Strategic Progress Report - February 2019

Health Sciences

• Henry P. Becton School of Nursing and Allied Health
  • The Nursing Schools Almanac released its 2018 rankings of the top U.S. nursing schools and Fairleigh Dickinson University ranked #62 in the Mid-Atlantic Region. According to Christopher McMillen, Editor-in-Chief of the publication, data was collected from 3,000 institutions across the country and only 15% made their list of top nursing schools in each region. This is the first time FDU was ranked.
  • The BS in Health Studies program continues to grow at both the Metropolitan and Florham campuses. Total enrollment in the program is now 210. Many students and parents attended the recent open house for Careers in Healthcare at the Metropolitan Campus.
  • A needs assessment for a PhD program in Nursing will be conducted in summer 2019.
  • The Helene Fuld Trust Scholarship was awarded to 10 Accelerated BSN students for a total of $50,000. Other scholarships from Becton Dickinson, William Lewis and Van Houten were also awarded for spring 2019.
  • The 2018 pass rate for School of Nursing and Allied Health graduates on the NCLEX-RN exam was 90%, among the highest in New Jersey.
  • The 2018 AANC Certification Exam results for the MSN NP Programs were as follows:
    • Gerontology NP Program - 100% pass rate
    • Family NP Program - 100% pass rate
    • Family Psych/Mental Health NP Program - 82% pass rate
• School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
  • The School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences recently received notice that the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education accepted recent updates to the interprofessional and co-curricular standards submitted by the School as part of its annual update, so the School has now moved all standards to "fully compliant."
  • The School will be hosting Disney's Approach to Quality Service as part of an ongoing training to its students, faculty, staff and partners on how to deliver quality service within the environments of healthcare, higher education and other industries across the spectrum.
  • The School's leadership has been invited to join the New Jersey Overdose Treatment Access Collaborative, a group that has received NIH Grant funding to explore ways to involve healthcare professionals across the continuum of care to address the opioid crisis in the state of New Jersey.
  • The School's inaugural Becton Dickinson fellowship program has gotten off to a successful start, with the inaugural fellow being hired by Becton Dickinson to work in the Health Economics and Outcomes Research area following the completion of her year-long fellowship this June. Plans are underway for expansion of this fellowship program for the 2019-20 academic year, incorporating a second fellowship opportunity that will be made available to our graduating students this spring.
  • The School's leadership team will be attending a two-day accreditation workshop held in Atlanta, Ga., by the Accreditation Review Commission for Physician Assistant programs (ARC-PA).
  • The School has completed a search for a Director of the Master of Public Health program and has made an offer to a candidate to lead this program, which is slated to begin this fall.

International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

• Different hotel models are still being examined with the goal of reducing construction costs and maximizing the rate of return on investment for all equity partners.
• The curriculum for the MS in Hospitality Management Studies is being updated to include new elements such as social media in hospitality, sustainability and an experiential internship. The goal is to target new markets of working professionals and international students.
• A bridge program has been created that will allow international students with a 3-year degree to take ISHTM's graduate degree in Hospitality Management Studies.
• The ISHTM's Board of Advisors is being reconstituted for a planned meeting in April 2019, with the goal of identifying new members who can provide feedback on current and future industry needs and how ISHTM programs can better meet those needs.
• The School is collaborating with the Office of Global Learning on new recruiting initiatives in Taiwan, China and the United Kingdom (currently in talks with Regent's University regarding FDU offering a post-graduate certificate in Hospitality Management Studies in the UK).

Silberman College of Business

• Silberman College hosted the third New Jersey regional meeting of VEI (Virtual Enterprise International) high schools. Approximately 150 students from 19 schools participated along with their teachers in a series of Business Plan Competition presentations and a trade show. Each year, this event allows FDU/Silberman College to showcase its Florham Campus and provides the College with access to high-performing high school students. For the high school juniors who participated, the College will be holding one or two special events later this spring. Moreover, the College will continue to reach out to these students to promote its programs.
• Over 40 prospective students and their parents joined Silberman faculty and staff at our Florham Campus (15 at Metro) for our annual "Dinner with the Dean" event. The goal of the evening was to talk about the important decision they are making regarding which college to attend, using "dinner" as the venue at which all families make important decisions - and choosing a college to attend is indeed an important decision. Many students said after this event that they have decided to come to FDU in the fall. As an example, one student wrote to a College official indicating that "We spoke last night at the information session and I wanted to thank you for all of the relevant information you provided. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me and my family and from that you have pulled me over the fence and I have decided to attend FDU!"
• The date for the first annual Silberman Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony has been set (September 25, 2019 at the New York City Athletic Club). This event will begin the annual follow-up to the 50^th anniversary event the College held last September.

School of Public and Global Affairs

• The FDU Poll concluded a national survey of people's habits with, and attitudes toward, pharmaceuticals in their home. Nektar Therapeutics was the primary sponsor of the survey through a generous $75,000 grant and FDU's School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences was the co-sponsor.
• The School held two open houses for enrollment at Newark Airport and met with TSA and Delta Airlines to offer the Master of Public Administration at Newark Airport.
• Through a pilot of project-based learning, graduate students are collaborating with faculty on research into racial integration in New Jersey municipalities. The team is led by former Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro and best-selling author Dale Russakoff.
• The School has added certificate programs in Public Management and Global Transportation to award (and retain) students halfway through their graduate program, and on March 4 students in the MA in Global Affairs program will be awarded certificates in International Relations and Diplomacy.

School of the Arts

• On December 6, the School's Advisory Board held a visioning session led by the Angeletti Group. The focus of this session was on setting fundraising objectives and how to build a donor base.
• The search for a Director of the School is moving forward. Telephone interviews with twelve semi-finalists have been completed and the School plans to bring four finalists to campus by early March.
• USA Architects has completed renderings for enhancement of facilities, including expansion of the space dedicated to the School. After further review by senior administration, the School will begin a fund-raising campaign.
• The Board is in the process of seeking new members who can support the School both through funding and engagement.
• Stacie Lents' new play, In Real Life, will premier in The Barn next month. It promises to be as exciting and controversial as her earlier works.
• The Full Monty is scheduled to begin performances in April. A Dinner and Show package will be available for the April 6 performance.
• Graphic Design students recently put together a poster exhibition on "Seeking Humanity in America's Prisons." The exhibit is on display in the hallway of the College Writing program in the Monninger Center.

University Advancement

• Total commitments to One University Many Dreams through January 31, 2018 total $62.8 million.
• The University will be receiving a donation of $806,000 from the estate of Philip Roman, Class of 1957, for the establishment of the Philip Roman Endowed Scholarship in Engineering.
• Gene Waddy, CEO of Alpha Business Solutions, has joined the Campaign Steering Committee and will be leading the drive to secure funding for the new Metropolitan Campus Center.
• Cash contributions received by the University through January 31, 2019, are $4,901,641, an increase of 50% compared to January 31, 2018.

Other Important Strategic Initiatives

• Restructuring Across the New Jersey Campuses
  • Discipline-specific working groups of faculty from the two New Jersey campuses have been meeting to develop common curricula, which should be completed by the end of February and will be approved by June 2019.
  • The University Faculty Senate has created an ad-hoc committee that will work with the University Provost to make the necessary changes to the Faculty Handbook regarding Faculty Status reviews, structures of various governance committees, etc. All recommended changes will be brought to the Board for approval in June 2019.
  • A University Director of Honors Programs has been appointed and charged with aligning and unifying our various honors programs across the campuses and to lead the Honors Academy which is currently recruiting its second cohort of students for entry in fall 2019.
• Revitalizing the Metropolitan Campus
  • Following a national search, Steven Nelson has been appointed to be the next Metropolitan Campus Executive, effective March 1, 2019. Steven will be leading the charge on many of the planned initiatives to continue the revitalization of the campus.
  • On Saturday April 27, the University will be co-hosting "City of Science," in partnership with the World Science Festival, in the Rothman Center. This is a science event that will include interactive demonstrations, hands-on activities and exhibitions, as well as exhibits from our own science and engineering faculty. The goal is to expose students and their families to the excitement of STEM fields and to FDU and the various programs FDU offers in STEM subjects.
  • The Provost recently created a Sustainability Task Force comprised of faculty, staff and students who will work on creating new programs and initiatives related to sustainability across the University.
• Sample of New Enrollment and Retention Initiatives
  • Financial awards for transfer students have been revised (increased), with the goal of enrolling a higher number of transfer students and reducing the overall student discount rate.
  • Petrocelli College and Teaneck High School are working together to provide Middle College programming to all 11^th and 12^th grade students in Teaneck beginning this coming fall.
  • The production and delivery of the Parents Matter video series, for parents of new students on the Metropolitan Campus, has been completed. The Florham Campus series will be launched this coming fall. These videos are designed to increase student retention.
  • Graduate admissions has been shifted from paper to an electronic format. International admissions is next.
  • Assessment of non-cognitive variables for 527 freshmen has been finalized, using 25 trained campus volunteers. The Launching Success Coach program is now being implemented to address those students who are at risk of attrition.
  • Aggressive retention initiatives are underway, with a special focus on improving administrative issues that students believe are problematic.
  • Admissions has worked closely with Athletics on both campuses to overhaul the admissions and financial aid process for prospective student-athletes, resulting in improvements in recruitment efforts for fall 2019.
  • A new marketing campaign, Make your mark, will soon be underway. Ads will run at Newark Airport, in The New York Times and in Bergen Magazine, as well as in or at other venues.
  • Utilization of a new online chat platform for selected (trained) current students and students who were recently admitted to the University is underway, with the goal of improving yield.
  • Teacher Appreciation Day was recently initiated to generate new teacher ambassadors from area high schools.
  • Contracts with new agent firms in China and India have been finalized, with the goal of increasing international student enrollment beginning in fall 2019.
  • A funding proposal has been developed, in collaboration with the ISHTM, for the United Nations, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank to fund hospitality training in the Caribbean.