Welcome to NJIT and the start of the academic year, Being new to NJIT, you of course may not be able to picture the campus of a few years ago, but it should be obvious that a physical transformation is continuing, a transformation that is improving the quality of campus life.  

Last fall we opened two buildings, the East Building, on the hill backing up to Martin Luther King, housing administrative offices, Biomedical Engineering, and the Albert Dorman Honors College, and the first phase of the Campus Center, housing a start of the art food service facility and student club offices.  This fall we opened the second, and final phase, of the Campus Center with the dining area, ballroom, meeting rooms, roof garden, and entertainment facilities, some of which you have probably already enjoyed.  And, finally, several of the athletic facilities, for use by our intercollegiate athletic teams as well as the campus community for recreation, have been enhanced.  

There will be some disruption from construction on campus this year, although not nearly as much as last, as we complete renovation of Eberhardt Hall, behind Cullimore and next to the East Building, to be converted to an alumni center to accommodate alumni gatherings and campus special events.  The exterior of Cullimore is being renovated as well to improve its appearance and fit with other buildings around it.  And, various landscaping projects will be ongoing for a while.

Much of this activity is part of one of our priorities to enhance the quality of life for the NJIT community, including increasing student satisfaction, with the NJIT experience. We are working closely with the City of Newark as well, as the City embarks on a number of redevelopment projects, one of which is to transform the neighborhood around campus to one of improved housing, restaurants, and shops. These are always on-going efforts, never really completed, but pointed toward constant improvement.  

Our academic programs are challenging, yet rewarding when completed.  Your university has recently been ranked 25th among national research universities in faculty resources, and 9th in diversity of the student body.

The past couple of years has been financially challenging for us, and we anticipate the coming year to be so as well as the state and the US struggle to stimulate a sluggish economy. Our state support was level from the previous year that, unfortunately, made us cover rising costs, in part, with a tuition increase, Reallocation of resources though allows us to continue improvements mentioned above and others that will be evident to you throughout your years here and following as alumni. These improvements are important.  Your degree has value, currency, in the marketplace in which you work.  The more highly valued your degree becomes, the more doors of opportunity it opens for you.  It is important then that you stay connected and involved while a student and as an alumnus to work toward constant improvement of NJIT and raise its stature even further.

Part of the team that assists you as first year students in adjusting to college life are the Freshman Seminar instructors.  These instructors volunteer to teach a Freshman Seminar course, and I want to thank them now for their efforts on your behalf.  Would the Freshman Seminar instructors please stand so that we can recognize them with a round of applause?

I’ll look forward to seeing you on campus and at the various campus events through the year. There are a lot of opportunities for you to be involved in a variety of activities.  Take a look at the NJIT web site often for and read the e-mail messages that come out periodically so you can keep campus news.  

Have a good year.