April 29, 2024

Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,

It is the season of celebration as we move into the final two weeks of the semester. Cabinet members and I have had the pleasure of attending several events recently including the Honors Research Week presentations, EOF Senior Recognition, Music Departments’ Dido and Aeneas & A British Musical Theatre Review, Black Graduation, Athletics Senior Awards, and Veteran’s and Lavender Graduation. The week ended with the Latin Honors awards where approximately 200 students graduating with academic honors cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude were recognized by their families, deans, Cabinet and Board of Trustee members. This is the first of the season’s ceremonies where we don our academic regalia and congratulate these high achieving students. We all look forward to attending more recognitions that are coming up in the next few weeks. I want to thank everyone on campus who has contributed to these culminating events and has assisted students with coordinating them.

As of Friday, overall enrollment for fall 2024 stands at 4,180 students, which represents a 2.4% increase over this point last year. While main campus enrollment remains a challenge with a 4.4% decrease over last year at this time, continuing student enrollment overall is slightly ahead of last year. Efforts by all should continue to focus on enrolling as many students as possible for the fall, particularly before the end of the semester when students leave. We continue to see positive trends with overall new student applications, which are up 14.3%, and accepted students are up 13.7%. First year student deposits are slightly behind last year's pace currently by 0.4%. This is a trend we expect to continue and possibly widen over the course of the next month due to the shift in the priority deadline from the traditional date of May 1^st to June 1^st this year due to changes in financial aid timelines caused by FAFSA delays at the federal level. We know that nationally and locally, students may be delaying their enrollment decisions until financial aid packaging is completed. We continue to communicate regularly with our applicants and accepted students and are packaging them as soon as possible once we receive their information from the federal government.

University Admissions hosted a very successful Open House this past Saturday, welcoming 333 prospective students and their families on campus. This represents a 32% increase in attendance over last spring's Open House. There was great interaction with faculty, staff, and current students throughout the event. I want to thank Vice President of Enrollment Management George Kacenga, Associate Vice President Stephen Quinn and their entire team for another successful event.

As of today, first-year retention is 72.4%, which is a 3.2% increase over last year. First-year athletes have made the most significant retention gains, with retention of 89.06%, an 18.29% increase over last year. Other notable retention increases are in Black students, whose retention is 60.95% (a 10.95% increase), and Hispanics at 75%, a 4.79% increase over last year. Exploratory students' retention increased 5.7% to 67.3% from last year.

I would also like to remind everyone to take the Campus Climate Survey. Maximizing participation among faculty, staff and especially students will help us gain insights into experiences of our diverse campus populations and will help us make important decisions about ensuring that our campus environment is one where everyone feels welcome, valued, safe and respected. Look for the email sent on April 16^th with the subject line, "We want to hear your perspective on William Paterson University climate for diversity and equity." The survey, which closes on May 7^th, takes no more than 15 minutes to complete. After completing it, you may enter a drawing for one of fifteen, $15 gift cards for dining or the bookstore. We are asking faculty and staff to encourage students to take the survey.

Also on Saturday, we were proud to host an international event presented by FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, to highlight its DEI focus through its No Discrimination initiative. The event was the first held by FIFA on US soil as part of its 2026 World Cup festivities. The event was held at Shea Center and included a presentation by Gerd Dembowski, FIFA’s senior diversity and anti-discrimination manager. It was co-sponsored by the New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce, led by our friend and alumnus Gus Penaranda and was streamed live worldwide. A panel discussion moderated by Tom Bergeron, editor-in-chief of ROI-NJ, included Saara Hassoun, NJ/NY Gotham FC, chief of staff; Briana Keys, N.Y./N.J. Host Committee, human rights advocate; Jennifer O’Sullivan, NYCFC, chief operating officer; and Elisa Padilla, New York Red Bulls, chief marketing officer, in a discussion of work being done locally and worldwide to promote DEI. Additionally, we were joined by Lauren LaRusso, the co-host city manager for the FIFA World Cup in NJ/NY, who spent some time talking to our Pioneer soccer teams before the festivities started.

This week’s WP: We are Proud – Congratulations to all honorees and student performers at the 33rd Annual Legacy Gala held on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at The Grove in Cedar Grove, NJ. This year we honored former Yankee and jazz guitarist, Bernie Williams, alumna and active College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences advisory council member, Valerie (Gross) Paverd ‘03, and corporate partner, Gallo.

All net proceeds from the event help to support student scholarships at William Paterson University. Many thanks to the William Paterson community for supporting this important event. And thank you to Pam Ferguson and her Institutional Advancement team, especially Meredith McCarthy Makkai, for organizing such a lovely event.