Mergers previously suggested in New Jersey are actively under discussion again as part of Gov. Chris Christie's Higher Education Task Force. The plans are one component of an overall strategy to plot the course of higher education in the state. A merger has been proposed multiple times before of Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The plan highlights the academic synergies that can result as having a medical school part of a comprehensive research university. The plan also includes eventual increases in state support for public universities.