Like the bright blossoming forsythias and the cacophony of bird song from the resident Scarlet Tanagers, Ramapo in the spring is crackling with vibrancy and anticipation. I’d like to illustrate this seasonal vivaciousness by noting a few of the recent achievements of our faculty, staff, and students.

 

Hands-on Civic Engagement. Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula, of the 17th legislative district, topped off a series of month long activities when he addressed students as the keynote speaker of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Civic Engagement Week. The Assemblyman later commented that this, his first visit to our campus, was a “wonderful experience.”
ww2.ramapo.edu/students/ccec/ 

Responsive Faculty Development. Ramapo was selected as one of only 20 flagship campuses for the project A Network for Understanding the New Europe. The Faculty Resource Network at New York University, in partnership with the Center for Global Affairs, initiated the New Europe Project to promote greater knowledge of Europe in the New York metro area and in other strategically chosen areas throughout the country. The project will be organized around three themes—immigration, politics, and economics in the European Union—and will include a series of faculty development seminars and complementary public programs.
www.nyu.edu/frn/programs.events/enrichment/Getting.to.Know.Europe.html 

 

Impressive Undergraduate Research. More than 50 students in the School of Theoretical and Applied Science (TAS) presented their research as part of the school’s Annual Research Symposium this month. The Symposium provided the students with the opportunity to present posters and lead talks describing their undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activities performed under the supervision of 17 TAS faculty members.
www.ramapo.edu/tas/symposium/ 

 

Sharing Our Success. Assemblyman Timothy J. Eustace ‘78 is looking forward to addressing the Class of 2013 as keynote speaker of this year’s Commencement ceremony. Eustace has spent the last two decades committed to public service and has become a recognized advocate for environmental sustainability, public health, and civil rights. More than 1400 Ramapo College seniors will join the Assemblyman as alumni on May 17, 2013 at the IZOD Center.
www.ramapo.edu/commencement 

 

International Accolades. The Indus Foundation selected Ramapo College for its Global Award for Educational Excellence in the field of Business Administration.
Rajesh Adhikari, director of international student and scholar services, accepted the award on behalf of the College. Foreign press spoke with Raj and he and the College were featured in several international media outlets including the most widely read English newspaper of India, The Hans India. Ramapo was recognized for having made a transformative impact in the field of higher education. The award is based on criteria that includes, but is not limited to infrastructure, faculty, placements, strength of students, alumni and industry feedback, etc.
www.indus.org 

 

Noteworthy Academic Achievement. The Ramapo Chapter of Chi Alpha Epsilon Academic Honor Society inducted or upgraded a record number of students. Membership in the Society is offered to eligible students who hold a 3.0 cumulative GPA for two consecutive full-time semesters and who were admitted to the College via developmental or higher education opportunity type programs. The average number of annual inductees/upgrades since the Chapter’s founding in 2000 was 21. That number more than doubled to 45 in the 2012-13 academic year.
www.xaehonor.com 

 

Student-Athletes Advance. The Ramapo College Men’s Basketball team earned the title of NJAC Champions this season. Roadrunner Stephon Treadwell ‘13 was invited to play in the 2013 NABC Reese's Division III College All-Star Game. Two student-athletes were selected from each of the eight regions, and an additional two were voted on and selected by fans on D3hoops.com. The 18 student-athletes participated in an action packed weekend which included, attending the championship team banquet, joining forces for a community service project, having an all-star team practice, and attending the NCAA quarter-final games that weekend. Treadwell also had the opportunity to participate as demonstrators in a NABC Coaches' Clinic, participate in a youth clinic, interact with local Olympians, and be recognized at halftime of the first quarter-final game.
www.ramapoathletics.com 

 

Dynamic Future Planning. In synchrony with the Strategic Planning process, a year-long Campus Facilities Master Planning process is coming to a close. The draft Master Plan provides the college with a blueprint for its capital maintenance, development and utilization over the next decade. The comprehensive process included building condition and space quality assessments, as well as a space inventory analysis. The plan outlines several exciting development opportunities for the College’s future. 
http://www.ramapo.edu/cfmp.html

 

Creative Activism. Diners in the Atrium were treated to a surprise flash mob performance of Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” when a group of faculty, staff, and students, in collaboration with Healing Space at the YWCA of Bergen County, Alternatives to Domestic Violence, and Shelter our Sisters, broke into a choreographed dance to raise awareness for V-Day, a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.
www.ramapo.edu/students/womenscenter 

 

Making the Case for Advocacy. Ramapo College, along with the other colleges and universities across the state worked for months to assemble our application for a piece of the more than $1.3 billion in capital funding from the state. The funding comes from five sources and is anchored by the Building our Future Bond Act proposal approved in the fall. Each project was submitted separately to Secretary Hendricks. Currently a committee is making recommendations on those projects to Hendricks, who, in turn, will submit a list to the Legislature with a status and funding amount for each project: approved, disapproved, or approved in part. The legislature has a set amount of time to reject that list in whole. The timing varies by fund, but if no rejection has come through in that time, the list of projects is approved by default. A renovation of the Library and the Phase I Academic Buildings are among the projects Ramapo submitted for consideration.
www.state.nj.us/highereducation/documents/130204HigherEducationCapitalFacilitiesProgramsSolicitation.pdf 

On March 14, 2013, I hosted a quarterly Communications Meeting for faculty and staff. A summary of that meeting follows.

Strategic Planning Task Force

Peter P. Mercer, President

Background

The Strategic Planning Task Force began its work at the start of 2012. The Task Force, a dynamic group of 25 individuals (faculty, staff, students, others), met weekly and aims to present a final Strategic Plan for endorsement by the Board of Trustees in the summer of 2013.  

The Task Force’s deliberations have included:  

   

Guiding Principles, Mission, Vision

The Task Force quickly acknowledged the need for the Strategic Plan 2014-18 to be more of a working plan rather than a symbolic plan. As a result, the Task Force identified three guiding principles for both the plan and the Task Force’s deliberations. These principles and the Task Force’s desire to employ more succinct key statements where possible helped guide revisions to the College’s Mission and Vision statements. 

 

   

The Task Force moved on to development of the Plan’s major goals, objectives and then targets. The Goals are long term aims to be achieved by the College. The Objectives are relatively short-term measurable milestones to be accomplished in support of the goal. The Achievement Targets, noted within the plan ay www.ramapo.edu/president/stratplan, are the specific measures used to determine the effectiveness of the objectives.

Goal 1: Advance Academic Excellence and Engagement

Beth Barnett, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs

   

Goal 2: Enhance Financial Strength and Institutional Sustainability

Dorothy Echols Tobe, Chief Planning Officer

  

Goal 3: Improve Internal and External Relations and Communications

Cathy Davey, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Executive Director of the Ramapo College Foundation

  

Stakeholder Review

“On the Road” groups of Task Force members are now engaged in presenting the draft plan to various stakeholders. The goals of Stakeholder review are to collect input on opportunities to provide better clarity (rhetoric changes), conceptual and strategic deficits of the plan, and conceptual and strategic strengths of the plan. Input will be collected as part of the “On the Road” presentations and can also be submitted via the online form at www.ramapo.edu/president/stratplan. The Task Force will reconvene to review and consider the input and will ultimately forward a final plan to the Board of Trustees for endorsement.  

Implementation and Assessment

Implementation of the plan will begin soon after Board endorsement and annual progress reports on the plan will be distributed to the public. If you would like an “On the Road” presentation of the plan for your unit, club, department, etc…please contact Brittany Goldstein, Office of the President.   

Capital Projects Update

Dr. Dorothy Echols Tobe, Chief Planning Officer 

In November 2012, New Jersey voters approved the Building Our Future Bond Act authorizing the State to issue general obligation bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $750 million. Funds from the Bond Act will be used to provide New Jersey public and private colleges and universities with matching grants to build, equip, and expand higher education facilities to increase academic capacity and to provide direct benefits to students. 

• The higher education institutions across the state are now competing for those funds. Project submissions must meet specific criteria to be considered for approval. The criteria require that institutions:
• Have an up-to-date long-range facilities plan approved by the governing board that details the facilities needs of the institution and how the institution plans to address those needs; 
• Demonstrate how the project to be financed through bonds issued under the Bond Act advances the goals of the long-range facilities plan, increases the academic capacity of the institution, and provides a direct benefit to students; 
• Demonstrate that the project is construction ready; 
• Commit to provide matching funds to support 25 percent of the cost of the project; 
• Commit to use the grant for the purpose described in (a)2 above; and 
• Commit, by resolution of its governing board, to maintaining the capital improvement funded by the grant. 

What does this mean for Ramapo? Ramapo will submit the following 6 projects for consideration: 

• Renovation of Portions of the A, B, D, and E Wings 
• Library Renovation 
• Technology Infrastructure Upgrade 
• G-Wing Renovations & Scientific Equipment 
• Student Center Dining 
• Copy Center/Public Safety Relocations/Academic Commons  

The Secretary of Higher Education shall prepare a list of projects that meet the eligibility requirements and have been approved for funding by the Secretary, including the amount of each project grant, to the presiding officers of each house of the Legislature on a date that both Houses are in session. If the Legislature does not disapprove the list of approved project grants by the adoption of a concurrent resolution within 60 days of receipt of the list of approved project grants, the grants will be deemed to be authorized.

Updates on the Campus Facilities Master Plan and other campus projects are available at ww2.ramapo.edu/capitalprojects/

Other News

Peter P. Mercer, President

 George C. Ruotolo, Jr. has been elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bill Dator has been elected Vice Chairman, and David G. Schlussel has been elected Secretary. Chairman Ruotolo has indicated an interest in Board Development and specifically having the Board hear more often from various campus entities. He will be inviting groups to present on a variety of topics to the Board during its closed sessions.

The College is now accepting nominations for the President’s Staff Recognition Program Awards. Nominations can be made online or paper forms are available from Human Resources and the President’s Office. Award winners will be recognized at the annual Picnic at the Pavilion on May 23, 2013 and presented to the Board of Trustees at its June meeting.

The College will again participate in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Great College to Work For Survey. In 2011, Ramapo received national recognition from The Chronicle as a Great College to Work For.  From March 18 to April 15, those faculty and staff randomly selected to participate will receive an email from Modern Think LLC with a link to the 20 minute survey during the first week and reminders thereafter. Responses are kept confidential.  

Question and Answer 

In December 2012, I held a joint cabinet meeting with the Capital Improvements and Finance Committees of the Board of Trustees to discuss capital projects on campus. A summary of that meeting follows. 

G-Wing Renovation/Adler Center Addition 

The project architects have submitted final plans and specifications to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for code review. The public solicitation for general construction bids was advertised on August 31, 2012 with bids due October 9, 2012. The bids received exceeded the construction budget, so all were rejected. Bids for the second round are due December 20, 2012. If the bids are received within the construction budget, renovation of G-Wing and construction of the Adler Center for Nursing Excellence will commence in early 2013.   

Re-Roofing/Solar Panel Installation 

URS Corporation explored various roofing alternatives that would not only protect the integrity of many of our buildings’ interiors but would also conserve energy and reflect principles of “green design” and sustainability as well. As permitted by the New Jersey Economic Development Act of 2009, the College solicited requests for proposals from firms interested and willing to enter into a partnership with Ramapo. Under the arrangement, the private party, at its expense, would fund the capital cost of the roof replacement, install solar panels either on the roofs and/or on-grade elsewhere on campus, and receive a return on its investment through: (1) the sale to the College of the renewable energy generated by the panels under a power purchase agreement (PPA); (2) tax depreciation of the panels; and (3) receipt of solar energy credits from the state. 

Roof replacement began last month. To date, roof work on Wings A-E, H-Wing, the Library and Pine Hall is complete. Added work such as slate caulking, louver painting, and installation of safety railings is also complete. The National Energy Partnership’s subcontractor, Amberjack Solar of Oakland, New Jersey, is currently designing the photovoltaic system and installation of solar carports in the parking lots and panels on roofs should be underway by spring of 2013.  

Site Utility Survey 

The College contracted with URS Architects/Engineers, Inc. for the development of a composite diagram of all underground facilities to complement our Facilities Condition Assessment. The survey resulted in single-line diagrams of electric, natural gas, water, sanitary sewer, steam and chilled water lines that will be most useful for master planning and emergency preparedness and response. The College has also engaged URS for an additional scope of work to add all communications cables, including telephone and data, to the utility composite, as well as site lighting power and fixtures. This project should be completed by the end of this month.  

Library Renovations & Center for Reading and Writing 

The main portion of this project involved the relocation of the Center for Reading and Writing, formerly the Center for Academic Success (CAS), from the second floor of the E-Wing in the Phase I Academic Building to the second floor of the Library. The next step in completing these relocations was to construct a dedicated room on the fourth floor of the Library to surround and house the College’s relocated archives. The relocations of these two projects are now complete. 

Interior Signage – Academic Buildings 

New interior signage is being designed for the entire academic complex. Several buildings on campus require additional interior signage, primarily directional, to help visitors and students navigate to respective schools, departments, and activities. The project deliverables include: building directions, floor/department/unit directories, floor directional signs, room identification, and cubicle/information signs. Nearly all of the existing floor plans of the academic complex have been surveyed and updated in preparation for signage fabrications and installation. Remaining portions shall be completed by the end of February 2013 and unfinished developments for the Berrie Center, the Library, and the first floors of the A and B Wings will begin during late summer/early fall of 2013. 

Cogeneration Public/Private Partnership Project 

Cogeneration involves the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate electricity and useful heat and chilled water. For the past several years, the College has explored opportunities for installing a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant on campus due to the rising cost of electricity and the declining cost of natural gas. A CHP plant operated on campus has potential for generating a good portion of our electricity needs at reduced cost.  

A CHP plant will be pursued via a public/private partnership (P3), as permitted under the New Jersey Economic Development Act of 2009. The College has received proposals from four firms prequalified and capable of installing and operating a cogeneration facility. The four firms gave in-person presentations to committee of College staff and consultants. The College expects to select a private partner for recommendation to the Board of Trustees by the spring.  

Phase II Student Housing Exterior Renovations/Heating/Cooling System Replacement 

The renovation work has started and the re-roofing and replacement of mechanical units and windows was completed on schedule. Exterior façade replacement is now underway and will continue during the fall 2012 semester, with completion expected by March 2013.  

 
 Renovations of Wing E for Teacher Education 

The College’s academic building commonly known as G-Wing was constructed in 1975, where the School of Social Sciences and Human Services housed programs in Social Work, Psychology and Teacher Education. Due to its age and intensive use over the years, G-Wing is outdated and maladaptive for modern research and teaching. In October 2010, the Board of Trustees approved a major upgrade of the existing building that will enable the College to respond to high student demand in an environment that conforms to modern standards for space, equipment and health and safety. Offices had to be relocated for the convenience of the renovation.  

This renovation will create a new Teacher’s Education Suite in E Wing that includes a new teaching/learning lab, computer lab, general purpose classroom, Director’s office, administrative work station, fifteen faculty offices and secure record storage. The project will be implemented during the summer of 2013.  

Renovations of A & B Wing for Salameno School of American & International Studies 

At the capital campaign gala held in 2011, the College announced a $3.0 million gift from Lawrence and Theresa Salameno. Of that total, $1.9 million will be used to support renovations of the A and B Wings of the Phase I Academic Building where the office of the Dean of the Salameno School of American and International Studies and faculty offices are located, with the balance dedicated to endowments for academic programs and scholarships. In addition to the Salameno gift, project funding includes unrestricted reserves and other gifts and grants. The renovation work will take place over the summers of 2013 and 2014.  

Facilities Master Plan 

An ad hoc committee comprised of College staff and outside consultants prepared a comprehensive Request for Proposal for a campus master plan, and solicited responses from a number of firms with expertise in master planning for institutions of higher learning. Key deliverables include an analysis of existing conditions; a space utilization analysis; development of a prioritized list of future needs for renovations, new construction and infrastructure; massing diagrams for future new constructional and a project implementation schedule. The Committee and the planners have met with a range of College stakeholders, including the Strategic Planning Task Force, a schedule and accompanying benchmarks will reflect completion of the campus master plan and an initial report to the full board is expected this month. 

Installation of New Scoreboard 

The new scoreboard was placed at the west end of the field and face Route 202. Panels for sponsorship will generate revenue for the athletic program. The scoreboard has been fully operational since December of 2012.  

  

Academic Commons 

A task force committee I appointed envisions the existing Copy Center repurposed for dining, socializing and meeting space; four locations were identified for the relocation of the Copy Center: (1) The Lodge; (2) the current Residence Life space (C-Wing 2^nd floor); (3) the Public Safety space (C-Wing 1^st floor); (4) and the College Park Apartments Maintenance Garage. These potential locations are under evaluation. 

I appreciate your patience and enthusiasm as these projects evolve and move the College forward.   

I am pleased to report that on the 6th of November, 62% of New Jersey voters approved Question 1 – the $750 million higher education facilities bond on this year’s General Election ballot.

This is good news for higher education across the State of New Jersey. The share allotted for state colleges is $247.5 million with a required 25% match from all recipient schools. Ramapo College of New Jersey has been setting aside money in reserve since FY2006, allowing us to meet our 25% match. At Ramapo, this bond money will be used for much needed capital projects that support academic programs: renovation of our aging academic buildings and the library

I extend my sincere thanks to all who contributed their time to this campaign. I want to give special recognition to our two Student Trustees, Nicole Panzica  and Anthony Darakjy, for their tireless efforts on organizing and speaking on this initiative throughout campus.

I will continue to advise the campus as we receive more information from the State. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at president@ramapo.edu.

Sincerely,

Peter. P. Mercer
President

A Message From President Peter P. Mercer

Classes will resume on Monday, November 5. Those not able to attend because of the aftermath of the storm should let their instructors /advisors /supervisors know. We will try to ensure that nobody is significantly disadvantaged because of factors beyond their control.  

The good news is that the Ramapo College campus sustained minimal damage and was without power only briefly. 

The bad news is that many of you, together with your families, have suffered significant loss and hardship. I can sympathize to a degree because a 50 foot pine tree fell on the house on Monday night, coming through the family room ceiling seconds before my wife and I were planning to sit there. I only hope that you have all avoided injury and that life will soon be seen to be returning to normal. 

I also want to thank faculty, staff and students for their patience during the past week. Our buildings and grounds staff, in particular, have worked round the clock removing downed trees and generally making sure that the campus is capable of functioning normally. We will get past this! 

Try to have a good weekend. 

Peter P. Mercer 

President 

 

 

Colleagues and friends,

I am pleased to report that Governor Christie signed a $750 million higher education facilities bond issue that will go on the ballot for voter approval in November.

This is a significant event for higher education. As you probably know, it has been more than 20 years since the State of New Jersey approved a bond for capital improvements for institutions of higher learning. At the same time, State funding for colleges and universities has steadily declined, leaving an aging infrastructure sorely in need of repairs.

At Ramapo College of New Jersey, while we have trimmed budgets strategically to save money while increasing the value of our assets, this bond referendum could significantly help us. Since FY2006, the College has saved $7.7 million by renegotiating contracts for electricity, telephone maintenance and equipment, along with freezing open positions and making targeted cuts in such areas as equipment purchase and travel. We’ve also  aimed at revenue generation by adding new Masters degree programs,  increasingly featuring online learning, and addressing the needs of adult learners. Further, Ramapo has entered into mutually beneficial public/private partnerships to replace aging roofs.

If the referendum passes, the share allotted for state colleges is $247.5 million; a 25% match is required from recipients. New bond monies could help offset costs for much needed capital projects that support academic programs:  renovation of our aging academic buildings, construction of a new library, a new communications art center and campus-wide upgrades to technology infrastructure.

Another bill in support of the higher education community, S-2501, allows the sector to continue entering into partnerships with private entities to upgrade academic facilities by building, operating and maintaining revenue producing facilities whose ownership would eventually fully revert to the College. This bill has the potential to foster new economic development initiatives as well as employment opportunities in business and the trades.

Support for the bond is growing among statewide business and industry associations, as it is seen as a potential economic driver for the State.

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association recently published a piece in support of the bond. 

"Both pieces of legislation will help to increase the quality and capacity of the higher education facilities in New Jersey," wrote Andrew Musick, director of policy and research at NJBIA.  "The level of education that today’s students receive has a direct impact on the future of economic competitiveness and prosperity in New Jersey. A quality education also ensures that students will be able to meet the increased workplace needs they will face upon graduation. With increased facilities, New Jersey’s colleges and universities will be able to increase their overall capacity to better handle the predicted increase in student populations and to help stem the outmigration of the state’s most talented college-bound students. Schools will also be able to expand research facilities that in turn, will attract valuable research dollars."

I will continue to keep you apprised of developments as they occur on this important issue.  Thank you, as always, for your support of Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Sincerely,

Peter P. Mercer
President

 

Dear Students, Friends, and Colleagues,

Welcome to the fall 2012 semester at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

ASB faculty and staff with the College’s first class of MBA students at orientation.

As you engage in campus life this semester you will notice that our students, much like our environs, are in the throes of transformation.

The undergraduate experience at Ramapo is a journey that is marked notably by social initiation, personal progress, and intellectual maturity. This is evidenced in our students’ increasing participation in curricular and extra-curricular programming. Such involvement often yields a growing self-awareness and understanding of their roles as global citizens.

For the first time in College history, students will be able to capture their extra-curricular and service commitments in the Ramapo College Co-Curricular Transcript. The Transcript will serve as a record of activity for professional, academic, and self-reflection purposes. I look forward to the implementation and assessment of this new resource and I extend my thanks to the faculty, staff, and students that have championed its development over the last several months.

The College’s physical plant also undergoes continual transformation. For example,the formal renovation of G-Wing and construction of the Adler Center for Nursing Excellence commenced this month. In addition, roof replacements across campus began in January 2012 and to date, work on wings A-E, H, the Library and Pine Hall is substantially complete. Installation of solar carports in parking lots and photovoltaic panels on roofs will be underway this semester. Also, the renovation work of the Phase II College Park Apartments (CPAs) started this summer with re-roofing, replacement of mechanical units, and upgrades of windows and doors. Exterior façade replacement will continue during the fall 2012 semester, with completion expected by the end of calendar year 2012.

I again extend my thanks and appreciation to the students, faculty, and staff that have been patient throughout these projects and especially to the residents of the CPAs for their continued cooperation while work there continues.

25th Annual Ramapo College Foundation Golf Outing

I am pleased to share that public support for the College continues to grow. First, a higher education bond referendum, for up to $270 million for the sector, is expected to make its way to the voters this November. Second, the Ramapo College Foundation’s 25th Annual Golf Outing introduced new businesses and individuals to the College; they took to the greens this year to support our comprehensive capital campaign, “Further our Promise.”

Our internal efforts in generating support for the College have been buoyed recently by external recognition. Through high school counselors’ recommendations and based on quantitative research, Ramapo College was named to the roster of Colleges of Distinction™. Once nominated, colleges are assessed according to student engagement, quality of teaching, vibrancy of the college environment, and success of our graduates. While our engagement, teaching and student successes are often at the forefront of our awareness, the “vibrancy” of the college is perhaps less apparent simply because we seldom pause to celebrate this aspect of Ramapo collegiate life., revealed in the following summer achievements:

• The Center for Innovative and Professional Learning experienced record demand and attendance in its summer camps and programming.
• The College, through the efforts of the Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force, received the TIPS Award of Excellence from Health Communications, Inc. for our institutional commitment to preventing the misuse of alcohol in our community.

A cohort of Chinese students, hiking through the Reservation, spent two weeks with Ramapo College through the CIPL program

• The Anisfield School of Business welcomed the first cohort of students in our Master of Business Administration program.
• The Civic and Community Engagement Center nearly doubled the size of its Leaders in Service Program this summer bringing more than 50 first year students to campus a week before move-in to participate in service projects, political engagement, and leadership opportunities.
• Since the spring the College has been deeply engaged in the simultaneous development of a new strategic plan and a new campus master plan. As complementary documents, they will set forth our path for the next several years ensuring that our capital investments reinforce attainment of our strategic goals.

Again, I welcome you to campus and I wish you all an enjoyable semester. I look forward to Opening Convocation with author Benjamin Nugent on September 12 and providing you with more detail on these and other initiatives at the State of the College Address on September 19 at noon in Friends Hall.

Sincerely,

Peter P. Mercer
President

On June 28, 2012, I hosted a quarterly Communications Meeting for faculty and staff. A summary of that meeting follows.

Strategic Planning Task Force  

Dr. Peter Mercer, President 

The Strategic Planning Task Force began its work at the start of 2012. The Task Force, a dynamic group of 25 individuals (faculty, staff, students, others), meets weekly and aims to present a final Strategic Plan for endorsement by the Board of Trustees in fall of 2012.

In addition to its weekly meetings, the Task Force has participated in two retreats. The first retreat yielded endorsement of the revised mission statement noted below. The underlined terms in the statement were further defined by the Task Force and will supplement the new Strategic Plan.

 

The second retreat resulted in a focusing in on the plan’s guiding principles, goals, and objectives. At present, there are several draft objectives and achievement targets, some samples of which are noted below. The Task Force is now immersed in further refining the objectives and establishing additional achievement targets. All College stakeholders will be given the opportunity to provide input into the plan in the coming months.

 

 

    

2013 Institutional Budget 

Dr. Peter Mercer, President 

The Board of Trustees approved the 2013 Budget on Monday, June 26. The budget reflects stable state support at 25.5% of operating revenues, revenue enhancements, and expense reductions.  It represents an increase of only $351,000 over FY 2012, a .25% increase. The budget incorporates $3 million in cost cutting and savings measures and reflects an average increase in tuition and fees, and room and board of 2.5% which is consistent with the average of the Consumer Price Index. This 2.5% average translates to dollar increases for a residential student of $596 and a commuter student of $386.

     

 

    

Bond Ratings and Bond Issue 

Dr. Peter Mercer, President 

The College gave a comprehensive presentation to Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s rating agencies in May in preparation for bond funding for current bonds and new bonds. Moody’s maintained our rating of A2 with a stable outlook, while S&P raised our rating from A- to A stable.

The recent bond issue of $80.670 million will fund capital construction of the G-Wing Science Building, the Adler Center for Nursing Excellence, and other projects. The issue refinances approximately $39 million in existing bonds. The pre-sell analysis had projected savings at about $1.8 million in net present value or about 3.7% based on market conditions at the time of the presentation to the rating agencies in May. The June 5 sale actually resulted in a net present value savings on the refunded bonds of $3.157 million or 8.17%.

 

Middle States Periodic Review Report 

Dr. Eric Daffron, Vice Provost of Curriculum and Assessment 

Please note that the text that follows is per the guidelines in the Middle States Commission’s Handbook for Periodic Review Reports, 2011 

The Periodic Review Report (PRR), due five years after the decennial self-study and reaffirmation of accreditation, is a retrospective, current, and prospective analysis of the institution. As an essential phase of the accreditation cycle, the PRR should demonstrate that the institution meets the standards by which the Commission reaffirms or denies accredited status.

The PRR has three broad goals. It is intended to help institutions gauge their progress in achieving their own goals and objectives. It also enables the Commission to assess the current status, as well as the future prospects, of institutions, within the framework of the Commission’s accreditation standards. Further, it fulfills the Commission’s accountability to the public, the academic community at large, and its member institutions.

The PRR also has multiple objectives. First, it assesses the impact of significant major developments, changes, or challenges subsequent to the last evaluation. Second, it assesses the institution’s response to recommendations resulting from the previous evaluation. Third, it serves as a tool to review the institution’s enrollment trends, financial status, and enrollment and financial projections. Fourth, it is used to determine the current status of the implementation of processes for the assessment of institutional effectiveness and the assessment of student learning outcomes (Accreditation Standards 7 and 14). And, fifth, it assesses the extent to which linked institutional planning and budgeting processes are in place.

 

The Periodic Review Report consists of the following sections:

• An executive summary
• A summary description of the institution’s responses to recommendations from the previous evaluation and to Commission actions
• A brief narrative identifying the institution’s major challenges and/or current opportunities
• Analysis of enrollment and finance data for the period covered by the institution's strategic plan (but not less than the current year and three future years), including enrollment and fiscal trends from the three previous years and assumptions upon which projections are based.
• Evidence of sustained and organized processes to assess institutional effectiveness and student learning, and evidence that the results of such processes are being used to improve programs and services and to inform planning and resource allocation decisions
• Evidence that linked institutional planning and budgeting processes are in place

Institutional Effectiveness Report: Program Review 

Babette Varano, Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning 

The mission of the Administrative Program Review is to advance among the College’s administrative departments a culture that values self-examination, quality improvement, strategic thinking, mission aligned planning and assessment for the continued pursuit of excellence.

Program Review is a developmental process of assessment and planning activities to:

• assess quality and effectiveness of each department,
• prioritize programs and activities,
• stimulate planning and assessment for continuous improvement, and
• ensure that the development of each department  is aligned with College-wide strategic priorities.

The Program Review Committee commenced meeting this summer to review one program. It has begun working alongside the program staff to understand the challenges, strengths, and strategic vision of the program.  The Committee will move through its evaluation by tracking and addressing the following indicators:

• main unit objectives: how is success measured in  achieving them?
• service unit provides and to what population?
• list of unit positions and responsibilities
• needs unit is unable to meet
• how can the College help the unit do a better job?
• how does the unit relate to other College units?
• what skill sets does the unit have that can be shared across the College?
• which employees are cross-trained and in what areas?
• what resources are needed to improve services?
• what technologies/training are available to help you perform your duties?

The Program Review Committee, in keeping with the cyclical assessment and planning cycles pictured below, will issue a report that identifies the unit/program’s landscape, explains the information and resources gathered, and issues findings and recommendations. The Committee will rely greatly on the resources and information it receives from the program staff.  

 

 

Institutional Effectiveness Report: Planning Calendar 

Babette Varano, Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Planning 

Institutional Effectiveness (IE) is the extent to which an institution achieves its mission and goals. The College's Institutional Effectiveness process is an on-going, institution-wide process of planning and outcomes assessment for the purpose of continuous improvement and to provide evidence that the College is effectively achieving its mission.

To this end, the planning calendar below details the process and timelines within which our effectiveness is assessed and decisions are made. It clarifies the roles of specific entities at the institutional and division/unit levels. Even as the new Strategic Plan emerges and is implemented, this process is likely to be a constant.  

 

Chief Information Officer’s Report: IT Security 

George Tabback, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs/Chief Information Officer 

Resource: Indiana University 

College personnel have reported multiple attempts by third parties to access their email accounts. These phishing scams are typically fraudulent email messages appearing to come from legitimate enterprises (e.g., Ramapo College, your Internet service provider, your bank). These messages usually direct you to a spoofed web site or otherwise get you to divulge private information (e.g., password, credit card, or other account updates). The perpetrators then use this private information to commit identity theft. One type of phishing attempt is an email message stating that you are receiving it due to fraudulent activity on your account, and asking you to "click here" to verify your information.

 

Phishing scams are crude social engineering tools designed to induce panic in the reader. These scams attempt to trick recipients into responding or clicking immediately, by claiming they will lose something (e.g., email, bank account). Such a claim is always indicative of a phishing scam, as responsible companies and organizations will never take these types of actions via email.

ITS wishes to remind all persons of four very important steps to take to avoid being the victim of a phishing scam:

1. Ramapo College ITS will never ask you for confidential personal information (this includes passwords, social security numbers, etc.). Treat these requests as red flags.
2. Be suspicious of any email message that asks you to enter or verify personal information, through a web site or by replying to the message itself.
3. Never reply to or click the links in a message. If you think the message may be legitimate, go directly to the company's web site (i.e., type the real URL into your browser) or contact the company to see if you really do need to take the action described in the email message.
4. When you recognize a phishing message, report the message to ITS, delete it from your Inbox, and then empty it from the deleted items folder to avoid accidentally accessing the web sites to which it points.

Capital Projects Update 

Richard Roberts, Associate Vice President for Facilities Management and Construction 

A series of exciting and transformative capital projects will be taking place on campus beginning this summer and continuing over the next several years. A few of these projects are noted below.

1.     Renovation of the G Wing and construction of the Adler Center for Nursing Excellence 

This project will include phased demolition, renovation, and construction. Parking will be impacted while temporary offices and classrooms are installed and operating.

 

 

 

2.     Phase II Housing Renovation 

This project includes re-roofing, the replacement of windows and mechanical systems, and updating of the exterior façade.

 

3.     Photovoltaic System Installation 

Through the development of a public/private partnership and a power purchase agreement, Ramapo College will soon be the site of an extensive photovoltaic array. Rooftops and parking lot canopies will house the equipment. 

 

Print Shop/Copy Center Services and Operations 

Cathy Davey, Vice President for Institutional Advancement/Executive Director of the Ramapo Foundation 

The Ramapo College Print Shop has evolved since its early founding. From 1970-1983, the Print Shop consisted of three full time Print Operators plus a Secretary working with offset equipment. From 1984-1986, the Print Shop consisted of two full time Print Operators plus a Secretary working with offset equipment. By 1998 the Print Shop began transforming from an Offset Print Shop to a Copy Center, consisting of two full time Print Operators plus a Secretary working with both types of equipment. Four years later, the Print Shop completely converted to a Copy Center and since 2009 it has consisted of one full time Digital Print Operator and one Secretary.

Services provided include all types of copying from simple single pages in black and white and color to multi-page booklets which can be either stapled or coil or tape bound, programs, invitations, signage, posters, labels, NCR forms, bookmarks, postcards, certificates, etc.  There is no fee for design services or rush charges. A copy job is submitted for print via our EDU software located on the server.

 

The typical procedure is to submit an online print requisition and attach the job preferably as a PDF to the print requisition. For projects that require graphics assistance or a complete design the process is somewhat different. You would request an appointment to review the job specifications which would include content of copy and photos or graphics with the director of publications and a design and production schedule for design through pre-print production is established based on the Office of Public Affairs and Communications workload. Once the job is designed and signed off for print it is either sent to the Copy Center or outsourced.

For standard and simple copy jobs the average turnaround time from receipt of the approved job to print completion is 2-4 days. For complex projects requiring numerous editing stages the average turnaround time from receipt of the approved job to print completion is 4-10 days.

For standard and simple design projects such as an A7 invitation with an A2 reply card the average turnaround to first tight mock up is 3-4 days from receipt of all project components (copy and graphics/photos). For complex projects such as a newsletter, brochure or event program the average turnaround to first tight mock up is 5-9 days from receipt of all project components (copy and graphics/photos). Turnaround times are always subject to Publications existing workload of projects already in house.

It is the College’s approved policy that all units are required to obtain print approval and bids for all print jobs both small and large; this is in keeping with the College’s approved design standards. Further, Marketing and Communications has bulk print and design buying capability and can secure the best prices with the best turnaround for your unit.

The Print Shop/Copy Center is actively looking to assess and improve customer service. A brief survey has been distributed, please drop it off at the Office of Public Affairs and Communications in D-211 or place it in the suggestion box in the Birch Mansion. In order to better track the Print Shop’s performance, each project will now travel with a buck slip to track edits up to the point of final approval before a job is submitted for print. And, effective July 9, 2012 we are adding a “How Are We Doing? Quick Survey” to each job you pick up from the Copy Center.

In addition, the Copy Center is working with Purchasing to better identify ways the Copy Center can serve our campus end units more effectively. A report provided by Purchasing indicates that for the year 2007 a total of 3,423,158 copies were made by end units on their copier equipment. For 2011 that number of copies increased to 3,775,018. This shows us that end units are utilizing their copier equipment instead of the Campus Copy Center. Again, working with Purchasing, the Copy Center also obtained a report showing the number of toner cartridges used by end units in their desktop color and black and white printers. From July 1, 2011 to April 30, 2012, Ramapo spent $48,570 on black toner cartridges and $18,281 on color toner cartridges.

Q & A 

Congratulations to the members of the Ramapo College of New Jersey Class of 2012 and to the recipients of the President's Staff Recognition Awards.

Ramapo celebrated its largest commencement ceremony on May 16 as 1,526 graduates received diplomas at Prudential Center. More than 13,000 proud guests attended the ceremony. 360 of the graduates received Latin Honors, 28 completed the College's Honors Program, and another 250 were members of the College's 40-plus academic honor societies.

Emmy Award winning CBS 2 News anchor Chris Wragge, the keynote speaker, urged the Class of 2012 to follow their instincts and to act from a place of purpose. Graduating Class Speaker Gregory Allen, 42, of Ringwood, NJ, an Environmental Studies major, delivered remarks on behalf of the Class.  Allen is the fourth member of his family to graduate from Ramapo College. He began his studies in 1991, stopped in 1995 to begin raising a family, and returned in 2010 and began taking courses on nights and weekends.

AJ Sabath '93, Chairman, Board of Trustees, joined me to present the President's Award of Merit to Aijaz "Jazz" Tobaccowalla '90, senior vice president, Worldwide Biopharmaceutical and Commercial Business Technology for Pfizer, Inc. The award recognizes distinguished accomplishments by Ramapo College alumni.

Ramapo also honored College supporters and friends, Lawrence and Theresa Salameno of Allendale, NJ, with Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees for their support, generosity and friendship over the past decade.

Again, I extend best wishes to all of the graduates and their families, and a sincere thank you to the many members of the College that played a part in coordinating this special event and supporting our students.

A few days after Commencement, I was pleased to recognize the recipients of the Ramapo College President's Staff Recognition Awards. The College received a record number of nominations this year!

The 2012 recipient of the Staff Excellence in Service Award is Dr. Susan Petro. Petro, biology lab coordinator and instructor in the School of Theoretical and Applied Science, was primarily recognized for fostering a collegial and cooperative environment. Specifically, her solution-oriented skills were noted in her resolution of issues related to the logistical coordination of students, science laboratory staff, and faculty during the planning for a major renovation to the College's science wing.

The 2012 recipients of the Staff Leadership Award are Dr. Judy Green, Ben Levy, and Cheryl Schwartz. Green, director of the College's Center for Health and Counseling Services, was recognized for her efforts to go above and beyond to ensure the safety, security, and health of students under extraordinary circumstances. This included her efforts to raise awareness, foster greater self-reflection, and promote positive behavioral change with regard to alcohol and substance abuse on campus.

Levy, director of the College's Roukema Center for International Education, was recognized for his commitment to the security and health of students and colleagues through his work as risk assessor for the international educational program, and particularly for the College's new programs in India.

Schwartz, Academic Counselor in the Office of Specialized Services, was recognized for successfully leading a team to complete a significant institutional project. This included her leadership and coordination of the College's Disability Awareness Month activities.

Congratulations and thank you to Susan, Judy, Ben, and Cheryl!

Peter P. Mercer
President

Commencement Photo Galleries, Highlights Video, and Survey

President's Staff Recognition Award Recipients 

Dear Members of the AFT,

A number of you have recently expressed concerns about the contract negotiation with the State and have asked me to weigh in on several issues including the role I play as President in those negotiations, my position regarding their current status, and what steps should be taken in support of a fair and equitable contract for members of the AFT.

I share your desire to see a contract ratified as soon as possible – one that is fair and equitable for our faculty and staff. I have repeatedly stated this position at meetings of NJASCU and the NJ Presidents’ Council. Timely resolution of contract negotiations will ensure the continued good relations among faculty, staff, students, and administration that are the hallmark of the high quality education offered at Ramapo.

It goes without saying that the financial terms of the new contract will be tempered by current economic conditions and the flat funding of colleges by the state. This, of course, is part of a larger issue regarding overall funding for public higher education in New Jersey. Ramapo receives the same amount, in nominal dollars, from the State of New Jersey that it received in 1994 when there were a third fewer students.

In these negotiations, the State Colleges are represented by the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. The State negotiators do communicate with the College Presidents but we otherwise have a limited role in the negotiations process. The situation would of course be different if negotiations henceforth could be conducted locally but I understand that the AFT does not favor this change.

While progress in contract talks has been slow until recently, I do not believe there is any foundation for suggesting that either side has not bargained in good faith. I will continue to express my hopes to NJASCU, the NJ Presidents’ Council and the OER that a fair resolution be reached quickly. I urge the AFT to do the same with its own representatives.

Peter P. Mercer
President

The following op-ed was published in The Star-Ledger on Sunday, April 8, 2012.

As we set our sights on commencement, less than two months away, I am reminded of the many touching moments of the day: jubilation in our students, pride in the eyes of their parents. Beaming mothers and fathers will recount their son or daughter’s challenges in becoming the first in their family to graduate from college. I am reminded of the value of public higher education.

Annually, New Jersey’s colleges and universities send 37,000 newly minted graduates into the world. They leave behind aging campuses that years of financial disinvestment have left with outdated buildings in need of repair, and significant debt incurred in building and repairing facilities to meet the demand for seats. Twenty-four years have passed since New Jersey last provided general obligation-backed capital funding.

But it appears that this governor and this Legislature are prepared to invest in higher education. I applaud them. No doubt they are following the recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on Higher Education, which was chaired by former college president and Governor Tom Kean. In it, the task force concludes that New Jersey’s colleges and universities have been underfunded for too long.

"After years of neglect, New Jersey needs to help build academic facilities for a 21st-century education at our colleges and universities, protect existing resources and take the burden for financing these projects off the backs of students," the panel wrote.

At Ramapo College, and all of our sister institutions, we have spent years trimming our budgets, cutting everything possible without detracting from the stellar yet affordable educations we provide. Students and their families have seen tuition increase at a rate that cannot be sustained. The time has come for New Jersey to deal with this critically important issue.

During the past several years, the New Jersey Association of Colleges and Universities, which represents the nine state colleges, and other higher education entities have proposed a bond referendum that would provide capital funds to repair leaky roofs, rebuild outdated science labs and create hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs across the state as architects, engineers, electricians, plumbers and laborers go to work. The cost is high, but that should not stop the Legislature and Gov. Chris Christie from supporting a fair and equitable capital funding plan that will create jobs and lay the foundation for the hopes and dreams of generations of students to come.

So it will be up to the people of New Jersey to decide the fate of higher education. There are a few facts that they should know:

• New Jersey ranks among the top five states in the funding it provides for K-12 education, but the situation is exactly the reverse for public higher education, where it ranks in the bottom five. At Ramapo College, less than 25 percent of the operating budget today is provided by the state. A decade ago, the figure was nearly 50 percent.
• Or, to make the point another way, Ramapo College receives the same amount from the state today that it received in 1994, when there were a third fewer students.
• There is already a capacity problem as some 36,000 high school graduates leave New Jersey to attend college. Many of them do not return. We can’t afford to allow our public higher education facilities to deteriorate further.
• The world’s most robust economies, by contrast, are paying particular attention to support for higher education, recognizing the connection between an educated workforce and economic prosperity.

And as our elected officials hammer out what this referendum will look like, we hope they will consider a mechanism that would provide for a revolving fund to make capital funds available regularly. A referendum every quarter-century to support ongoing higher education needs is not a feasible long-term solution.

I believe this referendum should go before the people of New Jersey, who want so much for their children, as soon as possible. They deserve no less.

Sincerely,
Peter P. Mercer
President

On March 8, 2012, I hosted a quarterly Communications Meeting for personnel.

A summary of the address follows:

State Budget
Higher education in NJ will receive flat funding, contrary to Governor Chris Christie's comments at the state budget address. "...this budget proposes a nearly 6 percent increase in direct aid to our senior public colleges and universities," Christie said.

A close review of the budget, however, reveals that the Governor's 6% increase is not actually an increase in direct aid. The budget increases spending only on college employees' health benefits and such benefits have not traditionally been counted as direct aid.

The Governor's budget, however, did make notable increases to student aid. Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) funding will increase 10.45%, part-time TAG funding will increase 7.8%, and EOF funding will increase 1%. In addition, the senior public colleges will no longer be required to cover tuition expenses for STARS II residents, a yield of approximately $180K for Ramapo.

The Governor's address did not mention the facilities bond proposal for the senior public institutions, but did increase debt service funding for county colleges by 16%.

Other highlights of the budget are noted below:

 

 

Strategic Planning Task Force
The Strategic Planning Task Force began its work at the start of the new year. The Task Force, a dynamic group of 25 individuals (faculty, staff, students, others), meets weekly and aims to present a final Strategic Plan for endorsement by the Board of Trustees in June of 2012.

The Task Force participated in a day long retreat on February 25. That retreat yielded endorsement of the revised mission statement noted below. The Task Force is now immersed in reviewing and developing measurable goals and objectives for the Strategic Plan. All College stakeholders will be provided the opportunity to provide input into the plan in the coming months.

 

Campus Facilities Master Plan
The College has begun the process of developing a new campus facilities master plan.  The Master Planning Steering Committee will soon include student, faculty and staff representation.  This is a major undertaking and will be a significant milestone in the College’s evolution. To build on its reputation for academic excellence, the College must plan its facilities comprehensively, innovatively and sustainably.

Urban Strategies, Inc. has been hired by the College to develop the plan and will be responsible for campus planning and landscape design. They will be supported by Rickes Associates, responsible for space planning and programming, and Stantec, responsible for transportation and utilities planning.

The input of College stakeholders early in the campus facilities master plan process is important. From March 6 to 8, the consultant team kicked off the planning process by interviewing groups and individuals across campus to gather information.  Future programming will include additional dialogue with individuals, units, and community workshops.  The concurrent timing of the Strategic Plan and the Master Plan are viewed as strengths in that the master planners will be able to incorporate the Task Force’s findings and recommendations into their planning documents.

A project web site will soon be launched. The Master Planning schedule is noted below.

 

 

Middle States Monitoring Report
Eric Daffron, Vice Provost for Curriculum and Assessment, noted that on June 24, 2010, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaffirmed Ramapo College’s accreditation. This action came in response to a self-study submitted in January 2010, a team visit conducted in March 2010, and a team report prepared in May 2010.

 

Although Middle States reaffirmed the College’s accreditation, it requested a monitoring report, due April 1, 2012, asking Ramapo College to address four issues. Ramapo College has addressed each of these issues while simultaneously making progress towards creating a true culture of planning and assessment on campus. Daffron summarized the requests made by the Commission and outlined the actions subsequently taken by Ramapo College:

1. Document the implementation of clearly articulated performance indicators that are
   purposefully related to institutional goals and objectives (standard 7).  

   Ramapo College’sBoard of Trustees approved the College’s Strategic Plan in December of 2007. While Ramapo College tracked various standard indicators of institutional success as part of its routine annual reporting of institutional data, the College had no official performance indicators that it monitored and evaluated at the time of the self-study. Since that time, the College has selected and monitored a set of key performance indicators and institutional priorities linked to the current strategic goals. As the College develops a new strategic plan this semester, it will define assessment measures for the strategic goals and objectives and continue to identify and/or refine key performance indicators.

2. Document the implementation of policies and procedures to assure that the experiential learning components of all courses are conducted with rigor appropriate to the programs offered and are designed, delivered and evaluated to foster a coherent student learning experience (standard 11).  

   In the fall of 2006, Ramapo College implemented a Curriculum Enhancement Plan (CEP), which, among other things, increased undergraduate course credits from three to four and added a five-hour experiential learning component (officially known as the Course Enrichment Component [CEC]) to almost all four-credit undergraduate courses. Although the CEC promoted, at least in part, the College’s experiential mission pillar, Ramapo could not demonstrate the CEC’s consistency and coherence across the curriculum. Since the self-study, Ramapo College has implemented a policy and procedures for the CEC, has established a learning goal and outcomes for the CEC, and has assessed the CEC.

3. Document the implementation of an organized and sustained assessment process for
   general education (standard 12).

   By the time of the self-study, Ramapo College had identified goals and outcomes for the general-education program and engaged in small-scale pilot assessments. However, the College had not implemented a sustainable assessment process for the general-education program. Since the self-study, the College has activated an oversight committee (the General Education Curriculum Committee, or GECCo) and launched an assessment process for general education that includes refreshing learning goals, measuring student learning against targets for success, and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning.

4. Document the implementation of an organized and sustainable process to assess the
   achievement of student learning goals at the course and program levels, with evidence
   that assessment information is used to improve teaching and learning (standard 14) and
   is linked to planning (standard 2).  

   At the time of Ramapo College’s self-study, most academic programs had set outcomes, and some had assessed student learning, but the institution did not have a campus-wide assessment process. In the two years since the self-study, Ramapo College has implemented a systematic assessment process for majors and graduate programs. This process asks programs to set learning goals, to measure student learning against achievement targets, and to use assessment findings to improve teaching and learning as well as assessment methodology.

Ramapo College has invested time and resources in these four areas, has made significant progress over the last two years, and has developed structures and procedures that will sustain those improvements. The College looks forward to the Commission’s response.

Commencement and Arching
Brittany Goldstein, Special Assistant to the President, and Bill Stovall, Director of Human Resources, discussed the role of faculty and staff in the upcoming Commencement and Arching activities. Faculty and staff are needed to participate in the events.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Arching Activities
4:00 - 5:00 pm Pictures and Music in the Grove
5:00 pm Organization of Graduates, Faculty, and Families along Mansion Road
5:30 pm Arching Procession Begins
5:45 - 7:00 pm Family Barbecue and DJ on the Band Shell Lawn
7:00 - 10:00 pm Celebration at Sunset at the Bradley Center

Wednesday, May 16, 2012: Commencement
6:30 am Marshal buses depart for Prudential Center from Bradley Center
7:30 am Faculty and Employee buses depart for Prudential Center from Bradley Center
8:30 am Doors Open for Graduates, Faculty, and Professional Staff at Prudential Center
9:00 am Doors Open at Prudential Center for Guests
9:45 am Processional Begins
10:00 am Formal Ceremony Begins
Noon Ceremony Concludes
12:30 -1:30 pm Buses Depart

 

College personnel may support Arching and Commencement in three primary ways.
First, they may elect to formally process in the ceremonies. Persons that would like to process in the ceremonies, must sign up for regalia and respond online.
Second, personnel may elect to serve as marshals in the ceremonies. If a staff member wishes to marshal at Arching and/or Commencement, they must sign up online. Marshaling responsibilities primarily include directing students and guests, assisting with signage and staging, and providing general helpful assistance to the graduates.
Third, personnel may elect to simply attend the events.
The College strongly encourages faculty and staff to actively participate in the processionals and/or serve as marshals.
 

 

Questions regarding work schedules and transportation for Arching and Commencement were addressed in detail. This information is available under “Faculty and Staff Resources” at www.ramapo.edu/commencement
Reclassifications
Bill Stovall shared that the Cabinet recently decided to lift the freeze on job reclassifications effective September 1, 2012.

Stovall noted that reclassifications can be both upward and downward, adding that the College continues to be challenged by budget constraints and we must be steadfast in our efforts to be operationally efficient and fiscally responsible. 

The reclassification policies and procedures for unclassified and classified staff have been revised and are available at (http://ww2.ramapo.edu/facultystaff/hr/policies.aspx). Reclassifications will be done on an annual cycle going forward.

Human Resources will hold a series of information sessions on the reclassification policies and procedures on:

• April 3, 9am-10am, SC137/138
• April 10, 2pm-3pm, SC-136
• April 24, 10am-11am, York Room
• May 8, 3pm-4pm, ASB-230
• May 22, 10:30am-11:30am, ASB-230
• May 29, 2pm-3pm, ASB-230
• June 5, 4pm-5pm, ASB-230
• June 12, 11am-12pm, ASB-230

 

In the interim, inquiries regarding reclassification should be directed to hr@ramapo.edu.

Announcements
President Mercer shared that The Chronicle of Higher Education will launch its Great College to Work For Survey on March 19. Last year, Ramapo received national recognition from The Chronicle  as a Great College to Work For. In total, 111 schools were ranked on the list, and Ramapo was the only New Jersey school to make the cut.

Those faculty and staff randomly selected to participate will receive an email from Modern Think LLC with a link to the 25 minute survey during the first week and reminders thereafter. Responses are kept confidential.

The Diversity Action Committee is still seeking faculty, staff and student participation in the Campus Climate Survey.

Human Resources recently delivered Leadership Training for managers and supervisors. Congratulations to those who completed this training.

The College is now accepting nominations for the President’s Staff Recognition Program Awards. Nominations can be made online or paper forms are available from Human Resources and the President’s office. Award winners will be recognized at the annual Picnic at the Pavilion on May 24, 2012. A Western Rodeo theme is planned.

 

 

While my attire may not be noteworthy to many of you, some of you may have noticed that I was wearing a new bowtie at the recent State of the College address. And I wasn’t the only one.

I won’t pretend to be a high fashion trendsetter. That bowtie was provided to me by College Advocates Supporting Higher Education, CA$H, a student group at Ramapo focused on fostering understanding and advocacy regarding the value of higher education. Those students, all clad in the same bowtie, were present at the State of the College address and will continue to represent CA$H over the next week in recognition of Higher Education Awareness Week.

In addition to my ongoing efforts to work with our legislators and various stakeholders in promoting the value of a Ramapo College education and establishing a rational funding formula for state aid to higher education, these students, bowties and all, are actively spearheading their own efforts on this front. CA$H is hosting a series of events for Higher Education Awareness Week. The programming includes:

Monday February 27
1pm-J. Lees
Roundtable Discussion: Why Do I Pay So Much To Go To Ramapo? What Can I Do About It?
Co-sponsored by the College Honors Program
Featuring: Free Italian lunch and speakers Jonathan Marcus, President of the Alumni Board, Dr. Pat Chang, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, and Members of the Ramapo College Board of Trustees

Monday, February 27
7pm-Trustees Pavilion Room 1
Board of Trustees Meeting
Come out and have your voice heard by the Board of Trustees during their public meeting. The Board makes decisions that affect your everyday life at Ramapo and are always looking for student input.

Wednesday February 29
12pm-2pm Throughout Campus
Hear It Through the Grape Vine
Watch out for our wandering grape vines in the halls to find out more about the Higher Education funding crisis and the chance to win great prizes!

Thursday March 1
9:30pm-Laurel Hall Movie Theater
Movie Screening: Sydney White
Come hang out and watch the film Sydney White starring Amanda Bynes. The film follows a first year undergraduate student as she navigates her way through the nuances of her campus both academically and socially.  Movie themed snacks will be provided by CA$H.

Friday March 2
FUNDLESS FRIDAYS RETURN
Keep your eyes peeled for what could happen to your daily life at Ramapo if our funding continues to fall at the current rate.

I encourage you to support these efforts by our students.

Sincerely,

Peter P. Mercer
President

Welcome back to campus.

As many of you have settled back in to your residence halls, classrooms, and offices you have likely noticed a few changes on campus.

A walk through the freshly painted academic corridors is a great antidote for any winter blues you may have. Billboards and radio advertisements are advancing Ramapo’s hands-on learning opportunities and interdisciplinary curricula---two of the four pillars that help our students push intellectual, personal, and professional boundaries. Colorful flags, printed materials, and a re-design of many of our Web pages now promote the College’s Pushing Boundaries campaign.

Roofing professionals are also on campus and will be for the next several months as they work to replace the roofs of buildings A-E, the Library, G-Building, H Building, the student center, and Pine Hall. As part of this Public Private Partnership, a third party is shouldering the expense of the roof replacements and will be installing environmentally friendly and revenue generating solar panels. This project is a good example of our institutional focus on innovation and stewardship—two forces also driving the College’s Strategic Planning Task Force. The Task Force, comprised of 25 faculty, students, staff, and others, begins their work toward developing a new Strategic Plan this semester.

Ramapo College is also making headlines again. For the seventh consecutive year, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine ranked Ramapo College as among the "100 Best Values in Public Colleges” for 2012. Ramapo is one of only three New Jersey public institutions of higher education included in the 2012 list. The headlines don’t stop there.

Did you know that our men's basketball team is 13-5 overall and 4-3 in the NJAC and our women's basketball team is 11-6 overall and 3-4 in the NJAC? Be sure to catch the impressive Ramapo Roadrunners in action this season.

Finally, as part of Ramapo College's commitment to campus climate, the Diversity Action Committee (DAC) collects data on diversity and campus life via the Campus Climate Survey. A campus wide e-mail with a link to the survey will be sent on February 6. I strongly encourage all students and personnel to complete this 20 minute survey.

In addition to the survey, DAC will also present Diversity Convocation on Wednesday, February 8 at 3:00 pm in the Sharp Theater of the Berrie Center. Community leader, activist, and founder of The Balm in Gilead, Dr. Pernessa Seele will speak about diversity in her work with grassroots institutions dedicated to the health status of people of the African Diaspora.

I am pleased to welcome you back to campus and I look forward to another successful semester.

Sincerely,

Dr. Peter P. Mercer
President

Ramapo College is at a meaningful junction. The development and/or implementation of a strategic plan, a facilities master plan, a marketing plan, an enrollment plan, an engagement plan, and a capital campaign are all converging:

• A new strategic plan to guide the College for the next several years is about to be developed by a representative group of faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
• A facilities master plan aimed at land use, sustainability, student engagement, and revenue generation is underway.
• The College is “Pushing Boundaries.” This integrated marketing and communication plan promises, “The outstanding and devoted faculty of Ramapo College of New Jersey excel at teaching, mentoring and preparing students to succeed personally and professionally, all within the small, picturesque campus environment usually associated with an elite college.”
• Our enrollment plan, the product of the Strategic Enrollment Management Team, is dynamic. Aimed at stabilizing our undergraduate enrollment and increasing our graduate and adult learners, its success is largely contingent upon our ability to individually and collectively deliver on our brand promise.
• The four pillars – experiential learning, interdisciplinary thinking, intercultural understanding, and international awareness – will continue to define the priority goals for student learning at Ramapo. However, the pillars are now being complemented by an integrated, intentional, and synergistic plan for student engagement.
• The public phase of “Further Our Promise,” our capital campaign, launched in November. So far, the College has raised $38.8 million of its $40 million goal, including a $3 million gift from the Salameno family to support the renovation of the A and B Wings of the Academic Complex, endow a Center of Excellence in British Studies and a Dean’s Scholarship Fund in the School of American and International Studies. The campaign will continue until the College surpasses its goal.

The success of this convergence will be contingent upon our shared ability to acknowledge our strengths and limitations, to ensure meaningful and representative participation in these activities, and to promote the use of critical inquiry in our decision making.  

Our past dates back to ancient Greece where Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato, among others, conceived of education as the development of intellect and morality through inquiry. Inside our classrooms, on our athletic fields, within our meetings, and even in our private discussions, the power of the mind by which one knows or understands, as distinguished from that by which one feels and that by which one wills, must be respected--just as we must adhere to do what is good and what is right in the present to preserve our past and foster our future. As members of this College, we all shoulder what is sometimes a sobering responsibility, but always a distinct privilege, to serve as models of such development.

Peter P. Mercer
President

One of the best features of Ramapo College is its generous and service-oriented people. Sadly, the College lost one of our most ardent supporters recently, Mr. Richard “Dick” Anisfield. Dick and his wife, Millicent, have devoted years to Ramapo College, graciously sharing their wisdom and guidance on matters of critical importance to the campus.

The Anisfields provided the largest gift in the College's history when they donated $2.5 million toward Ramapo's business school; together with past gifts, that brought their total commitment to the College to $3 million. In appreciation for the gifts, the Board of Trustees named the business school the Anisfield School of Business (ASB). The gift supported the construction of a new academic building, an endowed deanship, endowed student scholarships and faculty fellowship awards.

The Anisfields also donated another $3 million at the ASB dedication. The gift was used to complete the fifth floor of the building, including the Global Financial Trading Markets Lab. In 2008, Mr. Anisfield received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the Board of Trustees in celebration of his business acumen, outstanding commitment to business education and dedication to the future of the College.

I am grateful for the wisdom and generosity of the Anisfields. They have helped move Ramapo forward in the past decade and they have fostered the success of our faculty, staff and students.

I would be remiss to not note that our faculty and staff are doing great work, sometimes under difficult conditions, and we continue to attract top-notch candidates for open positions. Our faculty and staff are essential to our ability to attract highly qualified students and to offer a first-rate liberal arts education.

Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting the 2011 Service Awards Reception. This reception is always a welcome occasion to gather together, acknowledge the service of the Ramapo College personnel, and to bid a fond farewell to our retirees. This year we recognized 13 retirees. In addition, 9 employees celebrated their 40 year anniversary. 109 others were acknowledged for their 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, or 35th anniversaries.

I extend my appreciation to the Ramapo College faculty and staff for their professionalism, talent, compassion, and energy. Congratulations on your achievements and thank you for continuing to push the college forward.

2011 Service Awards Recipients (PDF)

2011 Service Awards Photo Gallery

Peter P. Mercer
President

I have spent part of this summer as a Practitioner-in-Residence at Harvard University.  As a faculty member in the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, I have helped lead sessions ranging from strategic planning to building the administrative team.  The opportunity to engage with other college presidents and experts has been invaluable.

I am often reminded of Ramapo’s relatively nascent history (Harvard is celebrating its 375^th anniversary and Cambridge University just had its 800th).  Yet, though we may be only 42 years old, it is assuredly our institutional youthfulness, complemented by the work of our dedicated faculty and staff, that brings vigor and rigor to collegiate life here!

Even The Chronicle of Higher Education recognized Ramapo’s teaching environment as top notch.  The Chronicle's fourth annual report on the academic workplace, “The Great College to Work For” program, surveyed nearly 44,000 employees at 310 colleges and universities.  Only 111 of the 310 institutions achieved "Great College to Work For" recognition, with Ramapo College, the only institution recognized in New Jersey, earning this accolade in the categories of Teaching Environment and Tenure Clarity and Process.

Thanks to the vision of our founders and the advocacy of our supporters over the past 40+ years, our commitment to the promotion of teaching and learning through a strong liberal arts based curriculum continues to thrive.  In a spring 2010 interview with Ramapo Magazine, the late Mrs. Florence Josephson Thomases, founder, said, "As a liberal arts graduate, I have great affection for that kind of education. From the beginning, I tried to make sure that Ramapo College would be a liberal arts college.” 

Sadly, Mrs. Thomases passed away on July 24.  She and her late husband, Fred, provided leadership, guidance and continued support of the college beginning with its inception in 1969.  As a founding member of the Ramapo College Board of Trustees, Mrs. Thomases was instrumental in choosing a site for the college, establishing its commitment to the liberal arts, as well as selecting its first president.  She later served as chairperson of the board.  The generous contributions of Mrs. Thomases and her family have supported countless students and faculty through endowed scholarships and grants for research and teaching excellence.  These programs have fostered innovation on campus and, in turn, have pushed the college forward, making Ramapo a more competitive and comprehensive undergraduate institution.

On August 28^th I will welcome the Class of 2015 to Ramapo.  Like the many classes that have come before them, the Class of 2015 will participate in a Ramapo tradition: The Arching Ceremony.  Some might argue that centuries, not decades, must pass  for traditions to manifest, but I disagree.  A tradition is better defined not by its longevity, but instead by what it promises.

The Arching Ceremony promises change.  It is a rite of passage in which I shake hands with and meet each new student as they walk through the campus arch.  It launches the undergraduate journey and is representative of the individualized attention our students will benefit from in their coming semesters.

Four years from now, on their way to Commencement, the members of the Class of 2015 will pass through the arch again.  Clad in cap and gown, flanked on either side by the faculty and staff they have come to embrace as mentors, learned from their instruction, matured from their civic and social experiences, and humbled by their beginnings, the class of 2015 will emerge through the arch changed by their four years at Ramapo and readied for a lifetime of success.

Peter P. Mercer
President

 

On June 28, 2011, I hosted a quarterly Communications Meeting for personnel.

A summary of the address follows:

Dr. Peter P. Mercer, President

Operating Budget
Good morning. We were very pleased last evening when the Board of Trustees approved the budget for the forthcoming fiscal year. This is the first year since I have been president that the state has held our appropriations flat. We have not been provided any reason to believe that that is going to change even though we do not yet have the state budget signed.

In any event, even though we have a flat appropriation from the state that does not mean that we have a flat budget. We have certain obligations related to our collective agreements, inflationary pressures, and an increased need to provide scholarship funds and the like. Because these obligations subsist, we are required to actually reduce expenditures in some areas and increase them in others. What this means is that we will be exacting a 4.9% increase in tuition and tuition-related fees—that is one of the lowest numbers in the last decade. If you recall, there was some talk this year about the state imposing a cap on tuition, which did not happen.

When one takes into account the increases to room and board and the capital improvement fee which is in its final phase this year, the net effect will raise the amount slightly to 5% overall. This aligns well with what our sister institutions are contemplating. Thomas Edison has already passed a budget providing for 6% and many of the other presidents are looking at increases between 5% and 6%.

Nothing has changed with our per capita allocation. We still remain in the bottom three of the state colleges for per capita allocations. To emphasize the parameters of the problem, if we received the average per capita allocation from the state, we would be $6 million ahead of where we are now. If that were the case, we likely could have kept our tuition and fee increase closer to the 3% mark, much like Rowan University who has one of the highest per capita allocations.

Governor’s Higher Education Task Force Report
Rational Funding Formula
The Governor’s Higher Education Task Force Report did stipulate that there should be a rational funding formula for higher education and there has been some talk about trying to develop one—the difficulty, of course, is that there are other pressing interests. Those colleges that are receiving higher than the norm per capita allocations have no particular desire to see their allocations reduced and the state has not indicated that there will be any additional funding. So, the chance of getting the other institutions to agree to change the amounts of the allocations from the existing pot is slim to none.

Capital Funding
Another recommendation of the Task Force was that the state should immediately issue general obligation bonds in order to support capital improvements on the college campuses. We have not received any capital funding from the state since 1988. While there is nothing in the immediate offing I do sense a considerable degree of traction for the idea of a general obligation bond. By the time the process could be developed it would probably be for between $2 and $3 million dollars and our share of that, if based on the proposal we made three years ago, would be about $75 million. To give you a sense of magnitude, $75 million is about the amount we are spending on renovating the Student Center, the proposal for G-Wing, and ancillary costs associated with the new roof for the academic building.

Secretary of Higher Education & Higher Education Council
One of the other recommendations of the Task Force was to create a Secretary of Higher Education and a Governor’s Higher Education Council. Both of these have been done. The Council is chaired by John McGoldrick, a very good choice for higher education. Mr. McGoldrick is a trustee at Montclair and he serves as the chairman of the Board of New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities. The new secretary of higher education is Rochelle Hendricks. Ms. Hendricks has been in the education system for upwards of twenty years. Ms. Hendricks seems to understand completely that we are in a knowledge based economy and that it is extraordinarily important to that economy that there is support for higher education. 

Toolkit Bills:  Health Benefits, Pension, and Residency Reforms
Other recommendations from the Task Force included passing toolkit bills aimed at reforming worker’s compensation, collective bargaining, and the elimination of the civil service classification. As you know, we have had some quite controversial legislative movement lately. In the last few days pension and health care reforms moved forward. The reforms appear to be somewhat antagonistic to the interests of secondary and post secondary education. We lobbied long and hard to try to prevent that from happening but we weren’t successful and we do not know if there is a chance of the legislation being repealed but we will keep working at it. Bill Stovall, Director of Human Resources, will talk about that legislation in more detail.

There is also passage of a bill requiring certain public officers to reside in the state. That is a very controversial piece of legislation because what it has done is grandfathered those who are now residing out of state. It will, nonetheless, wreak havoc for some of us who cannot afford to live in the state and have found more affordable accommodations in New York.  Just as an aside, in Canada per Section 6.2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it would be illegal to have such legislation because it would infringe upon one’s mobility rights. That is apropos of nothing in particular, but I just wanted to show you that I do keep up.

Great Colleges to Work For Program
The next item I’d like to report on is one that is in many respects, attributable to my assistant Brittany Goldstein. We have been chosen as one of the “Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education. That choice is occasioned by the information that was provided by you, various personnel on campus that were invited to respond to a questionnaire. We in fact qualified as a “Great College to Work For” under two categories. It is no small achievement to have been selected in two categories and those results will be published in The Chronicle’s Academic Workplace Supplement on July 29. Brittany will share more with you about that achievement.

Bill Stovall, Director of Human Resources

Health Benefits Reforms
Good morning. The last time President Mercer put me in charge of something we had the ITS warriors battling it out against the Facilities Management warriors in a somewhat controversial game of Tug of War at the employee picnic. It is a bit of change of pace to not be in the middle of those two teams right now, but I think this pension and benefit legislation may prove equally challenging and controversial.  

The bill itself is about 125 pages and has been through many revisions. It is intended to be signed by the Governor this week. But the question many of you are asking is “How does this impact me?” With respect to health benefits, all of us currently pay 1.5% of our current salary toward our health benefits—that is going to change. With this legislation you will now pay a percentage of the health care premium and that percentage will range from 3% to 35%. Those percentages will be phased in over a four year period in 25% increments and will be contingent upon your income and what level of coverage you have.

There will also be an expansion of the types of coverage available to us. Right now we essentially have three types of coverage. Come January, the state will offer additional plan options some of which are expected to allow similar levels of coverage for less money than the current premiums.

Pension Reforms
There are also changes to the pension system contributions and retirement age. The bill dictates increases in the employee pension contribution rates. For PERS members, it will increase from 5.5% to 6.5% plus an additional 1% phased-in over a seven year period.

The current retirement age of 62 has been increased to 65. TPAF and PERS members enrolled before November 1, 2008 are eligible for a service retirement benefit at age 60 and members enrolled on or after that date are eligible at age 62. New members of TPAF and PERS will need 30 years of creditable service and age 65 for receipt of the early retirement benefit without a reduction. New members will be eligible for a service retirement benefit at age 65.

In addition, the automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) will no longer be provided. However, once the plan is funded at an appropriate level, maybe 75% or 80%, under the new pension committee structure, a committee would have the authority to reinstate the COLA.

Human Resources will continue to update you on this legislation. The state’s frequently asked questions regarding the health benefit and pension reforms are available at: http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/reform-hb-qa.shtml

Brittany A. Goldstein, Special Assistant to the President

“Great Colleges to Work For” Recognition
Good morning. On a happier note, we did participate in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Great Colleges to Work For Program, we opted out of the Great State to Work for Program.  

We participated in the Program this past winter. It included a free, two-part assessment process aimed at measuring workplace quality in 15 major categories. The first part was an institutional audit that collected demographics and workplace policies and practices from each participating institution. I extend my thanks to Human Resources and Institutional Effectiveness, Research and Planning for coordinating this part of the program.

The second part was a survey administered to a randomly selected group of administrators, faculty and professional staff. A show of hands of those you that recall completing that survey? Good. Give yourselves a pat on the back because you took the time out of your busy days to complete the 25 minute online survey. Thank you for doing so because the primary factor in deciding whether an institution receives recognition in any of the categories is the employee feedback collected via the surveys.

Last year nearly 300 institutions participated, and less than one third of them were recognized. The good news is that our participation was strong. The better news is that thanks to your participation Ramapo will be recognized as a “Great College to Work For” in not one but two of the categories!

Ramapo will be recognized in the categories of Teaching Environment and Tenure Clarity & Process. Being recognized for Teaching Environment denotes that the institution recognizes innovative and high quality teaching. Ramapo joins a rather illustrious group in this category. In previous years, institutions recognized in this category included Elon, Hofstra, Georgetown, University of Mississippi, and Notre Dame.         

Being recognized for Tenure Clarity & Process denotes that faculty find the requirements for tenure to be equitable and clear. Other institutions recognized in this category have included Gettysburg College,    SUNY Buffalo, York College, and UMASS Amherst.

Participating in the Great Colleges to Work For Program has several benefits, recognition or not. First, we get bragging rights. We will receive valuable exposure in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Academic Workplace Supplement to be published July 29.

Second, we stand to see potential boosts to personnel recruitment and retention. We can use the  Great College to Work For insignia for the next 18 months on whatever Web or published materials we choose.

Third, we will be receiving comprehensive survey reports in August that will allow us to benchmark ourselves against our peers, inform our strategic planning, and enhance our awareness and understanding of our strengths and weaknesses.

Thank you for your support and participation and for making Ramapo, literally, a “Great College to Work For.”

Dr. Dorothy Echols-Tobe, Chief Planning Officer

Good morning. As President Mercer mentioned, the Board of Trustees approved the budget last evening. But, we are not out of the woods yet. We encourage all of you to continue to look at your operations and see where you can reduce tasks that are no longer in line with the College’s goals and objectives.

Capital Update
Grants
The College has received two grants. One grant is for a waste composter which will be used in our landscaping and college gardens and it will reduce costs by mitigating the need to haul waste away. We have also received a grant to purchase a Vegewatt. A Vegewatt converts cooking oil and grease into energy in the form of heat and electricity. We anticipate the Vegewatt will yield savings in both energy consumption and waste removal. 

G-Wing
As you know, we are embarking on the renovation and addition to the G Wing. The schematics floor plans reflect:

• Fourth floor: TAS and SSHS faculty/student research labs; TAS faculty offices
• Third floor: Chemistry/Biology wet labs; TAS faculty offices
• Second floor: Psychology labs; SSHS administrative and faculty offices
• First floor: Physical sciences; TAS faculty offices

We are scheduled to begin construction in May 2012 and plan to be substantially completed by August 2014.

Student Center HVAC Renovation & Building Improvements
Work on the Student Center is underway and is currently on schedule. The work is scheduled through late August of this year.

Center for Reading & Writing (formerly the Center for Academic Success)
The relocation of The Center for Reading and Writing from the E Wing to the Library is underway. Writing and tutoring functions will be conducted in an interactive environment in one bay and the staff’s office will be set up in another. The periodicals and archives formerly housed in that space will move to a refurbished climate controlled environment on the fourth floor of the Library.

Master Plan
The College recently completed a Facility Condition Assessment for campus buildings and grounds. Also, under the leadership of Dick Roberts, the College is working on its Master Plan so that we are “ready to go” in the event that capital funding becomes available.

Maria Krupin, Associate Vice President of Administration and Finance

Good morning. The budget approved last night by the Board is a $138 million operating budget and that represents less than a 1% increase over the FY11 budget. We worked very hard to keep the budget relatively flat and to maintain reasonable tuition and fee increases.

When we were first looking at the budget we shared with you that were facing roughly a $6 million deficit. We were able to close that gap by making $3 million in cuts and $3 million in revenue sources with tuition and fee and housing and board increases making up the majority of those revenues. Units will receive their detailed budgets next week. Many of you requested increases to your budget. All of those requests were carefully looked at and some areas will receive additional funding. The overall budget will be posted on the budget Web site.

So, we have been able to close the gap this year but our work is not over. We still need to work very hard to run our operations as efficiently as possible meaning that we will continue to look at costs, reduce them where we can and allocate funding to our top priorities.

Zero-Based Budgeting Initiative
As part of that process we will be instituting a zero-based budgeting process this fall and it will be phase din over three years. Because of limited staffing resources and the amount of work involved in zero-based budgeting we will roll out this process in thirds. One third of units will go through this process for their FY13 budget which will begin in the fall. The following year another third of the units will go, and in the third year the final third of the units will go through the process. Therefore, every three years a unit will go through the process. The units selected to go through this process for FY13 will be notified this summer and we will provide the necessary training.

P Card Program
I’d like to follow up on an item I reported out on at the last Communication Meeting. The Purchasing Department has now rolled out the P Card program to pilot units. We are now five weeks into it and we have 18 different units participating. So far the units participating have received this initiative well. We estimate that we’re saving approximately $50 per transaction by using the P Card and streamlining the purchasing processes. Once we are fully implemented we expect to see tremendous savings, efficiencies and rebates. This was a huge undertaking and I’d like to give special recognition to Stephen Sondey and Andrea Sappleton for their leadership on this program.

Cathleen Davey, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Executive Director of the Ramapo Foundation

Good morning. We want to thank everyone for their interest and support in the work we have been doing with the brand identity for Ramapo College. The research has been done and we are now at a point where we are really excited about moving forward.

Branding Progress
I’d like to take the opportunity now to share with you the progress we have made on the Brand Communication Plan and the actual timetables involved in preparing various creatives and moving our brand implementation forward. Because of the timing, we will begin with Enrollment Management. They will have the new view book and ads for the fall 2011 recruitment process. At the same time we are also working on the various materials to complement the capital campaign. Following that, we will roll out materials for the divisions and units.

Brand Communication Plan (BCP)
The Brand Communication Plan will outline overarching strategic and tactical components that will help establish Ramapo’s brand with internal and external constituents. The BCP is the result of a year of research, testing, focus groups, and work with a constituent-based marketing advisory board. It is certainly a college-wide investment and we have done our homework in developing its components: the Brand Portfolio, Creative Rationale, Target Audiences, Target Geography, Brand Plan Budgets, Communication Goals and Action Plans, and the Evaluation Component.

The BCP will dovetail with our mission, strategic plan and our SPIF and budget planning processes. So, again, it is designed to keep us all on message and saying the same things about the value of a Ramapo education. We hope that everyone has now bought into the BCP and there should be no surprises as you see it rolled out. The BCP is actually a series of brand communication action plans that will outline specific brand-building strategies and in order for it to be effective it must have complete integration and synergy in decision making.

On the budgeting side, as an example only, if we were to take a broad based budget of $250,000 we might say that 15% of it would go toward institutional brand marketing (ie overall marketing to all audiences), that 50% would be used for undergraduate admissions, that 20% would go toward graduate admissions, that 10% go toward fundraising to support the goals of the College, and then maybe a final 5% would be put toward the internal launch.

With respect to evaluating our plans, we’ll go back to the brand research. For example, we might know that 40% of our undergraduate prospects describe Ramapo as “very good.” Our goal might be that within three years, we want 50% of all undergraduate prospects to describe Ramapo as “very good.”

Brand Communication Action Plans
The biggest part of the process is the final communication action plans that I mentioned earlier. I’ll provide you with an example of one simple plan.

• Title: Place Ramapo College Brand Attributes as Tag/Footer on all Emails
• Detail: Using stationery utility to create a consistent college-wide footer that positions Ramapo’s brand attributes on the tag of all email footers.
• Goals to Support: General category of supporting the institutional brand/enhancing presence
• Target Audiences: All internal and external email recipients
• Date: By December 1, 2011 all email will feature the footer
• Cost: No cost
• How Evaluated: That it would be completed on schedule and that all emails from Ramapo will include the footer
• Assigned To: All employees issued email accounts
• Notes (implementation/revisions): ITS to identify utility; Marketing and Communications will update or change tagline periodically

This is just one example. We will probably establish 20-25 communication action plans for our first year, some will be broad-based and others will be very specific.

Creatives
Between now and July 13 these full service creative advertising and marketing firms will be presenting us with sample creatives and advertising concepts:

• Mary Pomerantz Agency
• Linett & Harrison
• Turchette Agency
• Korn Hynes
• Ryan James
• Block and DeCorso

Their work will be evaluated by the Marketing and Communications Advisory Board that has representation from faculty, staff, students, alumni, and donors. We hope to select the firm who will represent Ramapo in the execution of our Spring 2012 ad buy and creative development on or about July 21.

I’d like to now share with you some of the designs we will be using. You’ll notice that the materials will feature a pushing forward momentum with arrows. We will also focus on our teaching and mentoring. You will see photos of faculty and students engaged in active learning and several proof points/quotes that will address student success.

We’re excited to be launching our new brand in the fall and we look forward to everyone’s continued participation in that process.

Miki Cammarata, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs

Good morning. I had a childhood dream of performing on the stage. This isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it is probably as close as I am going to get. I am pleased to update you today on the Student Engagement Plan at Ramapo. For those of you that haven’t yet heard about our progress, I’ll provide you with a brief background.

Engagement Planning
We know that students who are actively engaged in college both in and out of the classroom are more likely to report a positive college experience and to be successful in college and beyond. Through a series of retreats and activities, we have been exploring how we can strengthen our current student engagement efforts. This process has been led by Beth Barnett, Pat Chang, Chris Romano, me, and a representative group of faculty and staff.  We have also consulted with students, through meetings and focus groups, throughout the process.

We have had three retreats to develop the Student Engagement Plan. The first retreat focused on defining student engagement and developing an inventory of all current programs and activities that might contribute to student engagement.  From this, the group began to identify some major goals and outcomes.  Following are the student engagement goals and outcomes.

Goal 1: Academic Engagement
Interaction, participation and interest in gaining skills and increasing knowledge.  Seeking ways to relate learning inside the classroom with life outside the classroom.

Goal 2: Social Engagement
Interaction, participation, and interest in socializing with others within an active community.  Seeking activities that facilitate positive relationships with others.

Goal 3: Personal Engagement
Interaction, participation, and interest in knowing self and self in relation to the world.  Reflection on one’s place on the campus, in the community, and in the world.  Understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses and using this knowledge to reach one’s goals. (Empowerment and responsibility to add to definition)

Goal 4: Campus and Civic Engagement
Interaction, participation and interest in the social, cultural, and leadership aspects of the College.  Building the skills necessary to become active, engaged citizens who make the College, the nation and the world better places to live, learn, and work.

Identifying Key Points of Engagement

The second retreat focused on refining the goals and outcomes and identifying Key Points of Engagement (KPE) through which these goals and outcomes could be achieved.  A KPE is basically an activity that contributes to student learning that is high impact and sustaining (i.e. something that promotes student interaction between students and their peers, students and faculty, and students and staff). Examples of existing first year KPEs are the summer reading and Convocation, Orientation and Welcome Week activities.

The third retreat focused on refining the KPEs for the first year, identifying gaps, and developing a Student Engagement Plan for the first year.  Next steps are to communicate these expectations to students, enlist campus support, and assess the impact of the Plan.  We will then focus our attention on student engagement plans for the middle and final years.

On behalf of our planning committee, I would like to thank the faculty, students and staff that have thus far contributed to this endeavor and encourage all of you to become familiar with the Plan and support our efforts.  We look forward to having everyone on board in the coming months.

For more information regarding our efforts around student engagement, please visit the Provost’s website at http://ww2.ramapo.edu/administration/provosthome/index.aspx

Q & A…

Ramapo College’s 53^rd Commencement Ceremony was held on May 13, 2011. I was proud to preside over such a splendid ceremony and am happy to share with you my address to the graduates (see below).

The College was pleased to welcome special guest, United States Senator Robert Menendez back to our campus. The Senator introduced our 2011 Commencement Speaker, Madame Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the U. S. Supreme Court. Justice Sotomayor delivered the keynote address to the Class of 2011, the largest class in our College’s history with 1,511 graduates. She encouraged the graduates to celebrate, learn from and hold dear the many “aha moments” life has to offer.

Following Justice Sotomayor’s remarks, Graduating Class Speaker Brandon Martin, of South Brunswick, NJ, a Law and Society major, delivered celebratory remarks.

It was an honor to bestow the President’s Award of Merit upon Dr. Timothy Finley ’94, an anesthesiologist at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. Dr. Finley regularly travels to Haiti as a volunteer to offer his medical services and did so again recently, following the earthquake that devastated that country.

I extend my sincere thanks to all of the people that contributed to this memorable occasion.

Congratulations to the Ramapo College Class of 2011!

---

Welcome everybody!

First, I’d like to share with you a few significant facts about this year’s graduates.

Members of the Class of 2011: among you are 1514 students; 1423 undergraduates and 91 graduate students. You are our largest graduating class to date and you are joining a network of over 27,000 accomplished alumni.

The Class of 2011 includes 76 Educational Opportunity Fund Program participants, 20 Veteran’s Program participants, and 89 graduates that have affiliated with the Office of Specialized Services.

President Peter P. Mercer speaking at the 2011 Commencement Ceremony.

349 of our graduates are receiving Latin Honors today and 29 have completed Ramapo’s Honors Program. This is exclusive of the over 250 students who have been recognized among the College’s 40 plus academic honor societies.

Among the four pillars at Ramapo is our commitment to international education, intercultural understanding, and experiential learning. Our graduating class includes 28 international students representing 11 countries: Afghanistan, Bulgaria, China, India, Japan, Mongolia, Nigeria, South Korea, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey. In addition, many of our graduates have engaged in study abroad programs in Russia, Italy, Ghana, Peru, Israel, and Spain to name only a few of the myriad destinations our graduates have pursued as part of their undergraduate education with Ramapo.

We also recognize our own employees who are receiving degrees today: Anna Marie Breen and Michele Daly. Congratulations. We are delighted to celebrate these accomplishments with you.

Every new age seems perilous. There has never been a commencement address, at least not an honest one, which assured graduates that they were about to enter a world of unremitting stability and prosperity where success and happiness were absolutely assured. The same is true for you; indeed, the roiling of the financial markets and the seemingly uncontrollable palpitations of the Mississippi River, seem apt metaphors for a society that appears to be out of control and where forthrightness and decency seem, at times, in short supply. What will become of us we wonder in our most fearful moments.

The answer, if history is any guide, is that thoughtful solutions will emerge from thoughtful people – people who have learned to look at problems from many perspectives and analyze them critically. That, at one level, is what you have learned to do.

I want to address the issue of learning at a deeper, personal level, however. I ask you to consider: What have you learned in your time at Ramapo College? What, in your heart do you now know to be true?

1. You know that your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles whose ideas and opinions seemed so lame four years ago are actually pretty smart. They’ve also learned a lot in the last four years.
2. You know that it’s best not to behave as if the world owes you a living because it doesn’t. This is especially true of your parents whose love for you is as undeniable as their fond anticipation of your departure from the family payroll.
3. You know that the person who owes you something is you and what you owe yourself above all else is honesty. You can’t afford to kid yourself. No more inwardly professing to have done your best in a particular endeavor when the reality is that you allowed yourself to be distracted and simply got by.
4. You know that you are gifted - maybe not in a Nobel prize winning way but gifted nonetheless - and you will be happiest when you accept what your gifts are and use them humbly.
5. You know that you are human, meaning among other things that by disposition you can be a warm and caring person one day and a cold aloofnik the next. Part of adult wisdom is learning to overcome your natural disposition through disciplined exercise of your own will.
6. You know that the accomplishments of which you are most proud are those which required toil and commitment.
7. You know that the golden rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you – is golden not just for the recipient but for the actor as well.
8. You know that contentment depends not on being the richest, nor the most intelligent nor the most attractive but on being true to yourself.
9. You know that there is a lot you don’t know - and finally, as people of perspicacity and rare discernment -
10. You know that if there is justice in the world, the Vancouver Canucks will win the Stanley Cup.

Graduates, may you continue to push your own boundaries. May you continue to excel in all of your personal and professional pursuits. And, may you be richly blessed in the years to come. Congratulations!

Peter P. Mercer
President

On April 11, 2011, I hosted a quarterly Communications Meeting for personnel with  Provost Beth Barnett, Vice President Cathy Davey, Associate Vice President Maria Krupin, and Chief Planning Officer Dorothy Echols Tobe.

A summary of the address follows:

Dr. Dorothy Echols-Tobe, Chief Planning Officer

Budget Gap

We are facing a $6 million deficit. In February, we knew we had a budget gap and we knew how big it was but there were still some assumptions and some unknowns. Two big unknowns were what our state appropriation would be and whether or not there would be a tuition cap. These two items are no longer unknowns.  We have since learned that there will be no change to the state appropriation for higher education in general and the governor did not implement a cap on tuition.

Gap Closing Measures

We have identified gap closing measures to help us decrease the gap. We will share information on those measures at the annual Budget Forum on May 2. We still have to meet with the Board of Trustees to finalize tuition and fee rates, we still need to decide on cuts to our operating expenses, and we still need for all of you to think about cost reductions in your areas. The economic situation in the state remains tenuous and, as such, it will continue to impact our institution.

Personnel Strategies

In February, we asked everyone to explore reductions in salary expenses. We asked you to look at the positions that became vacant in your area. Each position that becomes vacant is reviewed quite extensively and we have not replaced some positions. We have left some positions vacant and we have also asked managers to look within for possible replacements in essential areas. We also asked personnel to look at their own situation to see whether or not they could take voluntary furloughs. We extend our thanks to the employees that have requested voluntary furloughs effective July 1. Discussions continue about converting 12 months positions to 10 month positions. Again, lay offs remain a measure of last resort.

Another activity we have engaged personnel in was essential functions data collection.  We asked employees to identify 3-5 essential functions of their position. We have an extensive amount of information to review. What we will be looking for in this exercise is redundancies, overlapping functions and the criticality of these functions in relation to institutional goals and priorities.

Institutional Effectiveness

The Institutional Effectiveness Committee has completed its work for this year. It has reviewed projects requesting SPIF funds and Cabinet will review those requests in the coming weeks.

Capital Projects

G Wing: Planning is continuing regarding the G Wing renovation. It is our hope that shovels will be in the ground by summer 2012.

Center for Reading and Writing: The Center for Reading and Writing will relocate from the E Wing to the Library and Teacher Education will move into that vacated space.

Student Center HVAC Renovation and Building Improvements: The Student Center project is scheduled for May 16th through August 26^th of this year. During this period, the building will be shut down completely to the campus. During the shutdown, temporary facilities will be as follows:

The Bookstore will occupy G-Wing Rooms G-105, G-106, G-124 and G-125.  These rooms will be renovated so that the bookstore can still function as required through the summer.  They will move the week of May 16th.

Sodexo Food Service will operate out of the Pavilion from May 16th through June 26.  Limited food service will be provided out of the Pavilion store from June 27 through August 8th.  Food service will again resume service on August 9th out of the Pavilion until the Student Center reopens.

Student Development:  Temporary offices will be provided in the international dorm from May 16th through August 12th.

Maria Krupin, Associate Vice President of Administration and Finance

P Card Program

The Purchasing Department will be phasing in a P Card program to allow units to make purchases via credit card for orders under $1000. 60% of our payments to vendors are for less than $1000 and as a result we were experiencing a lot of transactions and fees associated with such smaller purchases.  An RFP was issued jointly with fellow state colleges and the bid was awarded to Bank of America. The P Cards will foster a more streamlined and efficient process for purchasing such items. The College will also earn some revenue from these credit card purchases via rebates. Our purchases will be drawn together with the other colleges and we will get a percentage of the rebate based on our purchasing volume.  Some units have been identified to pilot this program June 1^st. Rollout and training for remaining units will occur in the fall.

Tax Compliance and Payment Distribution

Finance is moving forward with outsourcing the Tax Compliance and Payment distribution pieces of our payroll system to ADP. The primary reasons we are taking this step are for disaster recovery, business continuity and compliance with federal and state tax laws. We have many employees that reside out of state and this better enables us to stay on top of tax laws. The tax compliance piece is really a back of the house operation and will have little impact on employees. The piece that will affect employees is the paycheck distribution process. ADP will now be issuing our paychecks so any employee currently on direct deposit will see no change. Those employees that receive paper paychecks will have the option of getting a debit card in lieu of a paper pay check.

The debit card can be used wherever credit cards are accepted and employees can write checks against the card. Paper checks will also be available but will not be available for pick up on campus any longer. Paper checks will be mailed to your home address. This process will ensure that even if the college is closed for whatever reason, employees will be able to receive their payments on time. ADP will also be processing our year end W2 statements and the ADP Web site will house payment history and information (up to three years of rolling pay stub information). Employees will also have the option to phone in for their net pay. Further information and training sessions will be provided in the coming months.

Budget@ramapo.edu Suggestions

At the start of the semester we asked you to forward your budget suggestions to budget@ramapo.edu. We received over 80 suggestions. They ran the gamut from cost saving measures efficiencies to new revenue sources. Many of them had a related theme. So I am going to go through some of those today. Some of the ideas you submitted have already been implemented and about thirty of them are being reviewed for feasibility.

Printing: One common theme of suggestions was printing, i.e. reducing printing, moving more information online, lessening the paper trail, etc.  We have been looking at adopting an imaging system as one option to address this. Additionally, purchasing will be distributing handouts on the copy machines that many of you have in your offices. The handouts will describe how these copy machines allow for scanning, networking, and double sided printing and copying from your desktop. We are also looking at reducing the number of desktop printers on campus. Currently, almost everyone that has a desktop computer also has a desktop printer. As those printers break down or need to replaced, we will be reducing those numbers in light of the fact that we have these copy machines with more efficient resources and features. Some of you are already using Web-based, paperless time sheets. Our goal is to have all employees on Web Time by the end of the fiscal year yielding some savings on printing and paper expenses.

Travel: Some other budget suggestions were regarding travel and across the board cuts.  We will be reducing travel budgets again by 10% in Fiscal Year ‘12. We are not yet instituting an across the board cut but we will be doing targeted strategic cuts. Again, we need to look at our expenses and our revenue overall to meet our strategic goals and across the board cuts are not the ideal mechanism accomplish that.

Closings: Another theme that came through the suggestions was closing the college for a week at variable times. For many reasons many of the times suggested are not feasible due to summer session, payment deadlines, etc. We are also looking to utilize our space more effectively, so closing the college at any time would not align with this goal. Also, if we did close for a week that would be a layoff and that would need to be negotiated with the state. Again, anyone who can take the time and is willing to give back, you may put in for a voluntary furlough.

Enrollment: On the revenue side we had a number of suggestions, many of which centered on adding students. As far as expanding undergraduate enrollment is concerned, we have an enrollment plan aligned with our strategic goals and we cannot grow the traditional freshmen class due to restraints we have on housing and other resources. But, we are instituting an adult learners program and have already expanded both our winter, online, and summer session offerings.

Programming and Space Utilization: We are currently reviewing class schedules to foster greater space utilization. On the graduate side, we added the MA in Sustainability Studies last year and we’ll be adding Educational Leadership in the fall. The Provost’s area continues to consider suggestions for graduate programs that meet the College’s established criteria. We also have been expanding collaboration with area high schools for awarding college credit at the high school level and we are continually pursuing additional opportunities in that area.

We had other suggestions on selling space and naming rights. In accord with College policy, naming rights cannot be sold, they can only be authorized by the Board of Trustees.

That is an overview of the majority of budget suggestions that came through. We will summarize the suggestions/responses and provide them to you in the coming weeks. Any individual who submitted a suggestion will receive a direct response to their suggestion.  Additional information on the budget will be available at the Budget Forum on May 2.

 Summary of Suggestions  (PDF)

Cathleen Davey, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Executive Director of the Ramapo Foundation

We want to thank everyone for their interest and support in the work we have been doing with Stamats in terms of reaching out to establish a solid brand identity for Ramapo College and to push forward the promise that we want to make to our students and all of the constituencies with which we work.

Ramapo seeks clarity and consistency in its message so it can help the right students select Ramapo, help alumni reconnect with the College, help donors find the right Ramapo projects to support, and help raise the College’s profile with the general public.

Our research showed that neither internal nor external audiences perceive Ramapo as strong in student outcomes, although internal audiences do believe in Ramapo faculty quality and individual alumni testified to Ramapo’s contribution to their lives.

Brand Promise

Our clarified brand must express how strong teaching leads to strong outcomes. A brand promise is a concise articulation of what any organization promises to its principal audiences-something that the audience views as having intrinsic or extrinsic value for them personally. Ramapo’s promise statement was developed through research, reflection, and testing to ensure that the promise articulated persuasive and distinct strengths.

To reflect Ramapo’s evolution and to speak more clearly to its audiences, the following promise statement emerged from the research conducted among Ramapo’s prospective students, current students, alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators:

The outstanding and devoted faculty of Ramapo College of New Jersey excel at teaching, mentoring and preparing students to succeed personally and professionally, all within the small, picturesque campus environment usually associated with an elite college.

While this exact statement will not appear in all of our publications or on the web, it is that which our decisions, strategy, and planning should originate. It will lead us in all of our publications, remarks, and recruitment efforts, and in the items /issues that we present as high priorities on our Web site and in our materials.

In terms of this promise, a question was asked earlier about how this differs from our mission. We are not straying away at all from our mission. We hope that the brand promise and the attributes that we focus on from that will really enhance how we speak about our mission to our students and constituencies.

Brand Attributes

Our brand promise statement is structured to link to a cluster of defining attributes, or messages, that broadly represent Ramapo in the minds of its students, faculty, staff, administration, parents, alumni, and prospective students (elaborated more fully in the brand portfolio):

• Faculty who teach and mentor
• Hands-on learning and professional development that prepares
• A strong foundation for a lifetime of achievement
• The advantages of a small private college at an affordable price

As we go deeper into the branding process, these four attributes have a variety of proof points. The proof points are very specific examples of professors, student clubs and achievements, successful alumni. All of that information then truly helps us design a campaign that will be integrated into all of our marketing and outreach efforts. 

Brand Strategy: Pushing Boundaries

We are excited to announce that the strategy we are going to approach is called “Pushing Boundaries.” The concept and strategy position Ramapo as an active place where boundaries can be questioned, rearranged, or changed entirely.

For example, Ramapo’s interdisciplinary commitment pushes intellectual boundaries; its commitment to experiential, hands-on learning pushes personal and professional boundaries. The commitment of Ramapo faculty to attentive teaching and mentoring pushes students to learn actively rather than passively. Ramapo’s very location pushes boundaries, too. Ramapo is on the edge, between mountain and metropolis; in New Jersey, but only a few miles from the northern border.

Ramapo walks the boundary between public and private; its campus and facilities feel like a private college but its tuition matches its public status. In its curriculum, Ramapo is on the edge between a liberal arts and a pre-professional education, walking the boundary between the skills one needs to get hired out of college with the intellectual orientation one needs for a lifetime of learning, adapting, and succeeding.

Much of the graphics and art associated with this campaign will have bright, vibrant colors, and an emphasis on directional signs, arrows, things that push forward. This will be an edgy, bold campaign.

Draft View Book Message

Headline: See beyond

Settle? Not you. You’re headed forward: out of the box and into a college that will challenge you, push you, and accept you, even as you push back. A career that has a clear entry point, but boundless opportunities.  A way through the current problems, into a future of solutions. You need a broad perspective and precise tools to be part of the positive change you foresee. You may not have seen it yet, but you need Ramapo.

Professors who teach, engage, mentor, and push you. Classes that blur boundaries between disciplines. Classmates you can really get to know. Study abroad. Internships. Hands-on classes. Laboratory research you can publish even before you graduate. Groundbreaking techniques. Creative inventions. And a perch on a pretty hillside where you can see from the city to the mountain top.

Push your boundaries. Start at Ramapo.

Brand Messaging

So, as you can hear from that, we are taking the four pillars of our college from our mission statement and we are adapting them into this messaging. For example, instead of saying interdisciplinary, we talk about where boundaries blur between disciplines. Instead of saying experiential learning, we talk about hands-on learning. It is these things that we know are our strengths and we are trying to package them in way that is attractive and meets the demands of the type of student we are recruiting and support we are interested in garnering. And so on.

During the week of April 25 a team will be on campus taking photos to support the College’s new September 2011 view book, as well as video and still photography to support the Foundation’s capital campaign.

Faculty, students and staff are invited for a full presentation and update from Stamats on the brand promise, its attributes and how these materials will be incorporated into an integrated marketing communication plan that supports our Strategic Plan, as well as our Strategic Enrollment Management Plan.

Moving forward, it will be critical that we all use the same elevator speech and the same look and feel in how we describe Ramapo. If there is not full buy in, we will have wasted a unique opportunity.

We hope you will join us.

Beth Barnett, Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs

I suppose many of you have heard the statement that it takes a village to raise a child. Here at Ramapo College we understand that it actually takes an entire college to educate a student and of course to prepare them for a lifetime of achievement.

Student Engagement Data

We have read several reports, some self reported information from our students, and we have looked at data that indicates that in fact, our students are not as engaged as we would like them to be. When we look at data from the NSSE survey, we find that our students are not spending a whole lot of their time engaged in activities related to their coursework, service or civic engagement.  They simply are occupied elsewhere and not engaged in our college.

I have had opportunities to hear from some of you, from staff and from other parts of the College that at times when our students do engage with us, they don’t do it in a desirable way. They may at times not be civil and they may not really be civically engaged, showing a concern for others. I think most of us recognize that if in fact we want them to have a lifetime of achievement; we need to make certain that they have the skills to participate in a range of activities and also to be able to interact with others in a very positive way.

Adding to the information we have recently seen, a decision was made that we will not allow freshmen to have cars on campus. So, we are now in a situation where we’re concerned…our students are not engaged enough, often they say they go home on weekends because they don’t think there is anything to do here on weekends. When, in fact we know we offer tons of activities. So we brought together a steering committee. The committee began asking questions like “What can we do to further engage our students?”

Student Engagement Goals

We know from research that an engaged student is a more successful student. They are more likely to do well academically and they are more likely to bond to the college. They’ll learn more. They’ll be better educated.

So we have had two retreats so far and we will have a third retreat in the near future. These retreats brought together members of the faculty and staff and we started looking at all of the activities that we offer across the campus, it was a quite a lengthy collection of activities. Next, we took a closer look and asked ourselves, “What are we really doing for our students and why isn’t it working?” In seeking that answer, we took a little turn and decided to explore the question of “What is it that we would want our students to know and be able to do if they truly were engaged?” To answer that question, we came forward with four goals of engagement and under that we developed some outcomes. These goals will lay the course to engage our students academically. These goals and outcomes were played with quite a bit by the 35-40 individuals that participated in the process.

Engagement Goal 1: Academic Engagement

Our primary goal at this college is to provide that first class education to all of our students but we’re not focused exactly on the classroom. We’re focused on our students having the ability to take what they are learning in that classroom and use it outside of the classroom. Now many of you know that a large part of your role is to work with students outside of the classroom. So we are looking for a way to more closely marry what occurs inside the classroom with what occurs outside of the classroom.

Engagement Goal 2: Social Engagement

Then we moved on to the idea of fostering greater social engagement. As you know this is a generation that is very locked on to their electronic devices-- you see it when they are walking across campus, you see it when they are sitting in the cafeteria. So we want to make sure that we provide the kinds of activities that make sure that they connect with other individuals, with their peers, with faculty, and with staff. And so again we need to know what type of experiences will allow them to have that kind of valuable social engagement.

Engagement Goal 3: Personal Engagement

All of you have likely recognized, and if you have children of your own you’ve really recognized it, that between the ages of 18 and 22 individuals change and grow. They come to us here at Ramapo mostly as high school seniors and they leave us as young adults. We of course want to see them leave as young adults with great potential for success so we also realize that we need to engage them in ways that will help them recognize their own strengths and their own weaknesses, and to give them that sense of self empowerment and self responsibility.

Engagement Goal 4: Campus and Civic Engagement

Last but not least, we are concerned about civic engagement and our students’ engagement with the campus. We are all very proud of Ramapo College. It is a wonderful place and we want our students to recognize that quality and take it with them when they leave our campus. On that same path, we expect them to be conscientious contributing citizens of our campus, of their communities, and even of the world.

Key Points of Engagement

In our last retreat we started to talk about which activities we have available to us and which activities that we haven’t thought of before might best lead our students to reaching the goals of becoming engaged citizens and lifetime achievers.

In our retreats we have discussed Key Points of Engagement or KPEs. We haven’t finished defining those KPE’s yet but we know already that there are some activities we are currently doing that we won’t be continuing. It’s not that they are bad activities, but it is because we were doing them as an activity alone, not as an experience that led to a specific outcome for our students. There will likely also be some activities we are not currently doing that we will introduce next year. For example, next fall we will pilot a living/learning community—an activity shown in most research to be a highly engaging activity that meets with considerable student success.

We are still exploring what our KPE’s for our first year students will be, circling back again to the reality that they will not have cars. If you have any ideas about what would be worthwhile activities, please send your suggestions to me or to Miki Cammarata, Pat Chang, Eric Daffron, or Chris Romano. Please know that this is an activity that will not be completed for along time and we will be seeking your suggestions.

I have to circle back to the idea that it takes an entire college. Each and every one of you has interactions with students. Making those interactions positive and engaging will help this overall effort.  We want to make sure that we are providing both a good experience for our students but also one that will help them grow, help them develop, and help them to be lifelong achievers.

Peter P. Mercer, President

Moment of Silence for Trustee Edward Zarnock

Good afternoon everybody. Unfortunately, I have to begin on a very sad note. Early this afternoon I received word that Trustee Ed Zarnock passed away suddenly on Saturday. Obviously, this was very unexpected and tragic for his family, for us, and for all who knew him. Ed was, on the surface, a somewhat crusty character but he came to love Ramapo College and he was our biggest supporter in many respects, particularly on capital projects. So I ask, if you would, to just take a moment of silence in his memory.

Commencement

It is the interesting point in the year when we are all really scrambling to finish what we need to do before then of the semester. It is only a few weeks before Commencement and on that subject I have happier news. Our Commencement Speaker this year will be Madame Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the United State Supreme Court.

Staff Development and Recognition

We have received many requests for development training and refreshing for our staff and our managers. These initiatives are very much the brainchildren of Brittany Goldstein, Judith Jeney, Bill Stovall, and John Woods and with collaboration from several other folks on campus.

Introduction to Management at Ramapo: From May to June they will deliver an orientation of sorts called “Introduction to Management at Ramapo.” That program will focus on legal issues, policies, and resources essential to manager success. 

Collective Bargaining: There is a good deal of interest in how collective bargaining agreements work and the role managers have in administering them. From June to August we will offer “Collective Bargaining Agreement Modules.”

Customer Service: I know that there is some irritation at times with the language of the business world but whether we talk about serving students, the outside world, or serving one another, we are really talking about customer service. It is not as if we believe our folks don’t do a good job at Customer Service but all of us need refreshment from time to time and it also gives us a chance to be a little introspective and ask ourselves how we may be able to do things better and all of the best organizations in the world do that. So from June to July we will offer Customer Service Training.

Conflict Management/Resolution: Many of the difficulties that arise in the course of day to day administration of the College are really matters of misperception or miscommunication and often it takes some training in conflict management and resolution to understand them and solve them. Therefore from June to July we will offer Conflict Management Training. These programs are the first of what I hope will be a continuing series over time.

President’s Staff Recognition Awards: I’d next like to remind you all that you have time still to nominate someone for the Staff Recognition Awards. There are up to three Staff Leadership Awards and one award for Staff Excellence in Service. We will announce the recipients at the employee picnic on May 19th and formally recognize them on the Board of Trustee plaque and at the June Board meeting. Nominations are encouraged from students, faculty, staff and administration. I really encourage you though to consider nominating somebody or some unit and I equally hope that you will be in attendance at the picnic on May 19^th to cheer them on. Please check my office’s Web site for eligibility and nomination information.

Workplace Quality

One of the other initiatives that we have ongoing is the Chronicle of Higher Education Great Colleges to Work For Program. Many of you will have received a request to fill out a questionnaire as part of this enterprise. You are randomly chosen so please complete the survey. We will use the information to assess and identify next steps on workplace quality issues.

Remembrance Day

Our Remembrance Day Ceremony is on April 20^th. Our honorees this year include: Jack Dawson, Supervisor of Landscape Maintenance, Henry J. Frundt, Professor/Urban Sociology (Former Dean SSHS); Kent Eldridge, Operating Engineer 1; Milton Gittens, Associate Professor Public Administration; Raymond Olsson, Senior Repairer; Michael J. Ricciardi '79, Director of Athletics; and Julia Ysordia, Principal Operator Auto Type.

You have the opportunity to share your memories with any of these folks via my Web site. I want to emphasize how important this day is to the families and loved ones of those that we will honor. This day has become very important to them and to the life of the college and it is something that we should all be able to pay attention to in the midst of our day to day work. So, again, please consider submitting a memory and attending the ceremony.

Q & A…

The strength of the natural human desire for individual and team recognition should not be overlooked.  It is even reported that absenteeism and tardiness in some organizations has been greatly reduced when more attention was paid to recognition. To that end, regular performance appraisal and recognition that is approached thoughtfully and comprehensively by both supervisor and employee is a highly worthwhile endeavor.

The Staff Recognition Program housed in my office recognizes excellence and extraordinary effort demonstrated by Ramapo College employees (non-faculty). Annually, up to three awards are given for Staff Leadership and one award is given for Staff Excellence in Service. College faculty, staff and students are encouraged to submit nominations. The deadline for nominations is April 22.

Who is my advisor? How do I declare or change my major? What must I do to graduate in four years? These questions and many like them have been a constant in the undergraduate pursuit of efficacy and clarity in the registration and advisement processes throughout centuries of change in public higher education, and for good reason.

Riva Kadar concluded in the Journal of College Counseling, “Academic advising is often the catalyst for frequent and consistent contact with students, but it is much more than a process of simply advising students about which courses to take. Advisement offers multiple chances to develop a rapport with students and, more often than not, the occasion to discuss any prospects, goals, and personal issues that may be impeding their success.”

Effective advisement fosters student success and one measure of individual and institutional success is the rate at which students graduate. Among the 27 public and private colleges and universities in New Jersey, Ramapo College ranks fourth in the percentage of freshmen that graduate within four or six years. These graduation rates, published by the Star Ledger, show that Princeton University has had the most success in graduating students within four to six years, followed by Drew University, then the College of New Jersey, and then Ramapo!

Ramapo has bucked the national trend. An analysis released by The Chronicle of Higher Education of nearly 1,400 four-year institutions between 2003 and 2008 shows that nearly 500 of the participating institutions reported declining graduation rates during the five year period. Not so at Ramapo…in 2004, 36% of our students graduated in four to six years and by 2008, that number had increased to 53%. Of the 900 institutions that reported increases in graduation rates from 2003 to 2008, the average increase was 2%. We, by contrast, saw graduation rates increase 17%.

We can attribute much of this increase to the efforts of Ramapo’s Center for Academic Advisement and First Year Experience (CAAFYE) and the invaluable relationships, as Kadar described, that it has built with students and faculty advisors. CAAFYE’s contributions to improving our graduation rates are evidenced by its semiannual outreach and celebration of March and October as Advisement Months, its Comprehensive Advisement Guide, its Recommended Four-year Plans, and its impressive My Advisor/My Advisee initiative.

The Comprehensive Advisement Guide provides students with everything from how the five schools at Ramapo are structured to a listing of what courses may be waived for incoming transfer students. The Recommended Four Year Plans are updated annually. These plans, individually designed for each of the College’s 40 majors, help take the guess work out of course selection. They recommend a sequence of courses and are designed to provide a blueprint for students to complete their degrees within four years. My Advisor/My Advisee is an instructive Web portal designed to help students and advisors identify the resources they need to develop a successful relationship and an effective academic plan. It is a convenient collection point for academic policies, college catalogs, registration deadlines, and more.

Beyond efficiency and rapport, retention and timely graduation of students yields financial benefits both for the student and the institution. Joe Cuseo and Randi Levitz noted that “a fiscal advantage associated with student retention efforts that effectively promote student persistence to graduation is that graduating students are much less likely to default on their student loans than students who drop out—due, in large measure, to the fact that graduates are more likely to find gainful employment.”

Cuseo adds, “Student recruitment efforts require substantial institutional expenditures (e.g., hiring of staff, travel funding, and marketing costs). In contrast, retention initiatives designed to manage student enrollment are estimated to be 3-5 times more cost-effective than recruitment efforts, i.e., it takes 3-5 times as much money to recruit a new student than it does to retain an already enrolled student.”

President Obama declared in 2009 that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Since the college-age population is projected to level off and possibly decline, this initiative will require a major increase in graduation rates across the country. Thanks in large part to Ramapo’s effective advisement model and its relationship building among faculty, staff, and students, we are ahead of the curve. We have already seen significant improvements in our graduation rates over the last decade and we can look forward to continued success in this area as we approach 2020.

Peter P. Mercer
President

INTRODUCTION

Thank you all for coming today. The college is actually in a good state, all things considered.  We have many achievements to celebrate at Ramapo and I will highlight just some of those. I will also describe our budgetary situation as we know it.

REPORT OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE

First, I will take you through the report of the Higher Education Task Force chaired by former Governor Tom Kean. Membership on the Task Force included representation from private business as well as public and private higher education.

 

The Task Force held extensive meetings and I know that they canvassed very broadly. I had two meetings with them myself. Their recommendations were in six major categories: Financing and Affordability, Governance, Mission, Rutgers University, UMDNJ and Medical Education, and Workforce Development and Economic Development.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS: FINANCING & AFFORDABILITY

This is a direct quote from the report, "After twenty years of declining state funding and increased tuition, the fortunes of citizens of our state hang in the balance. Student access to an affordable college education and the economic prosperity of our state are at stake. New Jersey must decide to change course and provide greater support for higher education."

 

Now, each year I show you this graph and as you can see, we are running out of space at the bottom. If you go back to 1997 and look to the top of the chart, 60% of our revenues came from the state. If you then go to 2011 and look at the bottom of the chart, 24.8% of our revenue came from the state. You don't need to extrapolate much further to realize that we stand to be a public college for a relatively short period-that issue is met front and center in this report.

 

I would like to review some of the important recommendations listed. The first recommendation is to deal with tuition. The report says specifically that the state should not impose tuition caps, you recall that they did that last year. It is not the feeling that tuition increases should be unbridled, it is simply that they are the responsibility of the independent boards of trustees, not of the governor or the legislature. The report does say that institutions should not increase tuition in one year increments that are unreasonably large.

With respect to capital support, many of you know that we haven't had any capital support since 1988. The report recommends that the state should immediately issue general obligation bonds. Now, there is a great deal of immediacy in the recommendations but far less in the responses. I will talk about that later. The report talks about providing annual capital support and restoring the Higher Education Incentive Funding Program to attract private philanthropy-largely a matching program that was very effective when it was in place.

On the operating side, the report calls for three recommendations. First, it calls upon the state to provide greater financial support for operating budgets. Second, and my personal favorite, it calls for the development and implementation of a more rational approach to allocating state aid. Those of you who are laughing must have been paying attention for the last five years while I have harped on about this at every single State of the College Address, but it has gotten worse since I arrived which I hope you won't take as a testament to my effectiveness as a lobbyist. The fact is, now there is about a $15 million differential between what we would receive if we were treated the same way on the revenue side as The College of New Jersey. Third, the report says the state should fund salary increases that it negotiates for state employees. Well, we will talk about the budget gap that we face this year and that budget gap is occasioned by the fact that we have salary increases to pay that are not centrally funded.

On the student aid side, the report recommends maintaining Tuition Aid Grant funding, increasing funding to the Educational Opportunity Fund, and transforming NJSTARS to promote student choice and mobility-which is perhaps code for abolishing it, and improving the application process for student assistance.

Now, you have to admit that on the operating and capital side under the Financing and Affordability category, we couldn't ask for much more in a report. This is exactly what we in the sector would have written had we been in charge of authoring the report.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS: GOVERNANCE

Let's turn now to Governance. There was of course a considerable degree of consternation years ago when UMDNJ ran into trouble and the feeling was that there wasn't adequate oversight. Well, what this report emphasizes is that such oversight really should be the responsibility of the independent Boards of Trustees to run the institutions. The report has some very concrete recommendations on this front.

 

First, it recommends eliminating the Commission on Higher Education which has become so ossified in its deliberations because its staff has been so cut back that it takes us about five times as long to get approval of a program as you would normally expect.

Second, it seeks to identify a Secretary of Higher Education and the Governor's Higher Education Council. We were very concerned, you may recall, when this commission was established, that it might wind up recommending the recreation of a Department of Education with a bureaucracy that during its prime had a budget that rivaled the budget of our College. And so what has been recommended here is the creation of a single position with a volunteer executive council. And the executive order creating that council has already been signed.

Third, the report says that colleges should initiate the trustee nomination process. That would make nominations apolitical, or at least less political.

Fourth, the report recommends passage of the Tool Kit bills to reform workers compensation, collective bargaining, and the elimination of the civil service classification in colleges and universities. The workers compensation reform has already been done. The Tool Kit bill that I think has caused the most controversy is allowing individual institutions to bargain collectively. What you may not know is that the nine public colleges in New Jersey, leaving aside the research institutions and the independents and the community colleges, all of whom bargain separately, the nine publics are the only group in all of North America who have someone else do the bargaining for them and then have to deal with whatever is negotiated on their behalf. So, I will tell you and I have told my union colleagues this, that I am personally in favor of collective bargaining school by school because I think we can do a better job at reaching agreement about our particular needs at Ramapo than to have it done centrally for us in Trenton.  I think the proof is in that pudding by looking at what has happened in the past.

Fifth, the report calls upon the state to pay for any unfunded mandates. That would be a happy change from my standpoint.

Sixth, the report calls for the elimination of policies that hinder competitiveness. Caps on state pension contributions being one recent example of this, and more seamless approval of constructions projects being another.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS: MISSION

We now go to the Mission category where the Task Force put a great deal of emphasis on mission differentiation, the idea that under autonomy, which the schools have had since the abolition of the Department of Education, that they have been able to pursue independent missions, and they have been able to do so successfully. The report says, "Relative to their resources, (NJ's nine state colleges) are one of the three best performing public baccalaureate and master's sectors for six year graduation rates of bachelor's students; and given their resources, they are in the top four states in producing bachelor's degrees relative to their student populations." That is something that we sometimes forget.

 

Under mission recommendations, the report makes five suggestions. First, all institutions should undertake a review of their missions. We have done that. We did it when we advanced the Strategic Plan in 2007 and we did it recently for Middle States.

Second, the report says that Princeton University should enhance its role in researching public policy and recommending solutions to NJ's public policy and educational issues.

Third, it says the legislature should refrain from micromanaging institutions. The Governor himself said, "Imposing a tuition cap on the four year public colleges last year may have been a mistake."

Fourth, the report recommends the state charge a fee for out of state institutions seeking licensure in New Jersey. Right now the state does not do that and many states do.

Fifth, the report calls for transparency and accountability of teacher education programs-an issue I honestly don't quite understand, but it is there.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS: RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Now we move to the recommendations for Rutgers University. The short form of the report's recommendation is that Rutgers has to go from good to great. I happen to think that this is a fair recommendation but it has to be accompanied, as it is, by a statement that Rutgers needs to be funded appropriately if it is going to be a great research university. It is not funded appropriately right now and it has a legitimate right to complain that its support from the state isn't adequate to the purpose of becoming a great research university.

 

The report is a bit pointed in its recommendations though noting that Rutgers should eliminate redundancies in personnel, utilities, and programming. Among the recommendations for Rutgers, this one is likely the most controversial…that Rutgers should merge with the University of Medicine and Dentistry and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and School of Public Health. The Governor has indicated that he is not minded to accept that recommendation on its own, and that he believes that it needs further study. I will talk about that in a moment. 

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS: UMDNJ & MEDICAL EDUCATION

The issue of UMDNJ and medical education in New Jersey is an issue that has gone around the carousel for longer than I have been here by a long shot. The report sums it up, "New Jersey needs a clear vision of medical training and research for the 21^st century." I think you will see some action on this but that action is unlikely to take place until an advisory committee has been convened to do some of this work. The first recommendation regarding UMDNJ is that it should be fundamentally transformed. It has a budget of about $1.5 billion and that is a lot of public money to be allocating to a system that appears to not be working particularly well. 

 

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS: WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The report notes, "Job projections indicate New Jersey must increase the number of its college–educated workers." Well, indeed it must. The Georgetown Center for Labor and Education indicates that New Jersey, in much the same situation as other states, will have to dramatically increase the number of college educated graduates if it is going to be able to ramp up its economy the way it needs to-even to replace those that will be leaving in the next 20 years.

According to the report there are two significant obstacles that stand in the way of accomplishing this: (1) too many New Jersey high school graduates are not prepared for college level work, and (2) the significant number of well-prepared high school graduates that leave New Jersey to attend college. We have about 28,000 high school graduates who leave the state very year. We have the lowest capacity virtually of any of the states. In North Dakota, there are 70 places for every 100 high school graduates (there are 70 colleges and universities in the state). In New Jersey, there are 15. I am not saying you can draw a perfect parallel; the point though is that that proportion is vastly out of line. It is important for us to understand the underpinnings of this recommendation because it may have implications for the way in which funding increases might be granted and they might run counter to what it is we are trying to do at Ramapo. As for those students that are not prepared for college level work, we have to remediate significant numbers of students who come through our doors in math and reading in particular.

The report has five major recommendations under Workforce and Economic Development. First, the report says the state should develop a comprehensive longitudinal data system to track indicators of college readiness. Fair enough.

Second, the report calls for improvement of  K-12 alignment. Fair enough.

Here is the recommendation that might be a sleeping giant for us…the report recommends increasing capacity at state colleges and universities. If the state says that it is going to put more money into higher education but we are only going to give it to those who take on more students, then we will have a fork in the road and we will not be able to do what Yogi Berra said when you encounter one, "Take it." We will actually have to choose. Right now our position is that we are not going to expand our undergraduate enrollment, we have basically peaked. We think we are the right size now. We are though going to increase our graduate enrollment. If the state came along and offered very significant financial inducements to us, we might have to rethink that. We might have no choice. Those mandates might be very pointed indeed. There is no indication that they will be however.

Fourth, the report calls for increasing out of state enrollments. I kind of like that recommendation because I think it enriches collegiate life. I don't think it is a good thing that the students who come here find that 90% of their colleagues also come from the state of New Jersey. That is nothing against New Jersey, I would say the same no matter where I was.

The fifth recommendation is to remove roadblocks to public/private partnerships. Of course we want to do that and our solar panel project is a good example of it.

So, the Governor said publicly that he supports the report's recommendations but that it will take some time to realize them. He said that at the meeting that I attended a week ago Monday. Given the state of New Jersey's finances, that is a reasonable statement. If he said he was going to immediately go out and do everything in the report we would have to question how in the world he could do that.  However, there has to be some tangible expression of support in the Governor's February 22 budget address. If there is no direct reference to public higher education and supporting it in some tangible way then I think we have the right to be concerned.

RAMAPO ACHIEVEMENTS

Alright, let's move to some very good things occurring at Ramapo.

At the individual school level, we have to count the Anisfield School of Business' AACSB accreditation which was earned in December, putting us in the top 5% of business schools worldwide.

At the individual level, I see Professor Eric Karlin in the audience. Sometimes things happen serendipitously. When Eric was President of the Faculty Assembly, he would come and see me every couple of weeks and we would talk about what was happening and I would always ask him about his research. Eric, I think I was pretty good at feigning interest in it at the beginning, until you actually got me to the point where I actually understood something about it. To those of you that don't know, Eric is a specialist in mosses. With a colleague from Duke University, he has been researching mosses on the west coast of the United States, New Zealand, and Europe. One of the things that he discovered was that these mosses were genetically identical, which is exactly counter to what one would think. If a plant is so hearty that it could propagate you would have thought that there would be some biodiversity but it all goes back to one plant. So having published that, the BBC and its science page picked that up as its item of the day and the floodgates opened as Eric was soon swamped with inquiries from across the globe. I share this achievement because this is not an isolated example. We have many colleagues who labor away in their areas of expertise, involve students in their research, and who achieve this sort of renown in their own circles. I think it speaks extraordinarily well of us.

Also at the school level, we have a major construction project due to begin this summer and that is the renovation of G-Wing and the 25,000 square foot build out from that, which will have a particular effect on the schools of Theoretical and Applied Sciences and Social Science and Human Services.  We believe that project will be completed by the year 2014 but it might take a little longer than that.

At the college-wide level, I would like to share this graph of graduation rates with you:

 

I regularly say that our major academic competition in the state is The College of New Jersey and here I think that is born out. These graduation rates, published by the Star Ledger, show as you might expect that Princeton University has had the most success in graduating students within four to six years, followed by Drew University, then the College of New Jersey, and then us! This is a very significant accomplishment and I don't want it to be lost on us. I'd also like to point out that in 2004, 36% of our students were graduating in four to six years and by 2008, that number increased to 53%. If you look at Princeton's rates, it went from 86% to 90%. I joke that people at Princeton and Harvard don't like output measures as much as we do, because what are you going to say if you're at Princeton or Harvard-"We took a silk purse, and four years later, it is still a silk purse." Ramapo actually made tremendous strides relative to the rest of the institutions and I think it is a lot to be proud of.

I would also like to share the data from the National Association of College and University Business Officers on the growth of our endowment.

 

Here you see that Ramapo's endowment is the top among the New Jersey institutions with a 29.5% increase in value from 2009 to 2010. Obviously that is significant; I don't want you to get overwhelmed by the actual number. One would of course prefer to be Princeton University with its $14 billion endowment but, let it be noted that in 2006 our endowment principle was about $3.3 million. By 2010, it had grown to over $8 million. That growth is significant and valuable. Many of you in this room have enjoyed the sorts of small rewards the Foundation is able to provide and the growth in the endowment is significant as an indicator of the health of the Ramapo College and of the willingness of our supporters to continue supporting us.  I should also mention, since I am used to comparing us to The College of New Jersey, that their endowment is only $14 million and they were created in 1855.

THE NATIONAL & STATE PERSPECTIVE ON HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING

Now, let's move to perhaps my favorite graphic of the bunch and look at changes to state appropriations in higher education from 2005-06 to 2007-08.

 

The purple states here received more than a 15% increase in appropriations during that period. The orange states received 0-14.9%, and there is one state which is in the negative…New Jersey. I show this as often as I can, it is deplorable. Another way of looking at it is that the national average during this time was 16.1% and New Jersey actually declined. This information is taken right from the report of the Higher Education Task Force. The Task Force did not shy away from this data.

The Task Force also did not shy away from focusing on debt to operating revenue. If you're ever feeling inferior, in this category, we are number one. Our debt to operating revenues is at the top of the pack.

 

Notice that others have high ratios as well. Some do not. If you look at the Ohio systems, the Michigan systems, or the national median, you have to conclude that obviously in most of these systems there is support for capital funding. Well, there hasn't been support for capital funding in New Jersey so we have done it on our own hook. But again, I emphasize to you that the majority of our debt is supported by a direct revenue stream, actually more than 70% of it, because we used the money to build residences and the residences of course have a stream of revenue. That is why when you look at the credit ratings, our rating is the same virtually as everyone else's.

 

The A1 rating that Montclair, NJIT and William Paterson have is slightly higher than ours, but our A2 rating ranks comparably to the College of New Jersey, Richard Stockton College, and others. Why would that be? Because we made the case to Moody's and Standard & Poor's that our debt is supported by a direct stream of revenue and furthermore the debt we are intending to accrue in order to expand G-Wing was going to be supported by a direct revenue stream itself. That stream is the capital improvement fee.

THE BUDGET GAP

Let me know talk a little bit about the budget gap. Many of you will ask why are we going out and borrowing another $54 million when we have to fill a gap of $6 million in our operating budget. Well the answer to that is that we have been filling gaps in the operating budget for years, that reality cannot stop us from progressing as a college. And, the renovations to G wing, particularly, to our labs, are so badly needed that we really have no choice.

More to the point, because we were able to satisfy the bond rating agencies in the past with evidence of a dedicated stream of revenue, we in effect created that again. Two years ago we instituted a capital improvement fee. Some other colleges had it, Montclair and William Paterson for example. Our initial plan which had been sanctioned by the departments of government was to impose a $1000 fee for each full time student. We ended up negotiating doing that over three years. The fact is that by Board policy, the proceeds of the Capital Improvement Fee may be used only for capital purposes. Once fully implemented, which will be the case this coming year, it will generate about $5 million in revenue.

The total cost of the new borrowing of $54 million, principle and interest, given the fact that the Foundation is helping defray some of the interest costs and taking into account what we have been able to set off from our reserves, will be about $4.5 million annually. So, we have a buffer. We will also have about $500,000 per year that can be used for deferred maintenance purposes. Let me be clear, we will have enough money from the dedicated capital improvement fee to be able to point to it and say, "We are not going to make any incursions on the operating budget in order to fund this debt."

Now, how are we going to bridge the budget gap? A $6 million budget gap is relatively easy to create when you don't get any central funding for salary increases and those have come home to roost. We also have significant inflation costs in things like utilities.  No fair for guessing correctly on what has happened to our snow removal budget this year for example. We have about $4,000 left in a $600,000 snow removal budget which is enough to buy shovels for everyone in this room.

So, what are we going to do? We will increase revenues. There will be an increase in tuition and fees-- we don't know precisely what that will be yet. There will also be an increase in residence costs. We are looking at increasing food costs in our cafeterias; they are relatively low in comparison to our competitors. I don't like doing it, but we have to be realistic.

We also have to cut expenses. We will not have as much money to dedicate to strategic planning as we have in the past. And a part of cutting expenses, but, a part only, is a reduction in salary costs. I don't want anybody to be under the illusion that somehow we think that $6 million is going to be made up by cutting salaries or that even a majority of that would be made up by cutting salaries. It will not. And you will recall in the documents that have been sent electronically, the four ways we propose to potentially reduce salary costs: first via attrition, second via the possibility of voluntary contributions by way of furlough, third via the reduction in employment contract periods from 12 months to 10 months, and fourth, and only as a last resort, via layoffs. There are too many uncontrolled variables right now for me to know how likely a prospect that is. We don't yet know what our appropriations will be from the state. We don't yet know if the state will cut us indirectly. We don't yet know what sort of tuition and fee increase we could need to offset that and whether the Board of Trustees would approve it. We are meeting with the Board on February 16 to discuss that.

It does lead us to the question, "Why continue hiring and why continue with renovations to G-Wing?" It is because we must do so to maintain our vitality as a liberal arts college.

CONCLUSION

I want to conclude by just reflecting a bit on that. Any of you who read Newsweek magazine might have seen in April of last year the title "The Death of the Liberal Arts." Now, by the time a popular magazine gets to a title like that, usually the tide has reversed, and I mean that quite seriously. There are already signs of the tide of public opinion reversing. But, there are some harrowing statistics as well. A professor at Michigan State for example reported that in 1990 there were 212 liberal arts colleges in the country, and by the year 2000 that number had dropped to 136.  I don't know whether that is true, I assume it is. I have no reason to quibble with it. It is a bit harrowing to think of but I am not worried about it and I will tell you why.

First, I am not worried about it because the danger of abandoning the liberal arts remains the same. If you place your emphasis on vocational and career training, then that deemphasizes critical thinking skills, the ability to write, analyze and synthesize information-all the things that make you potentially nimble in an economic crisis. Second, post-secondary education is definitely overwhelmingly occupational. It is occupational at Ramapo College too. That is different from being vocational. Occupational means that the liberal arts trains students appropriately for graduate and professional degrees which are indeed oriented for preparing them for careers. There is nothing wrong with students coming to Ramapo College and saying, "I want you to show me what occupation I am likely be able to enter." Similarly, our students should be asking, "What is it about the education and training I am going to receive here that is going to enable me to participate in the workforce and society?"  We answer these questions regularly, recognizing that much, if not most of the vocational training, is actually provided by the business entity itself.  I will give you some examples of that…the CEO of JP Morgan Chase has an undergraduate degree in psychology, the CEO of IBM has an undergraduate degree in history, and Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State, has an undergraduate degree in political science.

It is often the case that people who study in the liberal arts move on to quintessentially vocational or skills-applied careers and indeed we should celebrate that.  Anthony Carnevale recently wrote, focusing on the complaint you hear that so many taxi drivers have PhD's, "Many workers are just passing through low-wage, low-skill jobs as part of their natural career progression and are not indicative of career long effects of college degrees…There are many more brain surgeons who used to be cashiers than there are cashiers who used to be brain surgeons." I'll accept that assertion on faith, I really don't need an empirical foundation on that.

I'd like to share with you a quote from NJBIZ magazine. When NJBIZ expresses these sentiments you know that the tide has turned against this view that somehow a liberal arts education is dispensable. The magazine noted, "We cannot grow new programs at the expense of a broad liberal arts education. History, economics and philosophy prepare our students for a range of professional and personal challenges, not least in developing vital skills in oral and written communication and information analysis, organizational and research abilities, and information and project management skills. This more traditional model remains essential for helping students achieve their full potential in education beyond a four year degree: in professional programs, law, business, and the medical field-- and in graduate programs that lead to a range of careers."

To conclude with an excerpt of an interview with Richard Arum, the author of Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, the book that is all the rage in the talk circuit now, Arum said, "The environment that kids face has changed. They're going into an increasingly globalized economic system. Even if you have subject-specific skills, the labor market is so uncertain that people are increasingly moving from job to job as adults. You need to have developed these higher order skills: critical thinking, complex reasoning and the ability to communicate in writing. If you haven't, you're going to be at a lifelong disadvantage in the economy. Equally or more troubling, if you're graduating large numbers of kids that have not developed critical thinking and complex reasoning, how are they going to function as democratic citizens?"

I think the state of our college is sound and I would be happy to take any questions.

The new year has arrived and there is already much to celebrate at Ramapo College of New Jersey.  While we take the time to reflect on recent achievements, we must also consider our future.  In light of a very real budget shortfall, we are all challenged to make planning and budgeting decisions that maintain quality and improve efficiency.

Ramapo’s new Global Financial Markets Trading Lab in the Anisfield School of Business was completed in the fall and Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winner and New York Times columnist, joined us for the official opening of the Lab.  The Anisfield School of Business has more cause for celebration with last month’s initial accreditation of its business degree program by AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

AACSB International is the largest global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.  Less than 5% of business schools worldwide have earned this distinguished hallmark of excellence in management education.  This prestigious recognition confirms the Anisfield School of Business’ achievement of a wide range of high quality standards relating to curriculum, faculty resources, admissions, degree requirements, facilities and financial resources.

Ramapo College’s reputation among its constituencies continues to strengthen.  For the sixth consecutive year, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine ranked Ramapo College among the “100 Best Values in Public Colleges.”  Ramapo is one of only three New Jersey public institutions of higher education included in the 2011 list.

Kiplinger's studied more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities, using measures including the percentage of freshmen scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT, student/faculty ratio, admission and graduation rates.  Ramapo ranked #49 for in-state tuition and fees and #24 for value in out-of-state tuition.  This recognition follows the U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” 2011 rankings last year that advanced Ramapo to #4 among the 49 public colleges and universities in the category Regional Universities, North.

The Star Ledger recently reported that Ramapo has the fourth best graduation rate of the state’s 27 colleges and universities, exceeded only by Princeton University, Drew University, and The College of New Jersey (see the PowerPoint presentation below). Our four-year graduation rate increased from 36 percent to 53 percent according to IPEDS data comparing rates in 2004 to 2008. This improvement is largely attributed to the diligence, initiative, and collaboration of our advisement personnel and faculty.

While buoyed by several of the recommendations in the Report of the Governor’s Taskforce on Higher Education (see the PowerPoint presentation below), specifically the call for greater financial support for the operating and capital budgets of state colleges and universities, Ramapo remains committed to thoughtful and efficient fiscal planning.  For example, Ramapo College and its Foundation again led all New Jersey public and private colleges and universities in growth in its endowment according to the rankings released this month by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Commonfund Institute.  Ramapo College experienced a one-year growth from gifts and returns on investments of 29.5% in its endowment.

It is expected that views of how to address the state and college budget shortfalls will vary considerably.  The Cabinet is committed to continued communication, consultation, and the avoidance of divisive rhetoric on this issue.  Decisions on the overall College budget are based on the principles and values reflected in our mission and our strategic plan and they are informed by the valuable assessment data provided by each unit.  We have a responsibility to protect the long term welfare of the College and those principles make it clear that across-the-board cuts are not supportive of preserving quality.  The new Essential Functions Database will help the College identify redundancies and gaps in the distribution of essential functions. It is unlikely that we will achieve our required budget reduction without making hard decisions.  Cabinet continues to seek and evaluate budget suggestions.  We will continue to consult with members of the College who choose to participate, while recognizing that such consultation need not result in consensus.

As always, we remain grateful for the support of our alumni, parents, board members as well as our faculty, students, and staff.

( link to Communication Meeting PPT of 2-3-11 )

2010 marked the third year that Ramapo College participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE was designed to assess the extent to which students are engaged in educationally purposeful activities that contribute to their learning and success during college. NSSE established five institutional benchmarks by which to measure engagement:

1. Level of Academic Challenge,
2. Active and Collaborative Learning,
3. Student Interaction with Faculty Members,
4. Enriching Educational Experiences, and
5. Supportive Campus Environment.

Not surprisingly, these five benchmarks align well with the goals outlined in Ramapo College’s Strategic Plan. We have used NSSE results (available on IR’s Web site) over the years to inform decisions on issues ranging from facility needs to grant applications. The Fall 2010 semester was no exception. The past four months have yielded great strides in our own attempts to foster engagement:

- To further Ramapo’s competitive edge for business undergraduates, and to enhance academic excellence by cultivating a high-quality, challenging and rigorous academic environment, the Anisfield School of Business sought and earned accreditation by the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

- To improve students' financial literacy and to bring a real world reality to the concepts taught in Finance, Accounting, and Economics, we opened the new Global Financial Markets Trading Laboratory.

- To provide faculty, staff and students with a place on campus for meditation, reflection, and celebration, we opened the doors to the Salameno Spiritual Center named in honor of Lawrence and Theresa Salameno, of Allendale.

- To enhance the College’s highly-acclaimed and expanding nursing programs, we accepted a $2 million gift from Bergen County philanthropists Myron "Mike" and Elaine Adler of Franklin Lakes for establishment of the Adler Center for Nursing Excellence.

- To provide the School of Theoretical and Applied Sciences and the School of Social Sciences and Human Services with facilities whose standards are commensurate with the excellence of their programs, the College launched a $54 million renovation to the College's G Wing.

- To provide technologically progressive learning opportunities to students, the College sought and received a $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for renovations to the Biology Research Suite.

- To create an intellectual and experiential understanding of civic engagement for Ramapo undergraduates, we joined the American Diplomacy Project. In November, Dr. Ellen Kaiden moderated the program, “Civic Engagement - Student Perspectives" in which four of our students, Sarah Cipolli, Brianna D'Amato, Laura Hahn, and Irene Zampetoulas, talked about their various experiences in civic engagement and urged students to become more active. Two months earlier, Ramapo hosted a Naturalization Ceremony as part of Constitution Day.
These activities are merely a snapshot of the broader range of activities and efforts Ramapo College is undergoing to fully engage our students. I have every expectation that this momentum will continue in the spring of 2011 and I turn to each of you in making that expectation a reality for which we can all be proud.

Peter P. Mercer
President

I hosted Communications meetings recently with administrative/support staff and the managerial/professional staff. The following is a recap of the salient issues addressed in those meetings.

As many of you know, Ramapo was reaccredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) this year. Our reaccreditation was an accomplishment, however, Ramapo is committed to improving its programs and services and in April 2012 we will submit a required monitoring report documenting our college-wide implementation of assessment measures.

David Scobey, a cultural historian at Bates College, wrote, “First, the current calls for assessment are part of a larger crisis of legitimacy in U.S. higher education…Yet (especially in a time of scarcity and crisis) it is a fair challenge to the academy that we be accountable for the vast resources and autonomy to which we lay claim—that we offer a compelling argument about our value to the larger society. Precisely because others have their own reductionist agendas of how to measure success in higher education, we need to offer our own vision of means and ends.”

I acknowledge that the terms “outcomes” and “assessment” are at times over- used and under-explained in the vernacular of higher education. However, they are the sine que non of Ramapo’s own means and ends and they are essential to our commitment to a culture of assessment and data driven decision making. Therefore, Cabinet has endorsed four institutional priorities for this year that align with the three goals of the Strategic Plan and are to be incorporated in to budgeting and planning decisions. Cabinet has also endorsed 7 Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) aimed at tracking our effectiveness in real time. The priorities and KPI’s are available for your review in the documents below.

 Four Institutional Priorities  (PDF)
 Key Performance Indications  (PDF)

Unlike our sister institutions, Ramapo has adopted a strategic enrollment plan that aims to stabilize our enrollment at incoming classes of approximately 900. We have made this decision because college facilities are already at capacity, the populations of high school graduates in our recruiting areas are expected to continue declining, and we are better able to enhance the academic quality of our students and programs by becoming more selective.

Ramapo’s capital needs are not unusual, but our approach to addressing them is. We have responded creatively to the desperate need to upgrade our facilities. The more than $8 million capital cost of replacing the roof on our main academic building will be borne by a private company which, in return, will have the right to erect solar panels on campus and sell the electricity back to the college at competitive rates. The academic wing housing our Schools of Theoretical and Applied Sciences and Social Sciences and Human Services has long been in need of refurbishment. To cover the cost of servicing the additional debt needed to mount this project in the absence of any state funding, the College has had to initiate a capital improvement fee, the total annual proceeds, just over $5 million, will be used to cover the debt service payments for this project (see below). Under the leadership of Dick Roberts, the Cabinet recently met with Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s bond rating agencies to evaluate the College’s financial condition as well as the structure of the bond and I expect our bond rating to remain stable.

 High Priority Capital Needs  (PDF)

Over the past several months I have joined my colleagues across the state in advocating for substantive change from the state to higher education in New Jersey. The report of New Jersey’s Higher Education Task Force, led by former governor Tom Kean, is expected December 1. While I understand the fiscal challenges presented to the State, I continue to request the development and implementation of a funding formula to allocate appropriations rationally and equitably across the sector. Historically, Ramapo has disproportionately received one of the lowest per capita levels of funding and currently the College is the second lowest per capita funded senior public institution in the state. Our FY12 budget request seeks $5,245,000 for this purpose and will be submitted to the state on November 12. 

Ramapo also requests $6,884,000 in a cumulative restoration of the state negotiated salary increases for the current contract for the period FY2008-FY2011.  This amount represents the actual costs to the college of implementing salary increases for all  personnel in bargaining units. I have encouraged the legislature to act favorably upon the governor’s tool kit item permitting the state colleges and universities to negotiate their own collective bargaining agreements (much like the 19 community colleges, Rutgers University and UMDNJ). I believe that we, the unions and the administration, can do a better job than the state in developing collective bargaining agreements that address our mutual interests.

I also continue to appeal to the Governor’s office to refrain from imposing a cap on tuition and fees. In accord with New Jersey statute 18A:64-13.1, it is properly the responsibility of Boards of Trustees to determine the appropriate level for tuition and fees at New Jersey’s public colleges. They, and not state officials, are in the best position to exercise such  judgment.

The year ahead will not be without challenge. However, Ramapo is well-prepared to embrace those challenges. We have advocated tirelessly for fair representation in state operations. We have committed to comprehensive yet nimble budgeting, planning and assessment processes. And, we are defining our own “vision of means and ends” that I am confident will provide us with the resources and data to make informed decisions for Ramapo’s present and future as New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College.

Peter P. Mercer
President

 

On September 29^th, I delivered my eleventh State of the College address.

In searching for a title for the address, I recalled a Clint Eastwood film from the 1960’s, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I’m pleased to provide you with a briefing of my address here. For detail on some of these items, please refer to the full text of my address provided below.

The Good

Our people. Ramapo’s faculty, staff, students, trustees, foundation members and alumni are doing great work and our incoming freshman class is the second most highly qualified academically in Ramapo’s 41 year history.

Our Facilities. Our grounds, buildings and mountain view are impressive. On Monday, October 4^th, the Board of Trustees approved a plan to refurbish the four floors of G-wing and to construct a 25,000 square foot addition. Once completed, about two years from now, the schools of Theoretical and Applied Sciences and Social Science and Human Services will have facilities whose standards are commensurate with the excellence of their programs.

Our Programs. To use the example of our newest program– the Master’s Program in Sustainability Studies – even though it was almost June before it was approved by the Commission on Higher Education, we attracted 18 registrants, well above the number we needed to break even. At the national level, of the 49 public colleges and universities in the category Regional Universities, North, Ramapo advanced for the fourth year in the U.S. News & World Report ranks to number 4.

Our Foundation Board. The Foundation Board is extraordinarily active in its support of our mission. I am pleased to share that the College’s comprehensive campaign, currently in its quiet phase, is already at 60% of its fund raising goal.

Our Relations with Business and Government. Ramapo enjoys many partnerships with regional businesses and this fall marks the start of my service on the Board of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce. Also, I am in my third year of chairing the President’s Council of the NJ Association of State Colleges and Universities and I bring to the College and my peers enthusiasm for Governor Christie’s vision for higher education in New Jersey. The Governor recently stated “New Jersey's institutions of higher learning are critically important to the economic growth of our state and must be afforded the necessary tools to stay competitive.” The Higher Education Task force, led by former Governor Tom Kean, has been charged by Governor Christie to conduct a critical review and assessment that will grow infrastructure, increase accessibility and promote excellence in our institutions. I have met with Governor Kean and have had the opportunity to contribute to this dialogue that I hope will result in changes in the best interest of our students and our fine institutions.

President Peter P. Mercer State of the College Address

Accreditation. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaccredited Ramapo this year. As a regional accreditor, MSCHE examines the entire institution, including its educational programs and curricula, student achievement, faculty, facilities and equipment, student support services, recruiting and admissions practices, the institution’s financial condition, administrative effectiveness, governing boards, and several other aspects of the institution.

Development under the Strategic Plan. This month, the Cabinet and I will review the Institutional Effectiveness Committee’s (IEC) recommendations for allocation of the Strategic Priorities Incentive Fund (SPIF). I thank the IEC members for their work not only in evaluating the requests, but in reviewing anecdotal information that informed their recommendations.

The Bad

The Financial Climate. The state of NJ is facing a several billion dollar deficit and even as we celebrate our successes, we are facing many challenges. Despite Ramapo’s cost containment measures, we continue to deliver high quality programs and services and we look forward to being part of the solution to the state’s fiscal problems.

Accreditation. Our reaccreditation was an accomplishment, however, Ramapo is committed to improving its programs and services and we will submit a required monitoring report in April 2012 to MSCHE. The report will document our college-wide implementation of assessment measures.

The Ugly

Destructive Forms of Student Engagement. It goes without saying that the health, well being, and safety of students is critical to their success. That is why we take the issues of alcohol abuse, unwanted guests, and public safety so seriously. In recent weeks the actions of a few have eroded the quality of the on-campus environment. In response, some key changes are needed. The Guest Policy, and the Alcohol and Other Drug Policy have been revised to reflect more stringent sanctions and expectations for student conduct. The alcoholic energy drink, Four Loko, and other drinks of its kind have been banned from campus. These revisions are in addition to policies and procedures that already exist, as outlined in the College Code of Conduct and the Guide to Community Living. 

Few classes on Wednesdays and Fridays. In light of recent incidents on campus, the question arises of why our students have so much time on their hands. Exploration into class scheduling, academic rigor, and activity programming on campus will ensue this year.

Ultimately, Ramapo College is at a turning point similar to the one that occurred when it transformed from a commuter to a residential campus. In my view, that transition made Ramapo more truly a College. However, I believe there is another transition to be made, having to do with the culture of Ramapo.

The word “culture’ is rooted in the Latin ‘colere” which means, “to cultivate”. What are the norms that we wish to cultivate?  Are they the norms, behaviors and activities of an academically serious and challenging college with high aspirations or are we resigned to a mediocre slouching toward the corn-fed life of the non-reflective? That is a question that I will have more to say about throughout the semester.

Peter P. Mercer
President

On September 1, Ramapo College welcomed nearly 6,000 students to our campus. New and returning students alike arrived eager to pursue their interdisciplinary education and actively contribute to our diverse center of higher learning.

The Class of 2014 has 905 members hailing from 20 of the 21 counties in New Jersey as well as from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Georgia, Pennsylvania and several foreign countries. Chosen from more than 5,161 applicants, they typically stood in the top 20% of their high school senior class with a mean combined (Verbal and Mathematical) SAT score of 1165.We are pleased to welcome these students to our classrooms and we look forward to fostering their academic, personal and professional growth as they continue the legacy of excellence established by those students that have come before them.

President Peter P. Mercer greets members of the class of 2014.

A Ramapo education continues to be in great demand, throughout New Jersey and beyond - a testament to the four decades of educational excellence fostered at Ramapo by scores of dedicated professors, administrators and support staff. In the 2011 edition of "America's Best Colleges," released by U.S. News & World Report, Ramapo College advanced in the rankings for the fourth year in a row in the Best Regional Universities, North category. Of the 49 public colleges and universities ranked, Ramapo College advanced to number 4. Ranking criteria continued to distinguish Ramapo as an institution dedicated to small class size, a strong first-year retention rate and loyal support from alumni.

At the national level, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, recently announced over $265 million in grants to strengthen teaching and learning in the arts, foreign languages, history, civics, and financial literacy. “There is no disagreement that math, reading, and writing are vital core components of a good education in today’s knowledge economy. But so is the study of science, history, foreign languages, civics, and the arts,” Duncan said. As New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College, we are poised to embrace these federal initiatives and to foster their success by continuing our commitment to providing a high quality education across programs whose curricula are founded on a commitment to the liberal arts.

For more information on Ramapo’s recent accomplishments and the year ahead, please join me for the State of the College address on September 29 at 1:00 PM in the Sharp Center.

I am pleased to welcome you to the 2010-11 academic year at Ramapo and I look forward to sharing another wonderful year with all of you.

Peter P. Mercer
President

On Wednesday, September 1, I had the pleasure of being the keynote speaker at the Ramsey School District's In-Service Day.

As many of you already know, through the College's Teachers Education Program, our faculty, staff and students have participated in a number of collaborative endeavors with the district.

I received the invitation from School Superintendent Dr. Roy Montesano via Richard Russo, coordinator of our Center for Learning and Instruction. My charge was to help teachers from across the district better prepare their students for college.

Dr. Peter Mercer with Rosemary Raciti, fifth grade teacher and wife of the late Dr. Sebastian Raciti, former Dean of Business at Ramapo.

Superintendent Montesano began the daylong program by reinvigorating the district's Critical Thinking Skills Committee's charge to prepare Ramsey students to excel in a global economy.

I then explained that at Ramapo College, we want students who are intellectually nimble and that the goal of a strong liberal arts curriculum is to effectively prepare students to succeed academically and professionally by honing their critical thinking and problem solving skills.  

I also shared with them that in reality, no education is more practical than a liberal education, meaning simply, education that develops or liberates the powers of the intellect. The ability to reason, to analyze problems imaginatively and to communicate intelligently is indispensable in a world where adaptation to constant change is necessary. The economic evidence is also irrefutable: those whose education has provided them with the ability to think critically and communicate effectively will earn the highest incomes.

I was proud to share the College's four-decade history of developing critical thinking skills in its students by fostering academic excellence through interdisciplinary curriculum, international education, intercultural understanding and experiential learning opportunities.

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is my pleasure to share with you information about Ramapo College of New Jersey’s new Master of Arts in Sustainability Studies (MASS) program. The State Commission of Higher Education recently approved our interdisciplinary two-year program designed to train students in the art and science of sustainability practice.

Our students will hone their skills in communications, problem analysis and adaptive management in this important emerging field; our graduates will become the leaders of tomorrow in education, science and public policy.

It is fitting that Ramapo College, which has longstanding undergraduate programs in Environmental Sciences and Environmental Studies, will be the first institution of higher learning in the State, and the region, to offer such a graduate program.

In this budget season, as we all seek to improve our academic offerings within the constraints of the State’s fiscal crisis, the MASS program meets an important emerging societal need yet does not diminish our undergraduate offerings – instead, it builds upon our existing strengths.

The two-year program is based exclusively on evening classes, which will be held in the College’s new Sharp Sustainability Education Center. The Center provides a “smart” classroom space and supports environmental literacy across disciplines while serving as the campus hub for advanced study on sustainability issues. We are also exploring options to create a program that will allow our undergraduates to take masters-level courses in their senior year and secure a master’s degree in five years.

As humans have come to dominate almost all aspects of the biogeochemical processes that underwrite our planet, so as educators we are committed to preparing all students of sustainability to take the lead in understanding and applying current knowledge and developing a practice of sustainability that is relevant to a range of contexts, from the individual, local, and regional levels, to the global – and always for the good of the ecosphere.

The Bergen Record recently published a story on the subject, Studying for a degree in sustainability (pdf).

No doubt this new program will contribute to the College’s reputation for academic excellence. We continue to offer a stellar education that emphasizes critical thinking and lifelong learning. Our first-year retention rate of 87% continues to outpace the national average of 66%, and our six-year graduation rate of 70.5% contrasts with the national figure of 53%.

The hard work by our faculty, staff and students continues to attract national recognition. Recently Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine listed Ramapo College of New Jersey as among the “100 Best Values in Public Colleges for 2009” for the fifth consecutive year; the College advanced from #66 to #49 and was one of only three New Jersey colleges listed. Similarly, U.S. News & World Report ranked Ramapo College #5 in the Top Public Universities-Master's category. The Princeton Review has declared Ramapo College one of the nation's best value undergraduate institutions and the John Templeton Foundation has named Ramapo College of New Jersey to its Honor Roll for Character-Building Colleges.

We have much to be proud of. I thank everyone whose efforts made this new program possible, and the entire community for their continued support and dedication to our mission.

Yours sincerely,

Peter P. Mercer, Ph.D.
President

President Mercer

We have had a good Fall semester at Ramapo College.

Let me begin with the students. We had the largest class ever, with 939 full- time first-time freshmen. They hail from every county in the state of New Jersey, from eight other states and from six different countries. Their average SAT scores are approximately 1,160 and they stand roughly in the top 23% of their class.

We have also been fortunate in our faculty hires. In the past year we have hired 24 new faculty members, a net increase of five from the preceding year. These individuals have marvelous academic backgrounds, very well developed research agendas and tremendous degrees from some of the best universities around the world.

We also, for the first time this year, announced Staff Recognition Awards to thank our staff members, without whom the College could not function.

A College alumnus, A. J. Sabath, was recently selected as our new Chairman of the Board of Trustees. A 1993 graduate in social work, he has had a distinguished career in public service in New Jersey. Chairman Sabath is a former Commissioner of Labor and former Chief of Staff to Senator Richard Cody.  I very much look forward to working with him. Our outgoing chair, the Rev. Dr. Vernon C. Walton, will continue to serve on the Board’s Executive Committee, along with Bergen County Counsel Ester Suarez who is our Vice Chair and Sharon McGahee, Assistant Chief in the Office of the New Jersey Solicitor at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Our new Trading Simulation Room in the Anisfield School of Business is complete and will host classes in the Spring. It will provide our students the opportunity to engage in stock trading exercises and analytics that they would not otherwise be able to do in real-time. It was provided as a part of the $6 million dollar gift by Richard and Millicent Anisfield after whom the school of business is named.

If you take a walk around campus, you will also see the Salameno Spiritual Center is nearing completion; we will hold a ribbon-cutting in the Spring. On the other side of campus, the Sharp Sustainability Education Center is also almost completed. This wonderful facility is already drawing praise from groups who want to take advantage of its demonstration classroom space. It will also serve as headquarters for the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability. Within a year we believe we will offer the first master’s degree in sustainability studies in New Jersey and hope to have our first class entering in the coming academic year.

September 23, 2009

The turning leaves around campus do more than contribute to the natural beauty of Ramapo College; they also mark the beginning of the fall semester and the arrival of another cohort of Ramapo students. In this our 40th year, we welcomed the largest freshman class in our history to campus and, in keeping with College tradition, I greeted each of them as they passed through our iconic Arch following First Year Student Assembly.
 
The 939 members of the class of 2013 hail from every county in New Jersey as well as from Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Virginia, Arizona and six foreign countries. They were chosen from more than 5,112 applicants and comprise the top 23% of their high school senior class with a mean combined (Verbal and Mathematical) SAT score of 1,156.
 
A Ramapo education is in great demand, throughout New Jersey and beyond -  a testament to the four decades of educational excellence fostered at Ramapo by scores of dedicated professors, administrators and support staff. This year’s increase of 20 points in the mean SAT  scores of our applicants is a solid indicator that we are recognized as valuing academic excellence and that there is real perceived value not only in a public Liberal Arts Education, but specifically in a Ramapo College education. Our steady climb in the U.S. News and World Report rankings continues as we advanced two positions in the 2010 edition.
 
I look forward to sharing another wonderful year with all of you.

Peter P. Mercer Ph.D
President

President's September 23, 2009 State of the College Address

Colleagues,

The Board of Trustees will meet on August 7 to discuss the recently approved capital improvement fee.

At the June 29 meeting the Board approved a Fiscal Year 2010 increase of 3% in tuition and tuition related fees, an average 4% increase in room and board and a $500 per semester Capital Improvement Fee. The dedicated capital fee is to be used exclusively for capital purposes beginning with deferred maintenance projects such as the Academic Complex roof, the Student Center HVAC system and updating of our science labs. Similar fees are assessed by our sister colleges across New Jersey.

As you know, we have worked in recent years to reduce expenditures while continuing to provide the high quality education for which Ramapo is known. This year, we identified an additional $1.7 million in cuts that include such areas as travel, cleaning, athletics and technology.  This brings our total to $7.3 million in reductions over the past five years.

The decision to raise tuition and fees was not taken lightly and, from the time of the first College open forum on the budget in early February, we worked hard to ensure a transparent, collaborative budget process.

Our situation has been made more challenging by the budget constraints facing the State of New Jersey. Ramapo has not received any capital funding from the State since 1988 and we receive about $750 less per capita in state appropriations than the average state institution.

But we believe that Governor Corzine’s recent signing of economic recovery legislation that allows state colleges and universities to pursue public/private partnerships regarding capital projects may be promising for Ramapo. We are currently reviewing the legislation and we will keep you apprised of the possibilities this new opportunity affords us. In light of this development, I have asked the Board of Trustees to amend the budget by reducing the Capital Improvement Fee by two-thirds so that our total increase in all tuition and fees is held at 6% rather than 12%.

We welcome this opportunity to lessen the financial burden on our students and their families.

Thank you for your support.

Peter P. Mercer Ph.D
President

Class of 2009 - you are about to close one chapter of your life while simultaneously opening another.  But before you close that chapter- let us think back almost four years ago.  All of us, including me, arrived at Ramapo to begin a journey that held out the prospect of change; the prospect that we, and Ramapo, would be different as a result of our time here.

And in your four years at Ramapo change has been omnipresent.  Physically you have seen the opening of the Anisfield School of Business, complemented by the announcement of the additional gift by Dick and Millicent Anisfield to finish the 5th floor, which will be completed this summer; you have witnessed the groundbreaking and near completion of the Sharp Sustainability Education Center and the Salameno Spiritual Center and most recently, the renaming of Oak and Maple Halls to honor our revered Student Affairs administrators, Pam Bischoff and Nancy Mackin on the occasion of their impending retirement. 

Politically, you have seen a change that many of your great grandparents, grandparents and even parents would never thought possible; the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. And individually, the change has been transformational because of what you have become during your tenure at Ramapo College.

Throughout your time at Ramapo you have acquired an education grounded in the liberal arts- the cornerstone upon which you will build your futures.  The ability to think critically and analytically, and to communicate clearly and concisely in solving complex, real world problems are skills that will distinguish a Ramapo class of 2009 graduate.  These are the skills that leaders possess and the skills that a more diverse and interdependent world will need.

And your class has demonstrated that leadership comes in various forms.  From continuing the traditions of Octoberfest to walking all night to raise funds to fight cancer to competing on our athletic fields, you have shown a camaraderie and spirit that is infectious.  For those who have excelled in the classroom, presented papers internationally, served the less fortunate, gained an international perspective or worked full-time to support themselves in order to reach today, we have seen a perseverance and commitment to success that is remarkable.

So, as you turn the Ramapo page and begin that next chapter, I thank you for what you have added to this College and for what you will continue to add as Ramapo College alumni and I offer you and your families my warmest congratulations.

Peter P. Mercer, May 15, 2009

On Thursday, March 26 student trustee Tom Ng and I were invited to testify before the Assembly Budget Committee's public hearing in Trenton.  Below, please find the remarks I delivered to Chair Greenwald, Vice-Chair Schaer and the rest of the Assembly Budget Committee on the impact of this year's proposed budget and the need for reinvestment in public higher education.

REMARKS TO THE ASSEMBLY BUDGET COMMITTEE

March 26, 2009

Dr. Peter P. Mercer, President

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Chair Greenwald and Vice-Chair Schaer and members of the Assembly Budget Committee, good morning and thank you for granting me this opportunity to address you on the Fiscal Year 2010 State Budget.

 I am  now in my fourth year as President of Ramapo College of New Jersey, and I am accompanied this morning by Ramapo’s student trustee Thomas Ng who will be addressing you shortly. Tom grew up in Oradell, is a junior at Ramapo and, as a Presidential Scholar, carries a 3.98 GPA. He is also an accomplished musician, an Eagle Scout and a black belt in Tae Kwan Do. I try to take him with me wherever I go.

At the risk of embarrassing him, Thomas Ng, and the thousands of superb young men and women like him, is the reason I am here. As a college President, I am above all a futurist. Institutionally, this means that I need to be aware of diverse emerging global trends, potential political and social scenarios, market opportunities and risks to be managed. But at a personal level, I get to talk to students and their families and prospective students and their families about what their individual futures may hold. Make the right choices, I want to say to them, and the prospects should be virtually limitless.

Each of you as state legislators is a futurist too, although your canvas is much larger than mine. You must concern yourselves with the future of the State of New Jersey and, in fashioning the Fiscal Year 2010 State Budget, you have some very difficult decisions to make. The budget proposed by our Governor equally reflected some tough choices and it is gratifying to see that the cuts to higher education are less than they might have been. In these times that is the right emphasis – the right choice. And while I welcome any development that holds out the prospect of renewed emphasis on the goal of educating New Jersey students, I confess to a high degree of frustration.

I arrived at Ramapo College as President in 2005. My previous experience at a large Canadian research university included six years as Dean of a Law School and eight years concurrently as General Counsel and as Vice-President Administration and Finance. I am used to the ups and downs of public funding but, I have to tell you, since I arrived in New Jersey it has been mostly ebb and little flow.

I don’t intend to whine about this – I was hired to manage and I will manage the 5% cut proposed for public higher education in 2010. But I was also hired to look to the future and if one accepts that past behavior is the best predictor of the future then that future has a large question mark hanging over it.

 I grew up in fishing villages on the east coast of Canada and my family eventually moved a couple of thousand miles to be near a good university in Ontario. My parents, who were not people of means, did that because they wanted what was best for me and my brothers. I see that impulse as quintessentially American: the idea that individuals can, if given the opportunity, improve their lives and the lives of their families and fellow citizens through education. There is concrete evidence that this promise is increasingly unfulfilled. If one looks at the percentage of the population age 35 to 64 with a college degree, the United States ranks second. However, if one focuses on those whose ages are between 25 and 34, the United States falls to 10^th. This does not happen by accident; it happens as a result of public policy choices.

Let me give you one example. The Governor’s proposed budget would set state appropriation per student at Ramapo College at an amount that is 44% lower than it was in 2000. Together with the other state colleges we have significantly increased enrolment and we have also significantly improved our retention and graduation rates. However there is a limit to what we can do and to what our students and their families can do. Many of my students need to work during the school year to help pay their tuition and fees. That makes it a lot harder for them to graduate in four years.

At Ramapo College, which was founded only 39 years ago, the decline in operating support has happened over a period when we have made significant capital investment on our own and without state contribution. As you know, there has not been a bond issue in support of capital construction at New Jersey’s public colleges and universities since 1988. In response to overwhelming demand from New Jersey students and their families, Ramapo College has built dormitories and student facilities and transformed itself from a commuter campus to a residential one. In doing so, however, it has accumulated debt whose service cost consumes 13 percent of the operating budget.

We need basic capital improvements at Ramapo – a new roof on our main academic building and refurbishing of our science laboratories for example – and held out some hope that federal stabilization funds might be deployed for such purposes in the manner being discussed in other states, I do not hear similar discussions in New Jersey, which is very much to be lamented.

Higher education – especially public higher education – is vital to the economic and social well being of any modern society. It is particularly important in difficult times to stay focused on that overriding reality. Thank you for listening to me and for your own commitment to advancing the interests of the state of New Jersey and its people.

 

With the Governor’s recent budget announcement, the work of the “Nine Strong for a Stronger New Jersey” campaign is integral to delivering a clear message about the importance of public higher education in New Jersey.  Recently, I sat down with Ramapo Magazine to talk more about the campaign and the future of public higher education in New Jersey.

(This can also be found in the Ramapo College of New Jersey Winter 2009 magazine)

Q:  What is the Nine Strong for a Stronger New Jersey campaign all about and who is its audience?

The Nine Strong piece of the campaign refers to the nine State colleges and universities in New Jersey including Ramapo College, Rowan University, The College of New Jersey, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Kean University, Richard Stockton College, William Paterson University and Thomas Edison State College.  Together we account for nearly half of all the students who attend four year institutions of higher education in the State and award 45% of all bachelor’s degrees in the State.

The purpose of the Nine Strong campaign is to advance public higher education as a kitchen table topic around the State.  We need parents, students, alumni and business leaders alike to take a harder look at the prospects for  New Jersey’s economic prosperity.  Specifically, we need those key constituents to initiate discussion with elected officials about public higher education’s importance to the future well-being of the State and its citizens in a knowledge-based economy.

I, along with my other colleagues on the Council, understand the Herculean challenges faced by the State, but cannot continue to accept public higher education’s place at the bottom of the priority list.  It is a fact that economic innovation and productivity are directly linked to the strength of a State’s education system and thus the need for greater priority to be placed on public higher education.

Q:  How can readers of Ramapo Magazine take a more active interest in public higher education and how can they get involved?

An integral piece of the Nine Strong campaign has been the launch of the New Jersey College Promise Action Network. This network is designed to link those interested in the future of higher education with one another to strengthen their voice in the State Legislature.  The College Promise network will provide those constituents I mentioned earlier, and our readers in particular, with a forum to discuss issues and obtain information.  The website, www.NJCollegePromise.com provides templates to draft letters to legislators and further informs visitors on the current state of public higher education. 

Q:  What are issues that NJASCU is confronting?

 The state colleges and universities cannot maintain, much less enhance, campus facilities given high debt loads due to inadequate funding.  The demand by New Jersey high school graduates for full-time freshman spots at our nine institutions exceeds capacity by more than 10,000 annually yet there has been no state support for capital projects since 1988.  This is particularly detrimental to Ramapo given its short history and tremendous growth in enrollment. We desperately need to upgrade our science facilities but cannot assume more debt because we have had to shoulder the cost of increasing capacity and consequently already spend 13% of our operating budget on debt service.  And you will find similar stories at a number of our sister institutions. .And obviously, the volatility of today’s economy continues to send shockwaves through the entire sector of higher education.  Colleges around the State and the country are developing strategies to cope with the effects of tumultuous market conditions and reduction in investment returns.

Q:  Specifically, how is Ramapo positioned to endure these volatile times?

Historically, when the country is in recession, public colleges tend to fare relatively well.  What we are seeing at Ramapo is that price is playing a more significant role in students’ decision making and those that would have otherwise been drawn to expensive independent colleges are seriously looking at Ramapo College.  In fact, an October survey done by MeritAid.com of more than 2,500 prospective college students showed that 57% of prospective students were considering cost as a significant factor.

Operationally, the next few years will continue to be challenging.  As the State revenues are projected to be $1.2 billion short this year, and significantly more next year, we are already beginning to model budgets that anticipate significant deficits.  We will continue to identify ways to reduce expenditures and enhance revenue.  In the next three years, strategically linking budgeting and planning will even in difficult times enable Ramapo to achieve the vision and goals outlined in our strategic plan.

Q:  What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure as Chair of the Presidents’ Council?

I hope that we can continue to work together, and with our colleagues in the other institutions of postsecondary education, to improve the educational opportunities for students in New Jersey.

 

 

 

To all Faculty, Staff and Students:

On Monday, March 2^nd, the presidents of all New Jersey public colleges and universities were informed that the State will impose an in-year budget cut. The State provides quarterly payments to cover a portion of the cost of State negotiated salary increases.  This year, the State will not pay the third quarter installment and it seems unlikely that the funding will be reinstated for the fourth quarter although that will not be decided until June. In total, Ramapo’s direct cut is likely to be $372,000.

Based on our projections of net revenues, we are positioned to handle this cut through salary savings from vacant lines this year.   Next Tuesday, on March 10, the Governor will present his projected budget for fiscal year 2010 which will then enable us to make firm plans culminating in a recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

I will continue to update the campus on our budgetary outlook for next year.  And, as I have said before, I truly believe that if we stay the course and share the burden, we will emerge stronger from these tough economic times.

 

In both the budget presentation and my blog, I have referred to the need to "stay the course." In today's State of the College address, I will expand on what I mean by that.  What does it mean to "stay the course"?

I certainly do not intend to encourage complacency - we won't be able to deal with the challenges before us merely by maintaining the status quo. Instead, by "staying the course", I mean that we must continue to develop and pursue a course of action that will achieve our vision, set forth in the Strategic Plan, to be the "premier public college in the greater New Jersey/New York Metropolitan area providing a high quality education across programs whose curricula are founded on a commitment to the liberal arts."

And pursuit of that course must be bounded by the three goals of the Plan: enhancing academic excellence, investing in the future and enriching college life and community presence.  Let me begin by reviewing specific initiatives that we have achieved in furtherance of these three goals since the Strategic Plan was approved by the Board just over one year ago. I will then refocus on those goals through a different lens; one that appreciates the reality of the financial constraints facing both the college and our students and addresses the question that is, to some degree,  facing all of higher education: can we do a better job of recruiting, retaining and graduating the students we are targeting?

A. SPIF First Go-Round

The hallmark of the approved Strategic Plan is the purposeful integration of planning, budgeting and assessment.  After a year of working towards that integration, it is fair to ask "have we achieved that integration"?  I believe we are well on the way to doing so.  Two weeks ago, the Cabinet and I reviewed the Institutional Effectiveness Committee's recommendations for allocation of the Strategic Priorities Incentive Fund (SPIF) for fiscal year 2009.

And I cannot stress how important this first go-round was to the utility and validity of our planning model. By division, 50% of the SPIF funds went to Academic Affairs, 16% to Institutional Advancement, 19% to Student Affairs and 15% to Administration and Finance.  I thank the Institutional Effectiveness Committee members for their work not only in evaluating the requests, but in reviewing the survey and anecdotal information that informed their recommendations.  Naturally, as with any first-time enterprise, there were some kinks, but I believe that strategic planning and budgeting will continue to evolve and strengthen.  In fact, the IE committee is taking a break from their three day retreat to review FY10 requests, in order to be here for this address.

B. Enhancing Academic Excellence

AACSB Accreditation - In early December we received word that the Anisfield School of Business' progress report was accepted by the Initial Accreditation Committee of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business or AACSB..  That Committee determined that Ramapo is ready to proceed with accreditation.  The IAC will appoint a Peer Review Team Chair who will provide consultative assistance as we develop our Self-Evaluation Report (SER).  We remain at least one full year ahead of the usual schedule and I commend Dean Chakrin and all of the members of ASB for their dedication to this crucial accreditation enterprise.

Middle States Accreditation - While ASB has been primarily concerned with AACSB accreditation, most of you on campus have been involved one way or another with our work towards Middle States Accreditation.  T he Middle States Steering Committee and Study Groups are continuing their work on the institutional self-study with draft study reports due to the committee on March 15th. The Steering Committee will be hosting an Open Forum on March 11th to update the College on its progress and the accomplishments and challenges that are emerging from the self study. Details regarding the forum will be in a future Daily Digest.

I am also pleased to announce that Chris Dahl, President of SUNY Geneseo, has accepted the invitation to chair the accreditation review team. I have spoken with him twice in the last month and he is looking forward to being with us. SUNY Geneseo is a COPLAC institution and Chris will do a superb job but we'll have to be well-prepared and we will be.  I ask that you continue to offer your support to Miki Cammarata, Jennefer Mazza and the Steering Committee as we look forward to the site visit later next year.

Master's in Sustainability Studies - I am pleased to announce that on February 13, we initiated the approval for  the Masters in Sustainability Studies program by distributing to all the Presidents of New Jersey Colleges and Universities our program announcement.  As the announcement says, the proposed MA in Sustainability Studies will "teach sustainability literacy and the fundamental methods for sustainability analysis".  The home for the program will be in the newly constructed Sharp Sustainability Education Center. I am personally receiving inquiries about this program already.

Master's in Educational Leadership - At the February Board of Trustees meeting, we will also request approval of the Master's in Educational Leadership program.

The progress of these two programs is significant.  Their development and on-campus approval reflects and reinforces the principles that master's programs must:

1. build on the strength of our undergraduate programs but not dilute them; and
2. they must respond to a societal need

The early responses to these programs are very encouraging.

C. Investing in the Future 

In the life of any college, the quality and complement of full-time faculty is essential to its future. This is particularly so at Ramapo College. Though we have made significant cuts to cope with the reduction in state appropriations, the College has since my arrival remained committed to adding 5 new faculty lines per year.  In the past two years, we have hired over 40 faculty and currently have over 20 open searches for faculty positions.

As you know, on the eve of our 40th anniversary, we are making plans to announce a $40 million comprehensive fundraising campaign.  Recently, Blackbaud consulting completed its screening exercise, which included an in-depth analysis of our donor database.  I, along with Cathy Davey, will be meeting with consultants in the coming weeks to develop our narrative and test our key themes for the campaign.  The potential key themes are to:

• Renovate and upgrade our science facilities
• Name and endow an academic school
• Strategically build our endowment for scholarships
• Strategically enhance and endow academic programs
• Build resources for faculty development and undergraduate research

And I know what some of you are thinking- given this economic climate how could they possibly think it is feasible to pursue such a campaign?  And it is a good question- a question that Cathy and I have posed to many of our loyal donors, alumni, parents and community partners and the response is always the same.  They tell us that we have a great story- one with which people can identify and one that people are willing to support.  And so, unless any external indicators strongly encourage us to abandon our goals, we will press on.

D. Enriching College Life and Community Presence

Internally, we continue to find ways to "close the loop" on suggestions for improvement that you all have made.  We hold quarterly communications meetings where the discussion topics range from the amount of salt in the soup in the cafeteria to potential cost-savings or revenue generating strategies.  Recently, we have undertaken three (3) initiatives in our attempts to follow through on your suggestions. 

First, we created and went live with our Campus Communications website to provide one-stop shopping for all important campus communications..  On that page, you will find the links to our two newest initiatives.

1. Campus Connection- This online communication tool gave a facelift to the former accomplishments page.  Published September through May, the site will continue to provide updates of accomplishments by faculty, staff and students, but it also welcomes and profiles new employees to the College posting their name, unit and an accompanying photo. Campus Connection will also keep readers apprised of promotions, reclassifications and retirements.
2. President's Staff Recognition Program is one that I first introduced at the opening reception Jackie and I held at the Havemeyer House at the beginning of this academic year.  The program is designed to recognize excellence and extraordinary effort by Ramapo College staff employees.  There are two categories:
   1. Staff Leadership - awarded to a Ramapo College staff member who, in that year, assumed a leadership role and successfully effected positive change.  This will be awarded to one employee within each employee classification.
   2. Staff Excellence in Service - Awarded to an individual or recognized group that, in that year, provided exemplary service to college constituents.
   Recipients will be announced at the Annual Picnic in May, with formal presentation at the June Board of Trustees meeting.  Recipient names will be included on the web on the communications page as well as the President's page.  Nominations will be accepted until April 15.  All nominations will be reviewed by the Staff Recognition Program committee co-chaired by Bea Cronin and Christopher Romano.

The Ramapo Diversity Lecture Series also kicked off its programming the last Wednesday in January with the 3rd Annual Diversity Convocation Speaker, Cherrie Moraga.  While the snowstorm may have discouraged a few from attending, the powerful readings of Moraga and the thought provoking question and answer session afterward displayed an engaged campus eager to discuss roles of race, gender and sexuality.This series continues every Wednesday evening and the list of remaining speakers is highly impressive.  I thank Kay Fowler, Ruma Sen and Paula Straille-Costa for their leadership in creating this series and the numerous organizations, led by the Board of Trustees, which support it.

Lastly, we continue to find ways to increase opportunities for local community members to participate in on-campus activities while promoting a campus dedicated to public safety and security.  On January 6th and 7th, Ramapo hosted the Hostile Intruder Training Exercise.  The training welcomed officers from the New Jersey State Police, the Mahwah Police, the Ramsey police, Bergen County police and a number of other law enforcement agencies to Overlook Hall.  During those two days, each police agency ran through real life intruder and hostage simulations.  To me, this sort of exercise exemplifies the third goal of our strategic plan in that we collaborated with police forces from around the State, enabling them to learn the layout of the campus and work with our Public Safety Officers on emergency protocols.  I want to publicly thank Vince Markowski and his officers for hosting the training- I know that I, along with my cabinet who were able to participate as witnesses (and by participate I mean stand in the back safely away from the whizzing dummy bullets) found the exercise eye-opening and highly instructive.

Taking all of this into consideration, I would say that one year on, the Strategic Plan has yielded significant results.  However, if we are to confront the economic challenges (and the multiple other challenges that result from the economic including emotional and psychological effects), our next course of action must  not only be effective, it must be efficient.  And efficiency sometimes has a negative connotation in higher education because it implies introducing business principles and these are often not a good fit. Adopting as a lens Strategic Plan goal 2.1, which states that The College will operate all units efficiently and effectively in administration, communication, practices, and use and provision of human and material resources, let me quickly re-visit the three goals.

a. Efficiency as it relates to Enhancing Academic Excellence

Here, I prefer to look at the question of efficiency as it relates to our students.  As the economy continues to contract and loans become potentially harder to obtain, we need to find ways to reduce the "cost" to our students- both in time and money. We know that tuition and fee increases are unavoidable although we will do our best to contain them. But there are other ways to reduce the net cost of a Ramapo degree.

 Do all of our majors really require four years to graduate, or can we take measures to make it possible for certain students to graduate earlier?  Are the number of credits required for graduation appropriate?  While I do not suggest a one-size-fits all time-to-degree benchmark, these are the sorts of questions we need to ask ourselves.  As state support for higher education diminishes and the strain placed on our students and their families by shouldering that cost increases, we need to continually ask whether we are doing what is best for our students.  I know that these questions weigh heavily on the Provost and I ask that you all participate as we begin to look at these questions more in-depth in the coming months.

b. Efficiency as it relates to Investing in the Future.

When we look at ways to strategically invest in the future, I prefer to use the word responsibility instead of efficiency.  As I previously outlined in my town hall budget addresses, our utility costs for the coming year are projected at $7,000,000.  As the Sharp Sustainability Education Center nears opening, the Masters of Sustainability Studies gears up for its first class and with sustainability as an underlying theme of the Strategic Plan, we must find ways to reduce our utilities costs.  I have proposed a 5% reduction in utilities usage for the coming year and have had many people say to me that is a conservative figure.  And yet, each year our utilities cost continue to increase.  We must find ways individually and as a college to be more responsible.  Turning off all appliances at the end of the workday, shutting off lights when we leave rooms and closing open doors are easy measures we can take.  I will be working with a number of campus leaders on this as the FY10 budget cycle approaches, but I would be happy to hear any thoughts you might have on how we can reduce our costs.

c. Efficiency as it relates to Enriching College Life and Community Presence.

It is a little more challenging to identify efficient ways of enriching college life but I urge us to focus on outcomes.  What is the outcome of our students' cumulative experience when they leave Ramapo?  What are their feelings towards Ramapo when they are called during a phone-a-thon or invited to an alumni reunion?  When asked on the graduating senior survey if they would recommend Ramapo to a friend, what do they say? 

CONCLUSION

The state of the College is and should be hopeful, but we must stay the course.

Over the past two weeks, I have hosted two town hall meetings to address budget preparation for the coming year.  As I said, Fiscal Year 2010 will be different from other years but, if we stay the course, Ramapo is well-positioned to emerge stronger from these economic difficulties.  Essential to dealing with any economic crisis is our Strategic Plan whose clear goals are starting to be implemented. This past week, the Cabinet and I reviewed and approved the Institutional Effectiveness Committee’s recommendations for allocation of the Strategic Priorities Incentive Fund (SPIF) for fiscal year 2009.   For a listing of allocations and more information about the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, visit http://ww2.ramapo.edu/effectiveness and select “meeting documents” from the sidebar. 

While this first round of submissions naturally had a few kinks, I am confident that the process will evolve and strengthen as SPIF becomes a cornerstone of our budget planning.  As I indicated during my presentations, for next year’s budget we plan to transfer 2% of the operating budget, approximately $2.5 million, into SPIF to ensure that we increase our own financial and strategic flexibility.  Submissions are currently being made for FY2010 and the Institutional Effectiveness Committee will hold a retreat next week to begin reviewing requests for 2010.

While institutionally we continue to implement strategic measures to cope with the economic uncertainties before us, there is hope that the new federal government and some version of the economic stimulus package will include funds for higher education.  As the package is debated between the House and the Senate, I along with my senior staff, will continue to advocate for the inclusion of infrastructure funding that could help offset the cost of pending capital projects on campus.  This past weekend, I attended the American Council on Education conference in Washington D.C. where college presidents from around the country were briefed on the different versions of the stimulus package and their effects on higher education.  When the debate concludes and President Obama signs the package into law, I will provide a breakdown of its effect on higher education.

 

 President's Blog

Over the past two weeks, I held the first of a series of quarterly meetings designed to enhance communication among the senior administration and College staff.  I met first with the Administrative and Support Staff and a week later with Professional and Managerial Staff.  As mentioned at both meetings, one hope is to do a better job of “closing the loop” in communicating about initiatives taken.  From the feedback received after the first two meetings, we have decided to create a website dedicated to internal communication that will launch in early January 2009.

The website will include: a schedule of quarterly communications meetings, agendas, and actions taken following the meetings.  I also plan to update the site with the agenda and minutes from the Constituent Assembly, which met for the first time last month.  This campus-wide group is not a decision-making body, but rather a venue for vetting ideas and airing broad discussions of college initiatives and issues. 

One particular suggestion that was made following the communications meetings was that we address the way in which we introduce new employees to the College.  Currently, Institutional Advancement, Marketing and Communications, the Office of Human Resources and my office are working on a monthly campus electronic communiqué that will discuss college happenings; particularly new faces and the achievements of our faculty, staff and students.  This initiative, too, will debut in the early winter and include all of those hired since September 2008.

It is particularly important that in this climate of economic instability we communicate effectively with one another. For that reason, I will meet with members of each College each unit by the end of the academic year.  In that meeting, I will provide my view on the current state of affairs and update units on any recent occurrences, but I want these meetings to be more for you.  Let’s see them as opportunities for candid discussion about ways in which we might enhance our operations and move forward together in achieving our vision.

My wife Jackie and I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and look forward to the last month of the semester!

Peter P. Mercer

 

On September 16^th, I joined my fellow state college presidents and introduced a new public awareness and advocacy campaign titled "Nine Strong For A Stronger New Jersey." The Nine Strong refer to Ramapo and New Jersey's other eight state college and universities including The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Richard Stockton College, Rowan University, Thomas Edison State College and William Paterson University.

 

President Mercer joins the other New Jersey state college presidents and signs onto the Nine Strong For A Stronger New Jersey campaign.

As economic uncertainty continues to plague the news and discussions at businesses and not-for profit organizations, we know that economic strength is directly linked to the strength of a state's education system.  Last year, our nine institutions awarded almost HALF, 45 %, of all new bachelor's degrees in the State.  In the past twenty five years, we have nearly doubled our enrollment from approximately 65,000 to 100,000.  And yet, the State's FY'09 10% cut in state appropriations hinders our ability to meet the needs of today's New Jersey students.  Currently, the demand by New Jersey high school graduates for full-time, freshman spots at New Jersey state schools exceeds current capacity by more than 10,000 annually.

Thus, the Nine Strong campaign is designed to raise awareness about higher education, to make it a "kitchen table topic" where parents and students, businessmen and teachers discuss the need for a closer look at where higher education falls on the priority list.  The purpose of Nine Strong is to motivate our stakeholders- students, parents, alumni, community leaders- to start talking with state legislators and representatives about what we need to do together as a state to prepare New Jersey for the future.

An integral piece of this campaign is the New Jersey College Promise Action Network, found at www.NJCollegePromise.com.  This network will link those individuals across the state and the country that care greatly about the future of state colleges and universities in New Jersey.  Through the website, they will have access to forums to generate ideas and discussion items and tools to deliver a tangible message to elected officials.  I encourage all of you to visit the site and sign on to the effort.  It is your help that is going to make this campaign effective.

And our Nine Strong institutions realize that we too need to have deliverables.  Since 1984 when the State provided institutions with the autonomy and authority to pursue a new level of excellence, we have striven to respond to the needs of New Jersey students, their families and the growing business community.  And so, on September 16^th, we all signed the following pledge outlining our responsibility in this process and the causes we will pursue.

New Jersey State Colleges and Universities

NINE STRONG PLEDGE

 

As Presidents of New Jersey's nine state colleges and universities, and on behalf of our students, our institutions, and the people of New Jersey, we pledge that we will act with determination and purpose to assure and safeguard access to high quality and affordable public higher educational opportunities in this state.

Together, with partners from every sector of the state, we will organize our broad constituent base to assure the future of our institutions on which the majority of New Jerseyans seeking a four-year college degree will increasingly rely.

Together, we will work to reverse New Jersey's net out-migration of college-age students, thereby stabilizing our populations and producing the high quality workforce necessary to the state's prosperity.

Together, as we have fought victoriously for years to build strong institutions, we will now redouble those efforts, determined that New Jersey's students will have the educational opportunities that they deserve.

Together, we will:

1. With renewed determination, find the state and private resources necessary to extend our commitment to serve more New Jerseyans; keep college affordable; keep more talented students in state; extend and expand academic programs, academic services and distance learning; and graduate more students in fields important to the vitality of the state.
2. Strengthen our commitment to provide residential housing to traditional age students to help stem net out-migration, as well as broaden service to adult students.
3. Ensure that our degree programs permit timely graduation of our students, thereby enabling them to move more rapidly into the workforce.
4. Sustain and continue to enhance our collective rank, now number three nationally, in degree productivity for public and tuition dollars invested.
5. Expand and develop new partnerships with businesses for economic and workforce development.
6. Report on graduates' employment status one year following graduation, as an important measure of our institutions' alignment with workforce and economic development needs.

Together, we are New Jersey's State Colleges and Universities.

Together, we are 95,000 students and 500,000 alumni.

Together, we are New Jersey's future.

Together, we are Nine Strong for a Stronger New Jersey.

In the past few weeks, there has been significant statewide coverage of the debate surrounding the Amethyst Initiative, an initiative led by college presidents and chancellors to call upon elected officials to weigh all the consequences of current alcohol policies and to invite new ideas on how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use.  As I mentioned in my State of the College address, I believe this is a critically important issue on college campuses and one that presidents and legislators must address together.  As promised, below is my op-ed piece that ran in the Courier News on Sunday, September 21, 2008.  You will also find the Channel 9 News Clip  that again focuses on the debate in New Jersey.

THE REAL PROBLEMS OF COLLEGE DRINKING

 Peter P. Mercer

 

VIDEO - Ramapo in the Media: Channel 9 News report aired September 11 reviewing the Amethyst Initiative in support of lowering the drinking age. Ramapo President Peter Mercer commented on why he does not support the initiative.

As a college president, I have many reasons to be concerned about the consumption of alcohol by my students. Perhaps the most clear-cut reasons are legal. Students who consume alcohol under the age of 21 are breaking State law. Furthermore, even those who are of legal drinking age might cause civil liability to accrue to the college if they drink to excess and cause harm to themselves or others. 

However, the most important issues surrounding excessive and underage student drinking are, for me and my fellow presidents, not legal.  Of much greater concern are the potential adverse consequences to the students themselves. Nationally almost 2,000 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from unintentional injuries in which alcohol was a factor. Additional hundreds of thousands of students are injured; many of them seriously. These deaths and injuries are avoidable.

Every empirical study I have seen in 25 years of studying the issue in Canada and the United States confirms that there is a direct relationship between the legal drinking age and the incidence of alcohol-related death and injury. For that reason, I would not support any reduction in the legal drinking age. This was one of the alternatives posited by the Amethyst Initiative as a way of combating underage and binge drinking. It is unfortunate that the drinking age has attracted the most attention, especially since it seems doubtful that lowering the drinking age would lead to any appreciable amelioration of the most serious consequences.

In the first place, patterns of high-risk drinking behavior are already typically well-established before students arrive at college. Findings from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, published in the Journal of American College Health (Volume 50, No.5, 223-236), state that in 2001, 43.6% of underage college students were classified as binge drinkers, meaning consumption of at least five drinks in a row for men or four drinks in a row for women during the two weeks before completion of the study questionnaire. The vast majority of these began drinking in high school and, increasingly, underage drinking and binge drinking are regularly occurring as low as the eighth grade or earlier.

 The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse has found that the reported first use of alcohol went from age 17 ½ in 1965 to 14 in 2003. Research further shows that the earlier students begin consuming alcohol, the more likely they will engage in behavior harmful to themselves and others.

Clearly this problem is as wide-ranging as the adverse consequences it brings about. Unsafe sexual practices, sexual abuse, health problems, drunk driving, property damage, vandalism, assault and alcohol dependence can all be added to the list. And then there is the often less visible but very real matter of academic consequences. In the 1980’s I reviewed thousands of files from students applying to Canadian law schools. Hundreds of those revealed a similar pattern: poor grades in the freshman year, a modest GPA increase in the sophomore year and then substantial improvement in the junior and senior years. Usually no explanation would be given for this other than a vague reference to “problems of adjustment.”  Requests for a more detailed explanation typically yielded a rueful account of how the first year and a half of college were spent in a beery fog before reality intervened. Sadly too late for those whose grades, averaged over four years, were uncompetitive for law school or graduate school and who had to lower their expectations as a result. What a waste of human capital, individually sad but cumulatively tragic.

How do we as a society deal with this? Senate President Codey has asked New Jersey’s Colleges to provide details of their alcohol policies. It is a fair request and one to which we should be glad to respond given the extensive policy frameworks, policing regimens, educational programs and health intervention measures we have developed. More importantly, it holds out the opportunity to frame the discussion properly.

Why are so many – but by no means all- college students acculturated to abusing alcohol? It can’t just be about “adjustment” and new-found freedom since many of our students are sophisticated and experienced in ways that previous generations were not. We also need to go further and ask why alcohol abuse has been matched by a similar abuse of prescription pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants and sedatives.  And why are these drugs so accessible?

I and my fellow presidents look forward to making progress in answering these questions.

Welcome Back Ramapo College! This past week was filled with welcome-back receptions, greeting those who are new to the campus, catching up with those who are returning and checking in with those who were here throughout the summer.

Monday September 1^st- Freshman Move-In Day

Finally, the waiting was over and the calm of July and August was replaced by the crackling energy of Labor Day morning as cars lined up Route 202 to drop-off and move in the Ramapo College Class of 2012.  Accompanied by my niece's dog Whistler, I walked the campus visiting the residence halls and speaking with parents and students as they unloaded televisions, ipod docking stations, five years' worth of clothing and boxes of pre-college life photos into their new rooms.  The compelling mix of excitement and anxiety that radiates both from our students and their families marks the unofficial beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year. 

As I addressed the incoming freshman class and then shook their hands as they proceeded through the Ramapo arch, I considered how the group was thus transformed from a data set into the 887 strong Class of 2012 which will leave its mark on Ramapo College.  I want to offer a special thank you to the Offices of First -Year Experience, Residence Life, Facilities, Housekeeping, Public Safety, Student Affairs, Enrollment Management and Admissions for organizing, setting up, and executing a wonderful Move-In experience and First Year Assembly.

(To see my remarks to the Class of 2012, click here.)

Tuesday September 2^nd - Upperclassman Move-In Day

On Tuesday, the current of energy initiated by the freshmen tripled as the sophomores, juniors and seniors returned to campus.  The change in attitude and priorities among students who have already lived in a residence hall is quite noticeable.  Arranging a room and unloading the car gave way to greeting old roommates, classmates and friends to compare summers and share expectations for the upcoming year.  In a day rounded out by the Annual Roadrunner Picnic and a visit from the cast of The Real World, all four Ramapo classes congregated and shared their first night as a campus. 

Wednesday September 3^rd - Welcome Back Faculty Reception

On Wednesday, Jackie and I hosted a reception at the Havemeyer House to welcome the faculty back to campus and celebrate the first day of classes.  More than 70 faculty members attended, both new and returning, and it was a pleasure to see them and talk about the coming year. I was particularly impressed by the buoyancy of the faculty and their sense of optimism as they look toward the future, an optimism that I share.

 

 

 

Thursday September 4^th - Welcome Back Staff Reception

For the first time, Jackie and I also hosted a reception for all of the Ramapo staff whose efforts are so essential to the college's operation.  This reception also provided me the opportunity to introduce a new Staff Awards Program, an idea that stemmed from the six sessions Dr. Anne Kearns facilitated in the spring of last year.  These awards will not only recognize the leadership and exemplary service of our staff, but will also affirm a culture that places high value on employee effort and achievement.  These awards will be implemented for the 2008-2009 Academic Year and will be presented at the June Board of Trustees meeting.  We will also create plaques inscribed with winners' names, which will hang in a highly visible spot on campus.  While I am still working with the unit directors to develop the mechanism by which the recipients will be selected, I announced the following awards:

1. The Staff Leadership Award (One will be awarded to each classification of employee - Manager, Professional Unionized Staff and Other Unionized Staff):

Awarded to a Ramapo College staff member who, in that academic year, has assumed a leadership role and successfully effected positive change.

2. The Staff Excellence in Service Award:

Awarded to an individual or group who, in that academic year, provided exemplary customer service.

 

 

 

As July comes to a close and the State budget is finalized, it is not unusual to see increased press surrounding New Jersey public higher education.  Typically, focus is on how much each institution has raised tuition and the implications for both the taxpayers and students of New Jersey colleges.  This year, there is a renewed focus on cost and transparency in higher education spending. I recently authored an op-ed piece, published in the Bergen Record on Thursday, July 24, explaining Ramapo’s tuition increase while noting the implementation of efficiencies Ramapo has adopted over the past five years. 

Ramapo hurdling obstacles to meeting student needs.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

BY PETER MERCER

In the past 11 years, the percentage of the Ramapo budget funded by the state has fallen from 50 percent to 27 percent.

I WANT to explain the circumstances dictating the decision to increase Ramapo College's tuition, and what we have done at Ramapo to cut administrative costs and ensure academic quality.

We all respect the Herculean challenges presented to the Legislature by this year's budget and the achievements realized. However, state funding for Ramapo is now below 2000 levels. Our annual operating budget is $127 million. Within that total, the amount that Ramapo will receive from the state is down 7.2 percent from last year. In the past 11 years, the percentage of the operating budget funded by the state has fallen from 50 percent to 27 percent.

Over the past year, state-negotiated salary increases and tuition waiver programs for seniors, members of the National Guard, the unemployed and the NJ STARS program have all increased so that unfunded mandates total $1.5 million.

To close our budget gap and maintain our commitment to high-quality academic programs and support services, we needed to increase our tuition – even after identifying spending cuts of $1.5 million. Over the past four years, we have instituted efficiencies, created new revenue streams and cut spending by $5.6 million.

Last year, Ramapo's 4.9 percent tuition-and-fees increase was the smallest of any state college or university. This year the Board of Trustees approved the administration's recommendation of an 8 percent tuition increase and a 5 percent room-and-board increase. The decision was not taken lightly. No cuts were made to classes, programs or professors. All cutbacks have been made on the administrative side.

Cost-saving measures

The cuts include: eliminating and deferring staff hiring; eliminating repair and renovation funds; across-the-board unit budget cuts; eliminating the use of temp agencies; reducing the use of adjunct faculty; suspension of salary range adjustments for unionized faculty and staff; reduction of overtime, telephone, gasoline, printing, postage and advertising costs; elimination of employee training; and reduction of commencement costs.

State funding may be down, but demand for a Ramapo education is up because our management of the fiscal challenges has safeguarded our ability to provide a first-rate education. First-time freshman enrollment is up 31 percent from 2002; our one-year retention rates are up 4.9 percent from 2000. And although we have built five new residence halls in the past five years, we have a waiting list for student housing.

Ramapo College is ranked among the top five public master's-degree institutions in the Northeast region in this year's U.S. News and World Report rankings of colleges and universities. In February, Kiplinger's magazine named Ramapo College among the top 100 public colleges and universities.

Mindful that we must increase revenues while cutting costs, Ramapo College recently launched a Center for Innovative and Professional Learning, which supports postgraduate professional education, workforce development and alternative learning. In the fall, we will introduce a refurbished Adult Learners Program, offering the opportunity to complete a degree, pursue a new one or enroll in specific courses for career advancement.

At the same time, our Division of Institutional Advancement continues to grow Ramapo's endowment and the scholarships it funds. Last year, Ramapo was the only public liberal arts college in the country to receive the Circle of Excellence Award in educational fund raising from the Council for the Support and Advancement of Education. Net assets of the Ramapo College Foundation have grown by 130 percent over the past five years, and last year alone, the foundation's endowment grew by 49 percent to $6.5 million.

Our recently approved strategic plan makes accountability a priority. A new approach to planning and budgeting will ensure that expenditures and initiatives align with the plan's goals. All college units are developing complementary plans that assess their needs, determine strategic priorities, set goals and measure results - all to ensure that sound planning drives our budget.

Ramapo College is committed to providing the best education at the best value for New Jersey's families.

Peter Mercer is president of Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

As you are probably aware, on Monday Governor Jon Corzine signed the 2009 New Jersey State budget. I thought it important to brief you on what this $32.9 billion budget, which includes $600 million in spending cuts, means for our College.

Our 2008 projected operating budget was $122 million; our 2009 approved operating budget is $127 million. Our 2008 State appropriation was $20,468,000; our 2009 State appropriation is $19,194,000. This appropriation projection provides State funding at below 2000 funding levels.

Our Board of Trustees prudently approved a Fiscal Year 2009 increase of 8% in tuition and fees and a 5% increase in room and board. The decision to raise tuition and fees was not taken lightly. If you recall, last year ours was the lowest increase in tuition and fees statewide at 4.9%. To close the budget gap this year, and maintain our commitment to academic excellence and support services, we needed to increase our tuition significantly even after identifying spending cuts of $1.5 million. Over the past four years we have instituted efficiencies, created new streams of revenue, and cut spending by $5.6 million.

However, I want to assure you that in all of our planning we have remained true to the commitment I made to you in February. At the last State of the College address, I vowed that we would establish strategic initiatives for this academic year and find funds to pursue them. I am pleased that, after making difficult cuts in some areas and enhancing revenues in others, we have reserved $2.1 million for Strategic Priority Incentive Funding (SPIF). In consultation with the Board of Trustees, including two additional special meetings, we identified the following as among the initiatives that SPIF funding could support:

• Five additional faculty lines.

• Increases in Equal Opportunity Fund scholarships.

• A reserve fund for anticipated capital projects

• More than $1 million for additional SPIF initiatives identified in forthcoming unit plans

The SPIF allocations will be made after the September 30 deadline for all units to submit their three-year plans. Details will follow about this process.

I appreciate your patience as we make substantial and sometimes painful adjustments in a continuously challenging budgeting and planning cycle.

Finally, I am particularly grateful to Chair Walton and the other members of the Board of Trustees for the time, effort, consideration and guidance they continue to provide.

Thank you,

Peter P. Mercer
President

On June 2^nd, 2008, Ramapo College broke ground on the Salameno Spiritual Center- an event that marked the realization of Professor Anthony Padovano's vision, supported by many like-minded private donors led by Larry and Theresa Salameno.  I outlined the role of spirituality in higher education and what I perceive will be the impact of the Center at Ramapo College in my remarks which can be found here.  To best capture the essence of the groundbreaking, below I have posted the closing remarks from our distinguished Professor of Literature, Dr. Anthony Padovano, whose vision truly inspired the creation of the Salameno Spiritual Center at Ramapo College.

President Peter Mercer and Mrs. Jackie Mercer and Lawrence and Theresa Salameno at the groundbreaking of the Salameno Spiritual Center

 

Remarks:  June 2, 2008

Groundbreaking Salameno Spiritual Center

Dr. Anthony T. Padovano

 

            This College is set on hallowed ground.  It was a gathering place for native Americans who named it Mahwah, “meeting place.” 

            On this land, the Continental Army under George Washington, joined with General Rochambeau, August 26, 1781, and marched south to Yorktown, Virginia.  On September 30 and thereafter the new nation defeated British forces and transformed a revolution into a republic.

            Over the next century, Dutch farmers built homes here, African Americans came in bondage, are buried nearby and, at long last, were emancipated.  The English arrived and the new Americans.  Business leaders made this area a summer respite, a region of lavish and bucolic felicity.  Catholic and Protestant Churches flourished, Jewish Synagogues, a Hindu Temple.

            One year short of forty years ago, the State of New Jersey created what would be called Ramapo College, named after the Dutch word for the mountains nearby.  In 1971, the College opened its doors and this year held its fiftieth commencement.

            Twelve of us (nine faculty, three staff) are still here, founders, and we remember the empty field of dreams which, by and by, became this beautiful campus and this elegant College.

 

Dr. Anthony Padovano delivers closing remarks at the groundbreaking of the Salameno Spiritual Center

            In 2001, at the dawn of a new millennium, the idea for a Spiritual Center was generated.  In 2009, on the fortieth anniversary of the College, it will be completed and dedicated.

           The concept for such a center was possible because, as the new millennium arrived, the human family preferred to think in intercultural, international, global categories.  In this era, the United Nations, the European Union, instant world-wide communication, and interreligious connectedness emerged.  From all of this, a Spiritual Center was fashioned, part of an age that believed planetary peace and harmony were not impossible.  Such a Center contained and expressed that vision.  This would be a place for radical and intensive inclusivity. The mission of Ramapo College, the dynamism of a world without impassable boundaries and this Spiritual Center fit together.

            We are the heirs and vanguard of all this.  From our midst, key players emerged to make this Spiritual Center happen.  Allow me to limit myself to one trustee, one donor and one College official.  The Reverend Dr. Vernon C. Walton, trustee chair, a Protestant pastor and the Salameno family, Catholics, supported this dream with indispensable and remarkably generous assistance. 

            If the trustees demurred in the risky endeavor of establishing a Spiritual Center at a public institution, if the Salameno family did not lend their trust and resources to this project, we would not be here today at this ceremony.

            The College official essential to the forward movement of the Center was Dr. Peter P. Mercer, a Canadian, who became the leader of an American College.  People of vision crossed boundaries and joined hands to build not a wall but a bridge to the future, on our behalf, and for the sake of all our children and grandchildren.  A world such as this is the kind of world we and they want.

            For the next century and beyond, Ramapo College students will come here in joy and hope, with prayers and songs, in grief at times, for celebrations and contemplation, to reflect on what it means to be human and on how privileged we are to have human hearts and human spirits.  For this reason and by their presence, this will become sacred ground.

            One day when the earth itself burns away, we have been assured, only love will remain.  For love, as Dante once observed, is the energy which moves all life and all the stars.  This is poetry.  It is also concrete and realistic.  For each of us knows that love is the most valuable experience of our lives and, indeed, gives our lives the only experience worth remembering.

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/administration/presidenthome/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 assistant 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/administration/presidenthome/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)