From the President
NJIT is New Jersey’s science and technology university, serving its citizens as a critical resource for education, scholarly and applied research, and economic development in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as design and the management of technology. Since its founding in 1881, the university has achieved significant milestones: supplying well over 25 percent of the state’s engineering workforce; establishing one of the nation’s largest incubators for start-up technological companies; and developing the world’s leading solar telescope at Big Bear, California.
Today, NJIT enrolls over 10,000 students, conducts over $100 million in research, has hired 50 faculty over the past three years; launched the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), a corporation for the development of university-industry partnerships; is leading a $1 billion neighborhood redevelopment of 22 acres adjacent to its campus; has built an on-campus “Village” for a residential honors college and Greek houses; and is anticipating spending nearly $300 million on new capital facilities and renewal. One of its highest achievements has been the recent repeated recognition as one of the nation’s top public universities for “return on investment (ROI),” alumni earnings as compared to the cost of their education. This is remarkable, as public universities educate over 70 percent of our nation’s students, and must deal with the unfortunate rate of government disinvestment in public higher education.
I profoundly compliment the leadership of our Provost and Senior Executive Vice President, Fadi Deek, for his tireless effort in developing 2020 Vision and the more than 200 members of the university community, including faculty, students, administrators, staff, alumni and board members who worked together over the course of six months to generate the core of this plan. Their vast knowledge of NJIT and compelling wisdom about achieving excellence has provided 2020 Vision with a level of opportunities and challenges that will propel NJIT to continuous improvement and additional remarkable outcomes.
This final version, refined in consultation with the Board of Trustees and senior administrators, is built upon the five core strategic priorities: excellence in student performance, a curriculum meeting the highest professional standards, nationally and internationally recognized scholarly research, a community rich in diversity, and investments in a spectrum of resources. The plan contains the objectives, strategies and tactics designed by the planning committees that will guide our resource investments.
As this 18-month process comes to a close, I look forward to working with the entire university community to collaboratively implement 2020 Vision, just as we wrote it. It will take all community members working together to accomplish our ambitious objectives and ensure that NJIT will continue on the trajectory of a leading national and international polytechnic research university.
Joel S. Bloom