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February 2, 2026
Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,
With the semester in full swing, there are a lot of great things happening on campus. I am pleased to share that William Paterson has entered into an exciting and innovative new collaboration with the New Jersey Jackals and New York Cosmos professional baseball and soccer teams, respectively. William Paterson will be the official university partner of both organizations and both teams will be based on our campus and use our practice facilities in coordination with our Pioneer Athletics teams.
This dynamic new partnership reflects our commitment to experiential learning, workforce development, and meaningful community engagement. It will provide our students with real-world learning environments, where they can apply their academic knowledge in professional settings while building valuable career skills and connections in a competitive industry. A key partnership component, for example, is the creation of priority internship opportunities with the organizations for our students, across a wide range of disciplines. As both teams will be playing their home games this year at Paterson’s historic Hinchliffe Stadium, the partnership will also help strengthen our ties with the city and provide the WP community with access to discounted tickets. Be on the lookout for more details as both teams prepare to launch their seasons this spring.
Turning to enrollment, the overall number for Spring 2026 currently stands at 9,959 students – 0.84% behind this time last year. Main Campus enrollment is 5,533 students – 3.82% behind last year. WP Online enrollment is 4,426 students – 3.17% ahead of last year. New First-year, full-time and graduate student enrollment are up, year-over-year, while transfer enrollment is 1.3% behind last year. These numbers will continue to improve through Census II. Overall continuing student enrollment stands at 8,513 students – 0.21% ahead of last year. Main Campus, degree-seeking, continuing enrollment stands at 4,654 students – less than 1% (46 students) from goal, a reminder that every student counts! With Census I this Wednesday, Feb. 4, please ensure that all data under your purview is reviewed carefully for accuracy and continue outreach to both new and continuing students, who may still be in progress toward registration or reinstatement, so that we are positioned as strongly as possible this semester. Census II, which will reflect High School Dual Enrollment and WP Online, Session II enrollments, will occur March 31, 2026.
February is, of course, Black History Month, so I hope you can join us as we kick off our celebration with an opening luncheon tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 12:30 p.m. in University Ballrooms B/C. Please click here for the full program for the day and the schedule of campus events throughout this 100th anniversary of Black History Month.
I hope you will also plan to attend my Spring State of the University Address on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 12:30 p.m. in the Shea Center. Later that afternoon, please join me and your colleagues for the first “First Thursday” of the semester, from 4:00-5:30 p.m., upstairs in Hobart Manor.
Until then, have a great week!
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