February 27, 2020
ROI at William Paterson
This past Friday, President Helldobler convened a Summit of Summits for nearly 100 professional staff and faculty who have been involved in one or more of roughly 40 initiatives designed to strengthen what we do to enroll, retain, educate, and graduate students (see his
State of the University Address
remarks for details). Powerful examples of what can be achieved by working together, and of the vexing challenges associated with the intersection of students, structures, and culture were on display. I left the event energized and have been thinking about ROI ever since.
ROI in business parlance stands for return on investment. Its official definition according to Merriam-Webster is a measure of “the gain or loss generated on an investment relative to the amount of money invested.” In our context, it is a way of thinking about what we do to create value for the people who learn and work here. A few examples of this come to mind from recent weeks:
- Partnered offices across divisional lines at the Summit of Summits speaking about solutions to intersectionality issues affecting students.
- 40-plus faculty who have volunteered to assist with the yield campaign for admitted students.
- Staff from Physical Plant Operations and the University Police who jumped right in on a Sunday to stem a water leak in the Academic Affairs Office and help us get back in business without missing a beat.
- My reading of faculty research proposals as part of the ART process and their potential for addressing campus, community, regional, state, national, and international issues and challenges.
Beyond these, though, I wish to share a few examples of how ROI has recently been manifested in the colleges from persons external to the University:
College of the Arts and Communication
: When the iconic jazz pianist and WP jazz studies faculty member Harold Mabern unexpectedly passed last semester, the WP community responded by establishing the Harold Mabern Memorial Scholarship. Nearly $50,000 has been raised to help talented jazz students achieve their dream.
Cotsakos College of Business
: Retired faculty member and current Interim Dean Sue Godar made a second five-figure gift to the
Suited for Success
program to ensure students have what they need by way of professional attire for internship and job interviews. Jeffrey Millar ‘80, WP Distinguished Alumnus and CCOB Advisory Board member, made a second five-figure gift to the Alumni Business Endowed Scholarship, established by them several years ago.
College of Education
: The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation provided $150,000 to support the paraprofessional program for Professional Development Schools. WP’s New Jersey Center for Quality Ratings recently received $560,000 from the NJDOE to support their important work ensuring quality educational opportunity in New Jersey’s child care and early learning programs.
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
: Student success is deep in the DNA of the College, which is illuminated by a few recent grants and gifts. The Luis Lloréns Torres Spanish Language Learners Fund is supporting students enrolled in Spanish language classes. An Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program grant is helping to enable Korean and Arabic language study. Generous alumni donors provided 11 student scholarships for
Aspire
, the College’s summer career readiness experience.
College of Science and Health
:
Louise and Charles Theiller made an $84,000 gift to their Endowed Scholarship Fund designated for students majoring in biology or biotechnology. This endowed scholarship they created now stands at over $200,000. “It’s inspiring to meet the students and hear their stories,” Charles told Dean Sharma, because he feels they have a promising future.
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All the best, and may you be both a contributor to, and recipient of, ROI.
Oh, and meet my newest Paterson friends. We bonded a few weeks ago as volunteers for the annual homeless count, a critical means by which communities are made eligible for public funds to assist them.
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Josh Powers
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
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Academic News
Faculty are still welcome to join the yield campaign reach-out to students who have not yet committed to WP.
The voluntary time you commit is in your control with an envisioned one hour per week being the norm. The campaign runs through mid-April. Volunteers can make calls or communicate via email for the reach-out as one feels comfortable from information provided by the Admissions Office. Sign up through this
Qualtrics site
.
Provost’s recommendations on academic department reorganization have been accepted by President Helldobler
. See the
Academic Reorganization
website for his letter if you did not see it via email already. Now the process begins for implementation. Deans are to engage with department chairs to discuss logistics and needs associated with making the necessary preparations. In some cases, but not all, physical moves may be involved. Discussions regarding by-laws and other related academic and administrative processes will also be necessary. Personnel changes will also need discussion. Each expanded department will have one chair, effective at the end of this academic year. Administrative support staff will NOT lose their jobs but will have the opportunity to consider moves. Deans will be in discussion with the Provost’s Office on such details.
The Middle States Self-Study Town Hall Meeting.
All faculty, staff, and students are invited to a town hall on Wednesday, March 11 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. to hear/learn about the first draft of the self-study and to offer input regarding sharpening and gap filling. More information to come.
Pencil in now attendance for some important events the week of May 18 to 22 prior to Commencement
. The annual Diversity and Justice Workshop will be held May 18 and 19. Contact
Dr. Danielle Wallace
for details. From May 20 to 22, two new events will be held: a Teaching and Learning Institute in the morning and an Advising Institute in the afternoon. More information to come on these events for which we hope you will participate.
Fact & Figures
- $72,500: The estimated amount of money saved by students in one semester in English classes that have adopted Open Educational Resources.
- $2.53 million and $3 million: The amount of two recent WP institutional grant submissions to the U.S. Department of Education, the former for a Student Support Services TRIO grant and the latter for a Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant.
- 154: The number of faculty applications for ART.
Quotables
"As I have come to know many of you, I know your true north is to make our students successful." –
Richard Helldobler
, State of the University Address, February 6, 2020
The Provost’s Office is in Raubinger 100; stop by and visit us.
Meg, Lissette, Claudia T., Claudia C., Jonathan, Sandy, and Josh
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