Recipients of the 2006 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.

Citizen Schools Team
Katrina Project Team
RU COOL
Rutgers Green Cleaning Product Evaluation Team
Rutgers New Faculty Traveling Seminar
Dalai Lama Planning Team

Citizen Schools Team
Nominated by: Nominated by: Rhonda Harris, Chief, Rutgers University Police

Collaboration among Rutgers University Police, Environmental Health & Safety, and Emergency Services led to participation in “Citizen Schools,” a national education initiative to provide apprenticeships to 5th through 8th grade students. Working with McKinley Community School in New Brunswick, team members developed an interactive curriculum and taught the ten-week program. Students learned “real world” skills such as forensics, emergency preparedness and response, and law enforcement techniques through hands-on experience and field trips organized by the Rutgers team. The Rutgers Citizen Schools team received overwhelming positive response from the students and has been contacted by additional communities in Middlesex County to conduct the program at additional schools.

Team members:
Kenneth Ackerman
Kyle Carkhuff
Thomas Chartoff
Brandon Epstein
Kenneth Ford
Amy Hackett
Steven Keleman
Scott McKay
Bryant Myers
Alejandro Ruiz
William Schleck
Michael Smith

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Katrina Project Team
Nominated by: Ray Caprio, Vice President, Continuous Education & Outreach
Ken Iuso, University Registrar
Lenore Neigeborn, Associate Dean, Rutgers College
Nancy Winterbauer, Vice President, University Budgeting

In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, an insightful group of staff members realized that the hurricane hit at a crucial time of year for our sister schools in New Orleans. This team quickly mobilized to assist New Jersey residents registered to attend those schools, paving the way for students to attend Rutgers through abbreviated admissions, financial aid, registration, housing, parking registration, and academic advising processes. The Katrina Project team members served as personal mentors to the “Katrina students” . By the end of the second week of the semester, Katrina students were enrolled on all three campuses in both undergraduate and graduate schools. The Katrina Project team pulled together to assist a group of New Jersey students in crisis and ensured that they could continue their education seamlessly.

Team members:
Sharon Carr
Debbie Francisco
Danielle Henriquez
Susan Klau
Patressa McLaurin
Phyllis Micketti
Ninfa Mueller
Terry Richartz
Diana Romeo
Marta Romero
Joanne Thurlow
Michael Tolbert
Daniel Villanueva
Joseph Walsh

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RU COOL
Nominated by: Scott Glenn, Professor, Marine & Coastal Sciences
Oscar Schofield, Associate Professor, Marine & Coastal Sciences
Bob Chant, Assistant Professor, Marine & Coastal Sciences

The Rutgers University Coastal Ocean Observation Lab, otherwise known as “RU COOL,” is recognized as the world’s most advanced coastal observatory. The RU Cool team established Rutgers as the first university to operate both L-Band and X-Band satellite receivers to access the full international constellation of ocean color satellites. The team has brought ocean observatories into New Jersey’s K-12 classrooms through teacher education programs that serve as the model for similar programs across the country. They have developed and operate the most experienced fleet of robotic underwater Gliders in the world, and have established the nationally recognized COOLroom.org and COOLclassroom.org web sites to distribute observatory data sets, products, and educational materials.

Team members:
David Aragon
Jennifer Bosch
Louis Bowers
Corinne Dalelio
Clinton Haldeman
Elias Hunter
John Kerfoot
Courtney Kohut
Joshua Kohut
Charles Lichtenwalner
Janice McDonnell
Hugh Roarty

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Rutgers Green Cleaning Product Evaluation Team
Nominated by: Gerald Thomas, Director, Facilities Business Administration

The Green Cleaning Product Evaluation Team developed a program to analyze and purchase “green” cleaning products that reduce harmful chemicals in the environment, are user friendly, and are cost effective. The team, comprised of staff from Purchasing and Facilities, devised a streamlined purchasing plan for the university’s more than 600 buildings. They scrutinized cleaning products based on strict environmental safety standards and selected those with easy-to-use dispensing equipment in order to improve employee safety and reduce waste. The program actively improves indoor air quality throughout university offices and buildings, and has greatly reduced the exposure of the custodial staff to harmful chemicals.

Team members:
Thomas Cunningham
David Dehart
Cindy Johnson
Alonzo Lewis
Walter Ziesser

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Rutgers New Faculty Traveling Seminar
Nominated by: Melissa Selesky, Community Affairs Specialist, University Relations

New faculty at Rutgers are given a unique opportunity to see how New Jersey’s state university impacts its residents and the larger community. Staff from University Relations teamed up with faculty and staff from other departments to develop and launch the New Faculty Traveling Seminar, a five-day bus tour of the Garden State. The Traveling Seminar has led to national exposure within the higher education community and has generated media coverage in regional outlets that do not usually carry Rutgers news. The team’s efforts to coordinate a positive seminar experience have resulted in collaborative research efforts among new faculty and have encouraged a higher level of participation by the seminar participants in university initiatives such as the Task Force on Undergraduate Education.

Team members:
Arlana Arrington
Linda Bassett
Douglas Blair
Ken Branson
Patricia Lamiell
Terrese Martin
Cynthia Paul
Robert Pye
Ingrid Reed
Kay Schechter
Melissa Selesky
Sherri Somers

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Dalai Lama Planning Team
Nominated by: Linda Schulze, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs

Individuals from 13 units coordinated the visit of the Dalai Lama, an event that drew more than 36,000 people to Rutgers Stadium on September 25, 2005. The team managed all aspects of the event including budgeting, advertising and marketing; ticket sales; parking and security; stadium preparation; food service; various related on-campus events, and the conferring of an honorary degree upon the Dalai Lama. The team accepted and met the challenges of coordinating an event that not only focused a national media spotlight on the university but also brought thousands of people to campus who had never visited Rutgers before. Superior communication, organization, and resourcefulness allowed this team to be successful in coordinating one of the most memorable events in Rutgers history.

Team Members:
Gail Alexander
Rebecca Brenowitz
Jocelyn Briddell
Scott Cagenello
Catherine Cahill
Kathy Jo Cotterill
Richard Dinan
Helen Fazio
Leslie Fehrenbach
Sharon Fortin-Kramer
Alfredo Franco
Phyllis Gottleib
Nicoletta Graf
John Graney
Michael Green
Gail Johnson
John Karakoglou
Douglas Kokoski
Laura Kull
Sandra Lanman
Carey Loch
Judith McLane
Jack Molenaar
Carion Moore
John O’Neal
Peter Pelletier
Mark Piotrowski
Nicole Pride
Margaret Reardon
Charles Sams
Linda Schulze
Michael Smith
Linda Strandberg
Christopher Waters
Matthew Weismantel
Lauren Weitz
Kristen Daily-Williams
James Zawistowski

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