MOUNT LAUREL — Gov. Chris Christie said today that the timing is right to remake how Rutgers is operated as recommended in legislation proposed by state Senate President Steve Sweeney.

“My view on it is that Rutgers’ governance structure is confusing and not in compliance with what most of the rest of the country does,” Christie said at a news conference at Burlington County Community College. “I think to streamline their governance now as we’re creating a new Rutgers on July 1, would be the right thing to do.”

Effective Monday, Rutgers will take over most of the schools at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. But unlike the initial proposal, the Rutgers-Camden campus will not split off and join Rowan University in Glassboro. Many of the trustees objected to losing the Camden campus and promised to vote to derail any merger.

Sweeney’s bill would eliminate the Rutgers Board of Trustees and transfer its powers to the university’s Board of Governors, ending the university’s unusual system of being governed by multiple boards. Sweeney (D-Gloucester) introduced the bill (S2902) last week.

Christie said he hasn’t seen the legislation yet, but that it sounds like something he would support.

“Streamlining governance at Rutgers for a new Rutgers is a smart idea and one that I favor,” Christie said, adding later: “I think this would be a very appropriate time, given that Monday we’re going to have a new Rutgers and to have a streamlined governance process would be better for the administration, better for the students and better for the state.”

Christie rejected the idea that bill could be an effort to get back at the trustees for threatening to derail the merger, which he and Sweeney supported.

“My understanding of revenge is when you lose, you want revenge,” Christie said. “I won. I have to tell you, this is one of the things that confuses me most about politics. I don’t understand the concept of a sore winner. … When I win, I’m happy. And I don’t worry about what the path was to get there. As long as I get what I want, I’m a happy guy.”

Rutgers University officials said they are opposed to Sweeney's bill and any effort to eliminate the 59-member Rutgers Board of Trustees. The board is a largely advisory body that help oversee parts of Rutgers that were part of the once-private university before it became a state university in 1959.



University officials argue that under the 1959 law, the Rutgers Board of Governors and Board of Trustees would both have to agree to any changes in how the school operates.



Star Ledger Staff Writer Kelly Heyboer contributed to this report.

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