Priority 1: Learner Advancement And Success
NJIT Makes Career-ready Graduates and Future Leaders.
The landscape of higher education in the United States is changing rapidly and significantly. To leverage the opportunities this change creates, we commit to delivering a STEM-focused education that provides the highest possible value for today’s learners. Our efforts will take into consideration the demographic decline, particularly in the northeastern United States, which is expected to lead to a smaller population of high school graduates, while also addressing the changing public perception of the value of higher education. Our approach will also directly address the fact that today’s students have more choices than ever for career paths post high school, and their expectations of higher education are evolving rapidly, with today’s students demanding flexible anytime support, adaptable programs of learning, and the promise of career success post-graduation.
NJIT is uniquely positioned to thrive within this landscape with its focus on polytechnic education and its role as an Innovation Nexus. With a focus on student success, NJIT will provide an exceptional educational experience reinforced by experiential learning for all learners that emphasizes outcomes, career-readiness, and preparation to become influential contributors to society. NJIT students will be exposed to cutting-edge technologies. They will have access to an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. They will have experiences in research labs, government agencies, and international corporations. Building on NJIT’s already excellent return on investment (ROI) for students, the university will become a student success powerhouse.
Key Metrics
- Retention and graduation rates
- Student satisfaction with quality of instruction
- Percent of students taking part in experiential learning
- National and international awards and recognitions received by students
- Post-graduation employment rate
- Alumni average salary at mid-career
- Student perception of belonging and inclusion on campus
NJIT will continue to invest in Learner Advancement and Success through an ongoing emphasis on student support and delivery of an exceptional education complete with opportunities for meaningful experiential learning. Strategic efforts will enhance efficiencies to provide outstanding student services. New investments will support expansion of the Albert Dorman Honors College and the extension of EOP-level support to additional student cohorts. These efforts will benefit all students, strengthening our pervasive student success infrastructure.
Students come to NJIT for a STEM-focused education that will prepare them for success. Recognizing that students have distinct needs and preferences, we will offer tailored curricula to support all learners, challenge students with advanced learning opportunities, and ensure an equitable education for all students. We will also offer anytime, anywhere learning, removing the educational barriers of space and time.
To ensure that our students are well prepared, our curricula will be at the leading edge of scientific, technical, and research trends as well as industry demand. We will adopt new trends in pedagogy and train faculty in teaching and delivery methods designed to promote and enhance student learning. Finally, we will listen to and learn from our students to identify the practices that are working well and improve where possible.
ACTIONS:
Launch a campus-wide student success initiative, jointly led by the Office of the Provost and the Division of Student Affairs, charged with addressing the obstacles and challenges faced by learners, identifying opportunities for new approaches to education, and implementing changes to our educational enterprise.
Establish a Center for Educational Innovation and Excellence to empower faculty with best practices, innovative technologies, and support for pedagogical research to drive continuous improvement and innovation in our academic enterprise.
Infuse technology across our educational enterprise, with a focus on emerging technologies such as generative AI, ensuring that all learners are exposed to and equipped with the skills and knowledge needed for post-graduation success.
Implement a consistent and strategic approach to delivery modalities that enhances flexibility for all learners while ensuring academic quality.
Experiential learning is a cornerstone of the NJIT educational experience and our objective is to ensure that every NJIT student has such an experience. To support these co-curricular and extracurricular learning experiences, we will expand opportunities for experiential learning such as hands-on training, study abroad, and service learning. At the same time, we will foster industry relationships to create internship and co-op opportunities for our students that enrich their educational programs. Finally, we will support experiential learning as a research sub-discipline at NJIT.
ACTIONS:
Establish a clear and visible administrative structure charged to develop, administer, and promote engagement in experiential learning.
Develop a center for entrepreneurship education and mentoring to foster and increase student and faculty participation in entrepreneurial activities.
Increase participation in international learning opportunities through strategic partnerships with higher education institutions and the establishment of international campuses such as NJIT-Egypt.
Foster interaction and engagement to enrich intellectual and cultural experiences for all students.
Recognizing the challenges faced by students today, we will focus on student services, wellness, and quality of campus life to ensure that students succeed at NJIT. Working with the leaders of the NJIT Student Senate and other student groups and associations, we will foster a dialogue to identify and develop opportunities to enhance the student experience.
ACTIONS:
Enhance student well-being through expanded on-campus access to counseling services and a health clinic that together provide a health and wellness center for students.
Invest in the Campus Center to transform it into a vibrant, inclusive hub that meets the needs of a diverse student body.
Expand the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services to accommodate the growing student body and ensure instructors are equipped to support students with diverse needs.
Diversity begins at student recruitment. To continue to build a diverse community of learners, we will develop, deploy, and monitor recruiting efforts, including pre-college programs, focused on groups that are underrepresented in higher education and at NJIT.
While recruitment builds an incoming cohort of students, engagement is instrumental to student retention and success. In particular, academic advising and mentoring are essential to ensuring that all students receive consistent and clear guidance to assure their progress toward graduation. Student engagement and progress will be monitored so that timely interventions can be implemented.
ACTIONS:
Create incentives for graduates of the Center for Pre-College Programs to attend NJIT and strengthen the connection between pre-college and university experiences.
Enhance recruitment tactics for underrepresented groups via strategies such as the availability of multilingual recruitment literature and staff.
Optimize our structure of academic advising to ensure that every student receives tailored support based on their unique academic journey.
Develop a comprehensive campus-wide mentorship program that supports students throughout their academic and professional development, fostering a sense of community.
Conduct a critical review of first-year offerings to inform strategic modifications to courses and support services available to first-year students, thereby ensuring a smoother transition to college and awareness and use of academic resources.
NJIT students and alumni achieve great successes, and we will proudly share these achievements with the world. Efforts to continue to build our reputation for excellence will include strengthening efforts to nominate NJIT students to national and international awards and prestigious fellowships, supporting student groups engaged in national and international competitions, and promoting student attendance and participation at professional conferences in their areas of study.
ACTIONS:
Strengthen support for student awards, competitions, and activities to facilitate successful student participation in such activities.
Communicate and catalog student achievements strategically to attract future students.
NJIT’s return on investment has been recognized by numerous ranking organizations. Our graduates earn competitive salaries and typically graduate with job offers in hand. To strengthen the outcomes for our graduates, we will maintain vigorous outreach to corporations inside and outside of our geographical vicinity to increase the number and quality of corporations that hire our graduates. Finally, we will tap the potential of our alumni and regional professional associations to mentor our students as they prepare for successful and rewarding careers.
ACTIONS:
Strategically assess our students’ return on investment through career success tracking and analyses.
Redefine Career Development Services to ensure all students have a pathway to post-graduate success.
Create an Employers Circle to derive actionable insights from employers of NJIT graduates.
Develop a graduate education support program to encourage continued learning of recent certificate and master’s program graduates.
Strengthen ties with alumni and professional associations to provide mentoring for students, increase engagement, and enhance networking opportunities between recent graduates and current students.