May 9, 2022
Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,
As we enter the final week of the semester and approach Commencement, there is plenty of great news to share and celebrate. Unfortunately, that does not include our current enrollment numbers for the Fall 2022 semester.
Currently, enrollment is 4,799, or 246 students (-4.9%) below where we were at this time last year. Full-time undergraduate is 328 students below last year-to-date (-9.9%). Continuing student enrollment stands at 3,763 students, or 423 students below last year-to-date (-10.1%). All of these numbers are also down from the prior week, which is especially concerning. On the bright side, first-year retention is trending positively, with all categories of students exceeding last year-to-date. Also, Summer enrollment is trending higher on the strength of WP Online.
Considering how critical enrollment and retention, especially of full-time undergraduates, is to the financial health of the University, our greatest opportunity lies in registering the 2,006 undergraduates and 1,003 graduate students who are here this semester and are eligible to register for Fall 2022 but haven’t yet done so. This is a job for everyone who interacts with our students. Please take every opportunity to encourage them to register now to have the best chance of getting the classes they want and need in order to stay on track to earn their degree.
I want to inform the WP community that, after a decade of dedicated service to William Paterson as our Chief Information Officer, Eric Rosenberg has decided to retire. His last day in the role was Friday. During his tenure, Eric helped WP leverage IT across all academic and administrative operations, including through the deployment of state-of-the-art technology in several campus construction projects, the establishment of a User Services Support Department with a technology services Help Desk, overseeing implementation of a new WPConnect portal, and planning and supporting development of a data warehouse for Business Intelligence dashboards, among other accomplishments. I want to thank Eric for his leadership and for everything he has done for the University. We wish him the best in this new phase.
Dr. Gamin Bartle, currently Director of Instruction & Research Technology, has agreed to serve as Interim Chief Information Officer. Dr. Bartle, along with IRT, led the University through the rapid transition to online learning at the start of the pandemic. She was instrumental in the launch and the success of WP Online and moving the University to online course evaluations. She has the technical and project management skills that will help IT move forward as we refine our branding efforts around the “how” strategy, focused on end users. While we will work to provide acting leadership for IRT as Dr. Bartle moves into her new role, she will continue to oversee the transition to the new Blackboard. Dr. Bartle will also serve as a member of the President’s Cabinet. Please join me in thanking her for stepping into the interim role.
This week’s WP: We are Proud – Congratulations to Dean Wartyna Davis, Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology Co-directors Dr. Jan Mohlman and Dr. Megan Chesin and all the students, faculty, staff, and administrators associated with the program, which has received full accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA) for ten years – the longest term available – with an effective date of December 2, 2021. This accreditation recognizes that the program adheres to the highest standards in education and clinical experience. The APA Commission on Accreditation is the primary accreditor in the United States for professional education and training in psychology. APA accreditation assures the public that a program has clearly defined training that aims to meet professional and scientific standards that support the successful, ethical, and skillful delivery of psychological service.
Have a great final week of the semester!
