, this team provides a comprehensive introduction to the academic aspects of the university and equips new students with the knowledge and resources to get off to a successful start.

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Science MBA Team
Nominated by: Michael Cooper

Meeting the needs of a changing scientific world and fulfilling the strategic vision of the Rutgers Business School, the Science MBA Team came together to develop a multi-disciplinary joint degree program combining an undergraduate natural science degree in a field such as biology, chemistry, or physics with an MBA. Representing staff and faculty from the Rutgers Business School in Newark and New Brunswick, the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the Newark Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences, team members collaborated across campuses to conduct research, establish the program framework, and develop supporting materials for this innovative program. The first class of students, in both New Brunswick and Newark, entered the exciting new program this semester.