October 18, 2021
Dear William Paterson Faculty & Staff,
While we are all aware of the ongoing budget and enrollment challenges that we are focused on fixing, I want to be sure to also share with you some encouraging enrollment updates. As of Thursday morning, we have enrolled 9,886 students (2.53% more than Fall 2020 Census). If these numbers hold through our second Fall 2021 census, on November 5, it would represent the first Fall enrollment headcount growth in 11 years. We have enrolled 3,651 new students (+17.8% increase) for Fall 2021. Within those numbers, we have a 12% increase in undergraduates and a 34.6% increase in graduate students. While freshmen numbers were down, graduate, transfer, readmit, and dual enrollment numbers were all above their targets. While this gives us a good headcount story to tell, we must be mindful of the 12% decline in full-time undergraduate enrollment leading to an approximately $7.1 million budget shortfall
Our biggest opportunity for further growing enrollment is increasing retention. On that front, we know that the pandemic’s various challenges knocked many of our students off track in their pursuit of a William Paterson degree, so we have launched the “Back on Track” campaign to make it easy for them to return to WP for Spring 2022. Two special advisement and registration sessions on October 17 (Juniors and Seniors) and November 13 (Freshmen and Sophomores) will connect these students with one-on-one support to help them get back on track, including the offer of a free summer class for returning WP students who were not enrolled in the Spring or Fall of 2021. If you know students who’ve had to withdraw for any reason, please make them aware of these sessions. In particular, if you know students who withdrew or were deregistered because they were not vaccinated against COVID-19 and didn’t have an approved exemption, please let them know that we can now accommodate them with new online options beginning in the spring.
Everyone should have received last Wednesday’s Rave alert that the campus mask status has returned to red/high, meaning everyone must mask in all indoor settings, as well as outdoors when in large groups, regardless of vaccination status. We are monitoring the data in Passaic and surrounding counties and reevaluating the mask status weekly, so it’s important to remain aware of it. If you aren’t signed up for Rave alerts, please register now. It is an important way for our community to stay informed about this and many other important matters.
This week’s WP: We are Proud – Congratulations to Director of Jazz Studies Bill Charlap, who is featured in a recent “DownBeat” magazine article on the reopening of the legendary Village Vanguard jazz club in Manhattan, where the Bill Charlap Trio (with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington) recently wrapped up a two-week stay. The article calls Professor Charlap “a singularly erudite keeper of the jazz flame,” who has charted his own path through the jazz world, including his longtime role here at William Paterson. “DownBeat” is the most widely read jazz periodical with a worldwide circulation of over 400,000.
Thank you all for your continued good work on behalf of our students. Have a great week.
