March 18, 2024

Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,

With our students away on Spring Break, I hope everyone can take advantage of the more relaxed pace on campus this week to catch your breath and gear up for their return, from which point we will move quickly toward the end of the semester and Commencement. Provost Josh Powers, Associate Vice President Francisco Diaz, in his role as Commencement Coordinator, and I have all communicated about expectations regarding the two May 20 graduate ceremonies on campus and the May 22 undergraduate ceremony at Newark’s Prudential Center. Please note that April 12 is the deadline to register your participation at this link.

Spring enrollment remains in a good position with an overall headcount 8.2% over last spring, as WP Online Session II registration draws to a close. Looking ahead to the Fall 2024, as of Friday, first-time student applications are up 12.7% over this time last year and first-time student acceptances are up 11.6%. Deposits are also trending ahead of this time period last year. Overall, new student applications for Fall 2024 are up 13.2%, and acceptances are up 14.4 %. Undergraduate Admissions also welcomed 238 people, including some of the most academically talented admitted students and their families, to a Scholarship Brunch on Friday. This represents a 7.6% increase in attendance over last year's event. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success.

NJ Spotlight News recently ran a story on the growth of our School of Nursing to the point where we now enroll more nursing students than any other institution in Northern New Jersey and the most of any single campus in the State. You can view it here.

A quick reminder of two important events coming up next week: on Wednesday, March 27, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who provided key testimony during Congressional hearings on the events of January 6, 2021, will be in conversation with me in the Shea Center as part of the Distinguished Lecturer Series. Click here for more information and tickets; and Thursday, March 28 at 12:30 p.m., the Budget & Enrollment Forum and Tuition & Fees Hearing will be held in the Library Auditorium.

This week’s WP: We are Proud – Congratulations to Librarian Neil Grimes and all volunteers on the success of the fourth annual REAL (Read, Excel, Achieve, Lead) Men Read event, which Neil founded, and which sends male members of the William Paterson University community into classrooms all around northern New Jersey every year in March to coincide with Read Across America, where they read to preschool and elementary students, providing positive male role models to young boys and inspiring them to read. Among the volunteer readers were Dean of the Library Edward Owusu-Ansah, top right, with Neil, Vice President for Enrollment Management George Kacenga, bottom left, and Provost Josh Powers, bottom right.

Have a great week!