President's Post

I am pleased to announce that Ramapo College has been selected as the winner of the 2008 New Jersey Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award for the Medium Non-Profit Organization category. The following is an excerpt from the letter I received from Dr. Valerie Brooks-Klein, the Chair of the Healthy Workplace Committee:

“The selection of Ramapo College is a reflection of your commitment to the progress, wellness, and success of all employees through employee communication and involvement, employee/family support services, healthy and safety programs and committees.  It is evident that your institution’s approach to employee growth, development, and advancement is outstanding.  We are excited that your institution recognizes the value of psychologically healthy programs and policies and advocates for them.  That commitment places you among some of the finest and most successful organizations in the state of New Jersey.”

This marks the second time that Ramapo has received this honor. This sort of accolade is all the more important when most of us are trying to keep our heads above water during the final push towards graduation.  Add to that the constant press surrounding the possibility of further cuts to the State budget and a casual observer might assume that working in higher education these days is mere drudgery.  Yet, at Ramapo we have much to celebrate with a myriad of opportunities to foster a tight knit and personal environment in which not only our students, but our faculty and staff can thrive.  I encourage you to read through the dossier that was submitted in support of our application and which can be found here. 

I would especially like to thank all those who contributed to our application, especially Debbie Lukascko, Gina Mayer Costa, Judith Jeney, Steve Roma, Bea Cronin, Dorothy Echols Tobe and my assistant, Christopher Romano, who chaired the committee.

Spring Break is an important marker in collegiate life; it offers the opportunity to "catch-up" after midterms while looking ahead in preparation for the weeks leading up to finals and graduation. Though for our active student body, Spring Break might be more about catching one's breath than catching up. While much of my recent State of the College address focused on initiatives of individual schools and the administration, the past few weeks have seen a tremendous amount of student activity and activism on campus. And it is especially during Spring Break, with the absence of energy on campus, that I am reminded of the vibrancy of students.

Pine vs. Linden Hall Energy Conservation

As I have mentioned several times, a compelling factor in my decision to sign the AACU Presidents Climate Commitment was that I was challenged by the students to do so. And in turn, I have encouraged them to lead the way in implementing conservation practices into student life at Ramapo. Paul Corragio, the Chair of the Student Sustainability Coalition and a representative on the Presidents Climate Commitment Task Force, initiated a competition between Pine and Linden Halls to see which could reduce energy consumption the most. This competition lasted the entire month of February. Dean Mackin informs me that Pine Hall won, decreasing their energy consumption by 29.96%. Linden Hall decreased consumption by an impressive 16.15%. The essential value of this competition is that students banded together to raise awareness about sustainability and actually practice it. 

Higher Education Awareness Week

Sticking with the theme of decreases, as you all know, two weeks ago the Governor released his proposed budget, including a 10.8% decrease in state appropriations to Ramapo. To spread awareness about the effect of the budget cuts on the student population, the SGA, along with Student Trustee Bloom and the Garden State Student Alliance, organized a week-long information session that included a yellow-card campaign to reach legislators. I would like to thank Steve Bloom for his budget presentation to the student community, which explained how a smaller investment by the State will affect Ramapo College and public higher education in New Jersey. The following day, Student Government President Steve Cucchiara delivered the first State of the Student Address, describing the budget scenario, his four year experience at Ramapo and his vision for the future. Both student leaders reminded students how important it is to vote and be active in their support of higher education. This sort of work needs to continue because student voices resonate with legislators. Higher Ed week secured over 1000 yellow-cards to distribute to legislators calling for accessible and affordable education and the need for increased support.

Alternative Spring Break

 This Spring Break, we have a total of 36 students who have dedicated their break time to serving others. We have 12 students in Appalachia repairing ramps for the elderly, 12 students in New Orleans rebuilding houses and visiting Southern University and 12 students who are a part of the Mexico/Texas border exchange. What a splendid example for all of us.

For the most recent updates on campus initiatives, I encourage you to visit the speeches section of my webpage and review the State of the College address delivered earlier this month.

State Budget Announcement

As we expected, the Governor's proposed budget does not spare public higher education. Our direct appropriations have been cut by an additional 11 % although the effective cut is considerably greater because required salary increases are largely underfunded, some benefit costs will have to be absorbed by the College and other expense items, such as utilities, are increasing substantially. There was also once again no provision for capital funding for such projects as roof replacement.

The budget picture may not be clear until the end of June but the general themes are unlikely to change even as the legislators add their own views to the mix. There is no money in the coffers. We are therefore left to our own devices for raising additional revenue, which we are doing, and reducing expenditures, which we have done. Since 2003 we have been increasing faculty lines at the rate of 5 per year. This commitment will have to be curtailed or even eliminated and all non-faculty positions vacated through attrition will only be filled where it is essential to do so. Cuts in programs will be proposed.

We have already reduced expenditures by millions of dollars in the past two years while raising tuition by 8% and 4.9% respectively in those years. Last year's 4.9% increase was the lowest among all New Jersey's public colleges and Ramapo now charges $1,200 less per student in tuition than the College of New Jersey. This amounts to a relative revenue shortfall of almost $ 7 million.

The administration will not propose trying to make up that difference but we are modeling on the basis of a tuition increase because there is virtually no choice but to do so if we are to fulfill our mission.

I will be providing more information over the coming weeks. Thank you.

President Peter P. Mercer

My wife Jackie and I would like to wish all of the Ramapo College community a happy and healthy New Year!

The end of the semester provided a great opportunity to reflect on the College's final successes of 2007 as well as the opportunities that will commence on the 1^st of the New Year.

To our students, faculty and staff, let me first say congratulations on the completion of another semester.  Each year, I am amazed by the rate at which the semesters pass and attribute that to the multitude of events and programs that enable our campus community to flourish intellectually, culturally and socially.

While Finals (either taking them, grading them or processing final grades) may have consumed much of your time, the closing days of the semester were filled with events that will continue to enhance and advance both the mission and the vision of the College.

Approval of the Strategic Plan

On December 10^th, the Board of Trustees voted to approve the updated Strategic Plan that can be found on the web at http://www.ramapo.edu/about/president/strategicplan.html.  More on the implications of the strategic plan in my next post.

Strategic Enrollment Management Team (SEM Team)

Complementing the approval of the Strategic Plan has been the creation of the SEM Team, a group coordinated by our Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management, Ricardo Ortegon.  The SEM team is a cross-cutting cleavage of the College, comprised of representatives from numerous departments and offices that will inform and develop the Enrollment Management Plan.  The SEM team is a larger advisory body that guides the work of four working committees: the Planning Committee, the Marketing/Recruitment/Admissions committee, the Retention/Persistence/Graduation committee, and the Scholarship committee.  Ricardo has charged these committees to analyze existing data and policies in each of these areas, compare Ramapo trends with national trends and make recommendations on how those areas of Enrollment Management can enhance the mission of the College.  Lastly, the last three committees will present their recommendations to the SEM Planning Committee, which is charged with the writing of the Enrollment Management Plan and presenting it to Cabinet for final approval by the end of May.  I would like to thank Ricardo for all the work he has done thus far as these meetings which have conjured up great excitement among the members.  I encourage you to attend the two sessions Ricardo will be hosting for the entire Ramapo community on strategic enrollment management:

Ramapo College Strategic Enrollment Management Presentation
Laurel Hall Theatre
1:00pm -2:00pm
Monday, February 11th
Wednesday, Feburary 13th

Sustainability Task Force

As promised in my last post, on Wednesday December 19^th, I charged the Sustainability Task Force, chaired by Dr. Emma Rainforth, to develop and implement an institutional action plan for Ramapo College to move toward becoming climate neutral.  Joe Porrovechio delivered a presentation on various aspects of climate neutrality and campus “greenness”.  In the coming weeks, Task Force member Stephen Schur will be developing a website for the work of the committee, which will keep the campus community updated on our progress towards climate neutrality.  I will provide that web address in my next post.

A New Foundation Chair

Tom McGurn, an executive with BMW of North America, has retired as Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Governors. Tom has been a member of the Board of Governors since 1996. During his tenure as chair of the Board of Governors, Tom strengthened committees by creating the position of chair-elect, and linked the strategic goals of the Foundation with those of the College's. He was most interested in working more closely with the Board of Trustees to ensure the Foundation's ability to support the highest priorities for the College. His leadership as chair of the Distinguished Citizens Dinner committee saw unprecedented growth in the proceeds from the event, the Foundation's largest fund-raiser. Tom also served on the Institutional Advancement Marketing and Communications Advisory Committee, and on search committees for a number of positions. We will miss Tom and his wife, Carolyn. They have been such wonderful friends and generous supporters of the College as well as many other not for profits in the community.

Robert T. Tillsley has assumed the role of Foundation Chair after already serving 15 years on the Foundation.  Robert is the President of National Services for McBride Corporate Real Estate, a company he has been involved with since 1988.  In our initial meetings, Robert has shown great energy for continuing to align the goals of the Foundation with those of the College’s strategic plan and strengthening the relationship with the Board of Trustees.  Cathy Davey and I are very excited for this opportunity to work with Robert as we continue progressing towards a campaign feasibility study.

Internationalizing Our Campus

Jackie and I will be visiting the cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Shanghai and Hong Kong during the first three weeks of January.

Despite the situation in neighboring Pakistan, I am looking forward very much to spending time with our students in India.  In addition to participating in classes at the Ashram, I will also be visiting the University of Mumbai and speaking at the Indian Institute for Management in Bangalore.

In China, I will be the guest of Shanghai Normal University and will be discussing broadening our cooperative agreement.  In Hong Kong, I also have extensive meetings arranged with both the City University and the Chinese University.

Acting President

I am away from campus until the first day of classes, January 22^nd. Provost Beth Barnett is serving as acting president in my absence.  If you need immediate assistance from the President’s Office, contact my assistants Christopher Romano at cromano@ramapo.edu or Pat Kozakiewicz at pkozakie@ramapo.edu.

I hope that you all had a very happy and restful Thanksgiving and have returned to campus determined to finish the semester in full stride.  Over the Thanksgiving break, I attended the American Association of State Colleges and Universities annual conference.  The conference focused on accountability and in the coming weeks, the Provost and I, along with the Cabinet, will be discussing some of the national initiatives regarding accountability and the use of institutional data.

Updates:

Fire in Linden Hall

Right before Thanksgiving, a fire occurred in the Linden Hall laundry room.  The State is still investigating the exact cause. Thanks to our Security Staff for their exemplary work in fighting the fire initially using extinguishers and for evacuating the building promptly. I speak for the entire College in expressing gratitude for their dedication to the well being of our students.

Alert Me Now

As of December 3^rd, 2,132 College members have signed up for the Emergency Alert System.  I strongly urge anyone who has not signed up to do so, as this will be our primary means of communication in case of emergency. Alert Me Now will not be used in the case of snow closings or delayed openings.  Ramapo will continue to operate its weather-closing hotline as well post information on our website.  Units may wish to create phone chains as another means of information.

Campus Happenings:

WWW.RAMAPO.EDU’S News and Media Page Wins CASE Award

It is a pleasure to announce that Ramapo’s News and Media webpage has been chosen by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education for a District II award.  This marks the third consecutive year that Ramapo has achieved this distinction.  Congratulations to Stephen Schur and the Marketing and Communications Staff for their accomplishment!

AASCU Presidents’ Climate Commitment

On Friday, November 30^th at the opening of the Green meets Green conference, I signed the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Presidents Climate Commitment.  This commitment is a national initiative by the AASCU to actively engage campuses in reversing the trends of global warming by achieving climate neutrality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Echoing my remarks at the groundbreaking for our new Sustainability Education Center, sustainability and environmental awareness are  integral not only to Ramapo’s history, but to its future. 

With the groundbreaking of our new Sustainability Education Center, the pending approval of our Strategic Plan embodying sustainability as a fundamental principle, and the signing of this commitment, Ramapo continues to dedicate itself to teaching and research on the environment and to promoting a more sustainable campus.   Shortly, I will be convening a task force to initiate the research outlined in the commitment and develop an action plan. More about that in my next post.

Welcome to the first edition of the President's Post.  The initial concept for a presidential newsletter of sorts arose as a result of thinking about ways to increase communication.  And, since the notion of a fireside chat has been replaced by podcasts, streaming videos and on-line chatrooms, I have decided to venture into a realm whose name seems to me reminiscent of bad science fiction: blogging.  The purpose of these President’s Posts, which I will update regularly, is to relate news of campus happenings, local and statewide initiatives and institutional issues.  Each posting will also feature a calendar section, which will alert you to particular events, sessions and meetings in the coming weeks. 

Let me briefly share with you my hopes for this Post:

• To serve as a communications tool.  As I have mentioned to various groups on campus and in the State of the College address, while I expect to spend more time away from campus this year, I want the College to know what I am doing.
• Accountability.  As the Provost and Academic Affairs continue to work with Faculty groups on assessment, it is my responsibility to give you my views on how particular projects and pursuits are advancing the mission of the College.
• To avoid misperceptions through discussion and clarification.

Updates:

 Strategic Plan

The final draft of the Strategic Plan was submitted to the Board of Trustees for its review on October1, 2007.  The final draft of the Strategic Plan can be found at http://www.ramapo.edu/about/president/strategicplan.html or on my internal president’s page.

Alert Me Now

In light of the tragedies at Virginia Tech and Delaware State University, Ramapo College has implemented the Alert Me Now, Emergency Alert System.  Alert Me Now is a new emergency notification system for Ramapo College to enhance emergency communication on campus.  Alert Me Now will enable students to be the first to know about emergencies on campus including closings, delays or dangerous incidents.  Alert Me Now enables each student to identify up to ten contact points to which information may be disseminated including: text messages, voice mail, emergency contact numbers, residence hall numbers, home phone numbers, etc. This system will only be used in emergencies and not as a medium for routine campus announcements or advertisements.  We strongly urge you to sign up for this system and encourage all those you know at the college to do the same.

Campus Happenings:

Sustainability Education Center

On Monday, October 22^nd, 2007 we were joined by The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for the Sustainability Education Center Groundbreaking ceremony.  What a beautiful day it was!  The Sustainability Center will be 1,787 gsf in area and house a “smart” classroom, a greenhouse, a display gallery, an office, and support spaces.  The Center will demonstrate the concept of green building by making the best use of natural daylight and natural ventilation, using recycled and environmentally-friendly materials, reducing water consumption through fixture choice and collection of rainwater for irrigation, and provide a super-insulated building “envelope” to reducing heating and cooling loads.  As noted in the draft Strategic Plan, sustainability in all its forms will continue to be an integral component of our long-term planning and vision.

Senator Sarlo and Senator Lesniak Visit Ramapo College

On Wednesday, October 24^th, I hosted a closed meeting with Senator Paul Sarlo of Woodridge and Senator Ray Lesniak of Union at the Havemeyer House for the purpose of acquainting the Senators with Ramapo College and its funding situation. Several members of the Board of Trustees and  the Vice Presidents joined me in this meeting, presenting their units’ most recent accomplishments and visions for the future.  The meeting was an important first step in the sort of relationship building I will be engaging in over the next few months.  I will be following up with both Senators to schedule individual meetings where we can more thoroughly discuss public higher education in New Jersey, particularly how Ramapo College of New Jersey can receive its “fair” share of appropriations.

Upcoming Events
Monday, November 5th: BSU Honoring Black Ancestors Vigil
Wednesday, November 7th: Meeting with the Faculty Assembly
Thursday, November 8th: Admissions Open House for Prospective Students
Thursday, November 8th: NYC Alumni Event|
Tuesday, November 13th: NJASCU Meeting (Trenton)
Wednesday, November 14th: Founder's Day
Thursday, November 15th: Administrative and Support Staff Communications Meeting (Friends Hall)