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.

This fall will be the second year of operation of the Campus Center, which houses a state of the art food service facility, dining area, Starbucks, ballroom, meeting rooms, roof garden, entertainment facilities, student club offices, and the Highlander Club. After some experience with the Campus Center, we recently opened up a sandwich and salad bar, and we can anticipate this year a redesign and renovation of the Highlander Club to transform it into a friendlier student gathering place.

The second phase of the campus green landscaping is essentially complete, with a few more trees to be planted this fall, and the landscaping of Eberhardt Hall and the interior renovation of Eberhardt to serve as the NJIT Alumni Center, a gathering place for alumni and friends of the university, will be completed in a matter of weeks. Continued implementation of the master landscaping plan, which you can view on the NJIT web site, will occur at various times throughout the next several years. A campus master plan, which will result in plans for various academic and research programs and several building sites, will be completed this year. Included will be development of plans for future use of the land now occupied by the pizza restaurant and copy shop on Warren Street across from the soccer field, which NJIT recently acquired. We will take ownership as the property is vacated.

In addition to various NJIT landscaping and construction projects mentioned, a new 800 bed student housing facility is being built by a private developer on the corner of Lock and Central where once stood a cadre of automobile repair shops. This two-building facility will open in phases, the first of which we anticipate being in the fall of 2006. This facility will assist us in continuing to grow the population of students essentially living on or just next to the campus as we continue the transition from a largely commuter campus to a largely residential campus. This fall, more than half of the freshman class will live on campus.

We continue efforts to provide more of what is traditionally present on a residential campus, including the enhancement of the athletic and recreational facilities, for everyone’s enjoyment, and the intercollegiate athletic program from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I, the most competitive division. The athletic transition will take place over four years, in phases, with the transition of the men’s soccer team complete, the women’s team to follow in two years, and the remainder of the program in four years. You will see competitors, highly ranked academically as well as athletically, on some of the schedules this year, including Boston University, Army, and the University of Maryland. Alignment with these universities of national impact will continue over the next few years.

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. We will be working with them on concepts to transform the neighborhood around campus to one of improved housing, restaurants, and shops as well as the redevelopment of downtown, including the Newark Arena to house the New Jersey National Hockey League team the New Jersey Devils. These are always on-going efforts, never really completed, but pointed toward constant improvement in and around NJIT.

Our academic programs are challenging, yet rewarding. Approximately a quarter of our students ranked in the top tenth of their high school class, and most incoming freshmen had composite SAT scores between 1020 and 1220. Your degree will have 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 current on campus news.

Have a good year.

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