November 7, 2022

Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,

With just a month to go until the end of the Fall semester, this is a good time to encourage all students you interact with to register for the Spring. Our students are rightly focused on the demands of their current courses, so they will benefit from our guidance in reminding them to get registration out of the way, so they can dedicate themselves fully to final exams and projects knowing that they are all set for next semester.

I always enjoy seeing people in person for my Office Hours, but with the tremendous growth of WP Online, online sessions will be a regular part of the mix, going forward, including tonight, at 5:00 p.m., on Zoom. Students, faculty, and staff are all invited to join and bring any questions you have or topics you’d like to discuss. 

Join us tomorrow, as William Paterson marks National First Generation College Day with guest speaker, WP alumna Dr. Janelle Hall, executive director of the United Passaic Organization, from 11 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Student Center Multipurpose Room and online. Click here for more details. As a proud first-generation college graduate, I look forward to this kickoff event, where we will celebrate WP’s wonderful community of first-generation students and graduates.

This Friday, November 11, is Veteran’s Day, when we pay tribute to all our nation’s veterans, including the many who are part of our William Paterson community. To help mark the day, please come to Zanfino Plaza on Thursday, November 12, between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and plant a flag in honor of our veterans.

And, finally, a reminder that this updates email will shift from a weekly schedule to every other week, starting next semester.

This week’s WP: We are Proud – Congratulations to Director Patrick Noonan and Program Assistant Cindy McCann of the Office of Transfer Programs and Special Sessions, as well as the Enrollment Management team for the great gains made in our High School Dual Enrollment program this year. Year-over-year headcount has grown by 37% to 552 students, a number that well exceeds the KPI goal of 20% growth. This continued growth comes after a new approach to this program was adopted in 2018, and we now enroll students at 22 high schools across our region. This is a great way to introduce high school students to William Paterson and an important pipeline for potential new students for us. 

With just over four weeks to go, let’s all keep up the good work and finish the semester strong.