Reports: Rutgers President Barchi to step down in 2020

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi is expected to step down at the end of the upcoming school year, according to multiple published reports.

He is expected to announce his plans to resign at a board of governors meeting Tuesday, the reports said.

Barchi, 72, has a contract set to expire in July 2020.

Barchi who’s been at the helm of the school since 2012, came to Rutgers after previously serving as the president of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Previously, he served as provost and chief academic officer at the University of Pennsylvania.

His arrival at Rutgers brought with it a new era of expansion, as he helped merge the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey with Rutgers. He oversaw Rutgers joining the Big Ten Athletic Conference and the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the conference’s consortium.

“Bob Barchi has been a remarkable leader for Rutgers,” Sandy J. Stewart, chair of the Rutgers University board of governors, said at the time.

Barchi, who is a board-certified neurologist, was involved in the formation of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. He also played a role in the affiliation agreement that RBHS entered into with RWJBarnabas Health to jointly operate a new academic health system.

Barchi also launched the Honors College at Rutgers-New Brunswick. In 2016, he oversaw the 250th anniversary of the school’s founding, a yearlong celebration that ended with then-President Barack Obama delivering the commencement address.

Barchi currently earns a base salary of approximately $700,000 and is eligible for merit-based bonuses of up to 25% of his base salary. He is also allowed to take a one-year sabbatical at his presidential salary whenever he steps down, according to his hiring agreement. He then has the option to return to Rutgers as a distinguished professor.

During his tenure, in-state tuition averaged less than 2.5% increases. And since he took office, undergraduate enrollment has also increased by 10%.

Barchi also completed the school’s first billion-dollar capital campaign, which has more than doubled since he arrived.

In 2018, when Barchi announced he would be staying on another two years, he said in a statement that “Leading Rutgers has presented challenges both large and small.

“Together with a gifted faculty, a vibrant student body, a massive alumni association and a deeply talented and committed staff, we’ve met those challenges and discovered new opportunities. I’m looking forward to making even more progress and achieving even greater things in the coming years.”