August 30, 2021
Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,
I hope everyone’s semester is off to a great start. I have so enjoyed seeing everyone back and our campus truly come to life again.
As wonderful as it is to see our students, however, I am mindful of the fact that many who should be here are not. These are the more than 2,200 students we attrit, on average, every year, and our failure to retain them is at the heart of our current financial difficulties. Despite our return to campus, the pandemic has only made the matter worse. Currently, we are at 76.7% of our enrollment goal for the main campus. The good news is that WP Online stands at 167.3% of goal. Please bear in mind that these numbers aren’t final. The first census will be close of business on Friday, Sept. 3, and the final census on Nov. 1. An update will be provided after both of these dates. In Residential Life, we are at 75.5% of capacity, which is above the conservative goal we set in anticipation of further uncertainty on the part of students and families about how the pandemic would impact campus living. However, please understand that the significant contraction in full time undergraduate enrollment has caused a tremendous budget challenge going forward.
All of which is to say that the need to enroll and retain more students is our ever more urgent focus. I will talk about some bold actions we can take to do just that when I deliver my Fall 2021 State of the University Address this Thursday, Sept. 2 at 12:30 p.m. in the Shea Center and streaming live online with captions. I hope you can join me, and I look forward to sharing some important updates and ideas on Thursday and to the many conversations ahead that will surely result.
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We need to be frank about our challenges, but I never want them to distract us from the fact that there are always so many great things going on at William Paterson that are worth celebrating. For example, earlier this month, Provost Powers and I had the privilege of traveling to Lincroft, N.J. to sign a Comprehensive Transfer Agreement with Brookdale Community College during a special ceremony at its Board of Trustees meeting (photo, above).
This exciting new agreement features a 2+2 Joint Admissions Agreement and course maps for 26 on-campus and WP Online majors, plus RN-to-BSN and RN-to-MSN pathways. This agreement has the potential to be a powerful new student pipeline for us. Brookdale President Dr. David Stout and Dr. Henry Cram, Chair of the College’s Board and a member of the William Paterson Class of ’71, proudly noted that this agreement is one of the largest that Brookdale has signed with a senior institution. A special thanks to everyone who worked to make this happen, especially Patrick Noonan, Director of Transfer Programs and Special Sessions, and Guillermo DeVeyga, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and University Relations. If you start meeting more WP students from Monmouth County in the coming year, you will know why!
This week’s WP: We are Proud – This semester, we are excited to welcome to William Paterson the inaugural class of Predoctoral Fellows: Jasmine Henry (Music), Shannon Holder (Educational Leadership), Steven Jones (Psychology), and Soohyun (Ashley) Lee (Management). These four new members of our campus community will be teaching key courses in their departments, engaging in professional development as new faculty, and completing the final phases of their doctoral programs with mentorship support. The two-year fellowships are designed to aid these highly qualified pre-doctoral graduate students in preparing for teaching careers, while also serving to expand the diversity of perspectives and experiences of the faculties they join. To learn more about the program and the fellows, please click here, and be sure to say hello to them. We are fortunate to have them with us.
The start of the semester and the arrival on campus of so many excited and energetic students always provides a powerful reminder of the importance of the work we do. It inspires me, and I hope it inspires you, too. Have a great week!
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Sincerely,
Richard J. Helldobler, Ph.D.
President
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