Rutgers-Camden sees higher enrollment after years of 'punching above its weight'

For years, Rutgers-Camden faculty and staff have complained that the school does not get its fair share from the main campus in New Brunswick.

Faculty in the past have asserted that their salaries are inequitable to counterparts on Rutgers’ other campuses — there’s a process in place to address that — and Chancellor Antonio D. Tillis has cited inadequate investments in campus facilities.

But Tillis was heartened last month as he sat on stage for the inauguration of William F. Tate IV, the new president of Rutgers.

“Since I’ve taken this job, I’ve had people say to me ‘Don’t invest in Camden,’” said Tate, a social scientist who grew up in Chicago and came to the job at Rutgers after serving as president of Louisiana State University. “I don’t think they know who they are talking to. … Do you think I have forgotten who I am?”

Tate, who became president in July, pledged during his inauguration speech to make the school a stronger competitor regionally.

“We’re going to build that Big Ten brand in Camden,” he said, referring to the NCAA athletic conference whose members are major research universities. “Look out Philadelphia, we’re coming for opportunity.”

His comments come as Rutgers-Camden is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary and as Tillis, in his fifth year, is nearing the end of his initial contract and aiming to receive a renewal.

Tillis touts 97% occupancy this year in the school’s residence halls, the highest since before the pandemic and up from 84% last year, and a boost in international students even while international enrollment declined 17% nationally, amid federal government policies including a pause of student visas earlier this year.

The school is also climbing in U.S. News rankings from 148th nationally among both public and private universities in 2021 — the year Tillis came — to 97th this year. It also rose from 18th to ninth in social mobility, meaning it enrolls and graduates large proportions of disadvantaged students.

“Rutgers Camden has just punched above its weight for such a long time and now the fruit are beginning to bear,” he said.

Strained relationships

But Tillis’ relationship with some faculty has remained strained. Arts & Sciences faculty voted no confidence in him four months after he took the job and after he removed the Arts & Sciences’ dean.

Since then, concerns have persisted about pay equity for Rutgers-Camden professors compared to counterparts on the other Rutgers’ campuses, in New Brunswick and Newark, and what several faculty said was Tillis’ unwillingness to consult and communicate with faculty.

“There has been a real lack of communication between the chancellor and his office and the faculty, which has made it really hard to understand some of the decisions that have been made in regard to our budget cuts and campus priorities,” said Emily Marker, president of Rutgers-Camden chapter of the AAUP-AFT, the faculty union.

“If he were to be renewed, we would really hope that the communication, the consultation with and involvement of the faculty would improve in campus governance,” Marker said.

Tillis acknowledged a rough entry in part because of the pandemic but said from his perspective, things are better with faculty. He said he hosts regular “coffee with the chancellor” meetings where faculty and staff can come and talk to him.

Plans for the campus

If he gets a new term, Tillis said he would aim to grow enrollment, increase Rutgers-Camden’s share of out-of-state students from about 20% to 30% to generate more revenue, enroll more students from Camden, and increase internship opportunities.

There are plans to lease the former Camden Free Public Library building, a historic landmark on Broadway, and convert it into a center for the arts, including a bistro and wine bar.

Rutgers-Camden’s overall enrollment stands at 5,822, up 2.6% from last year. Overall, Rutgers’ enrollment neared 71,500 this year, up 3.2%.

At Rutgers-Camden, international student enrollment climbed 6% to 312, largely fueled by a jump in freshmen. That’s even though about 30 students deferred enrollment due to the visa holdup, said Carol Mandzik, director of international programs.

Tillis said the school has been recruiting more heavily from Nigeria and Ghana.

“I chose Rutgers-Camden because it’s close to Philadelphia,” said Bao Mai, 18 a freshman from Vietnam, who wanted what a big city has to offer.

But Mai, who spoke at an international student luncheon hosted by Tillis, said he also chose it because he likes the “small campus vibe” and array of business programs.

Tillis also has pledged to bring in more students from Camden. This year, there are 80, up from 53 last year.

He said he asked the admissions team to create more opportunities for students from Camden to come on campus so they begin “to feel as if the campus is theirs because it’s right in their backyard.”

The school, which is designated as a minority-serving institution — meaning at least 50% of students are minorities — also plans to begin to offer in-state tuition to students from Philadelphia and northern Delaware, Tillis said. Prospective students from Philadelphia who chose not to enroll cited the price tag, he said.

Fostering campus culture

More than 710 students are living in the residence halls this year, representing the highest occupancy since 2019, Tillis said.

“Our campus is trying to create a sense of residential culture … even for our commuter students,” Tillis said, so that “they don’t just come here, go to class, and then go home.”

The school held a welcome back barbecue during move-in and brought back homecoming last year; there was homecoming before the pandemic but not to the same degree, Tillis said.

The school also has spruced up residence halls and added evening events such as arts and theater performances, he said. There are little things, too, like plans to install hammocks on the quad.

Ollie McDermott, 22, a freshman psychology major from Buena, had decided against college, but McDermott’s stepfather, who recently graduated from Rutgers-Camden, convinced McDermott to try it.

“I’m kind of glad I did,” McDermott said. “I love it here.”

McDermott convinced a friend, Remi Zebedies, 19, an art therapy major from Mays Landing who also had been leaning against college, to try it, too. They became roommates.

The campus has enough beds to accommodate this year’s students, but if growth continues, it may need more housing, Tillis said. He’d like to open a residential space for students with children and/or spouses.

Working on graduation and retention rates

In the school’s strategic plan approved in 2023, Tillis set improvement in graduation and retention rates as primary goals.

The school’s retention rate from first-year students to sophomores has increased from 71% in 2021 — the year he came — to 73.4% this fall. The six-year graduation rate decreased from 63.6% in 2021 to 61.5% in 2024. (The school said that 2025 data had not been verified and that the 2024 dip reflects lingering pandemic-related challenges.)

Tillis also discussed the Cooper Gateway Project, which will renovate four properties to add event halls, a new space for Arts & Sciences, and pedestrian walkways and courtyards. It’s expected to be completed by early 2027.

A new athletic field house also is in the works, and there are plans for a new building for business students to live and learn in, he said.

Pay equity was a sore spot with faculty for years, despite the process put in place under which they could be compared to peers at the New Brunswick and Newark campuses.

The university said in a statement that since 2021, the vast majority of faculty who petitioned for equitable pay got increases. The requests are reviewed by a committee of faculty experts who look at the professor’s classroom instruction, research, and scholarly activity.

Tillis said sometimes faculty were seeking to compare themselves to peers who were not really comparable.

Marker, the Rutgers-Camden AAUP-AFT president, said through a grievance, the union negotiated a change to the process that will make it harder for Tillis to overrule recommendations by the committee.

In the last cycle, the vast majority of professors with equity claims received “meaningful” pay adjustments, said Marker, an associate professor of European and Global History.

As for the comments about Camden by Tate, the new Rutgers president, Marker said she is hopeful they lead to action.

“If it actually results in a massive investment in Camden, in our students, in our faculty, in our facilities, I would be delighted,” she said. “But we’ll see. That has really not been the orientation of any of the central administrations since I was hired in 2017.”

Tillis said he is hopeful that Rutgers-Camden will get more support under Tate. He got to know Tate in 2020 when they were both in a program at Harvard for new presidents and chancellors.

“We have a beautiful campus, but it’s stuck between the 1950s and the 1970s,” he said. “Certain types of innovative spaces for 21st century instruction needs to happen.”

Rutgers-Camden sees higher enrollment after years of ‘punching above its weight’

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