Strategic Progress Report - June 2020

Health Sciences

• Henry P. Becton School of Nursing and Allied Health
  • The School continues to plan for a DNP Nurse Anesthesia program.
  • Important revisions to the BS in Health Studies curriculum have been made, including the addition of contact tracing as a career goal for graduates of the program.
  • There has been an increased interest in the nursing program. Freshmen deposits for the BSN for Fall 2020 were 118 at Metro and 71 at Florham as of 5/29/2020.
• School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
  • The School of Pharmacy's Class of 2019 graduates continued to trend well above the national average in NAPLEX passing rate, and near the top of average scores for the northeast region among schools of pharmacy. The School's students achieved a pass rate of approximately 92%, which is above the national average of 90.1% and the state of New Jersey average of 91.6%.
  • The School has now established a total of four post-graduate fellowships with partner institutions, including two at Becton Dickinson (in regulatory affairs and health economics outcomes research) and two at Bayer (in the same areas).
  • The School hosted Disney's Approach to Business Excellence this past March, with over 200 in attendance for the one-day event.
  • The School's Dean and Associate Dean have joined with faculty member Grace Earl (who serves as the New Jersey Pharmacists Association president-elect) on a task force that has worked to provide integral guidance to establish pharmacists as a front and center resource amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The Physician Assistant program will undergo its site visit for initial accreditation via a virtual visit on July 20-21 (delayed from June 1-2 due to the current pandemic). To date, the program has established all of the necessary pieces to seek accreditation, including the build-out of a 30-month curriculum, the creation of an experiential network to account for all clinical aspects of the program, the hiring of the initial program faculty and staff, and the creation of all necessary programmatic policies and documents.
  • The School established an inaugural cohort of students who can pursue the Doctor of Pharmacy-Master of Public Health dual degree option, and has enrolled approximately 25 students in this concurrent degree track.
  • The MSW program development is underway, and the MSW program was recently approved by the Council for Social Work Education (CSWE) to proceed to the second phase of the accreditation process, known as the candidacy phase.
  • The MSW has hired its first faculty member and its fieldwork coordinator, preparing it for the next phase of accreditation review.
  • The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) has granted our request to accelerate our timeframe to open the OTD program from 2024 to 2022. The new site visit date, granted for late 2022, will authorize the School to seat its first class in January 2023 if all milestones have been met.

International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

• The School has developed a student online academic and personal support infrastructure to support students while studying away from campus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The School has also systematically redeveloped all its courses, applying best practices in online instruction methodologies.
• The School has put in place a school level (Hospitality and Sports) recruitment initiative, with the addition of sports administration to its portfolio beginning in the fall. The School's name will become the International School of Hospitality, Sports and Tourism Management.
• The School has created a "Professor in Residence" series to replace its 2020 non-existent hospitality summer internships, in light of the pandemic.
• The School has developed and submitted for approval a BA in Hospitality & Tourism Innovation and Excellence.
  • Anticipated start date is Fall 2021 (pending BOT and state approvals).
  • Will be offered at Vancouver Campus as well (pending approval by DQAB and BC Minister of Advanced Education).
  • Will also be offered in partnership with three (3) top European hotel schools at Wroxton College.
• The School has moved its New Jersey-based MS in Hospitality Management Studies online.

Silberman College of Business

• Pierre Balthazard was appointed as the new Dean of the Silberman College of Business and will begin his appointment on August 17, 2020.
• Multiple initiatives continue to enhance the brand of Silberman College. An emphasis on both curricular learning as well as co-curricular learning opportunities, primarily through the College's Professional Development Program (PDP), have enabled the College to enhance the perceived value of an FDU degree in business. Curricular enhancements continue in a spirit of continuous improvement, and the College's ability to boost student internships and placement opportunities speak to this value.
• In addition, an emphasis on preparing students to transition from the academic environment to the professional work environment through the PDP has enhanced students' appreciation of the benefits of an FDU business degree, while also boosting the confidence of employers about the quality of FDU's students.
• A new and updated FDU MBA will be launched in Fall 2021.
• A new concentration and minor in Professional Selling, as well as one in Sales Management are now available to any business major at FDU.
• A minor in Data Science for undergraduates was recently adopted by the College.
• A redesign of the Entrepreneurship major and minor was undertaken to provide a more experiential and state-of-the-art curriculum for interested students.
• Preparations continue for a visit by a Peer Review Team (PRT) from AACSB International to affirm the maintenance of our ACCSB accreditation. The team is scheduled to visit in Spring 2021. Efforts continue on various fronts to ensure that Silberman College is compliant with all 15 standards specified for accreditation.
• Silberman College faculty continue to engage in substantive scholarly activity. They have presented their research at academic as well as professional conferences, have served as speakers to various professional audiences in their respective fields, have been awarded grants for their research, and have received awards recognizing their research.
• During the past few months, the Silberman College Professional Development Program (PDP) was delivered twice weekly via Zoom video and audio conferencing. Topics included the Transitions in the Labor Market, State of the Financial Markets, Self-care and Stress Management, Networking from Your Couch, Video Interviewing, Working in a Family Business, and Meeting a Superstar Alum. Virtual PDPs will continue through the summer, while physical distancing guidelines remain in place.
• An emphasis on student internships and placements has enabled the College to build relationships with many Fortune 500 companies who hire FDU students. Many of these companies have now begun to view FDU as a "core" school. Companies include Barclays Bank, HSBC, Pfizer, BASF, Novartis, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Withum, and many more. Students in this year's graduating class have received offers with starting salaries as high as $82,000.
• The College continues to enjoy successful placement of students in internship experiences. Over 50 firms came to campus or hosted us at their corporate location this past academic year, including Barclays, HSBC, IEX, Ayco, BD, BounceX, and many others.
• Preparations continue to expand the offering of our MS in Accounting using a blended pedagogical model to members of the orthodox Jewish community who live beyond the New York/New Jersey Metro area. This initiative is being undertaken in collaboration with our partner, the PCS group, which helps us currently to deliver the program to this demographic in Lakewood and Montvale, N.J.
• The MS in Taxation program will be converted to a 100% online model, effective Fall 2020.
• The second cohort of MBA students at our Plainsboro, N.J., location of Integra Lifesciences was launched this past term.
• The College has initiated discussions with Schindler Elevator Corporation to deliver the MBA and MS in Supply Chain Management to employees at its Morristown location. The program launch has been delayed until Spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Preliminary discussions have also been initiated with one of the large healthcare provider networks headquartered in New Jersey to develop a version of our MBA program with a focus on healthcare for its employees located across the country.
• In January this year, the Chair of the Silberman College Board of Advisors and Vice Chair of FDU's Board of Trustees, Robert Zatta, committed $250,000 for funding to Silberman College scholarships and initiatives.
• The estate of Silberman College benefactor, the late Marshall Bartlett, confirmed its commitment to continue support of his gift of $1 million to fund Silberman College scholarships as well as other College initiatives.
• Silberman College also welcomed two new Advisory Board members, Sander Flaum and Micheline Nader, who were inducted at the April meeting.
• Micheline Nader and her husband, Francois, contributed $50,000 through their Jesra Foundation to fund initiatives within Silberman College as well as the Rothman Institute.
• Novartis U.S. Foundation contributed $10,000 towards Silberman Faculty and Student Development Fund.

School of Public and Global Affairs

• The Master of Administrative Science (MAS) and several other programs will officially join the School on July 1. The School will operate on at least three campuses and, in addition to the survey research group, the FDU Poll (formerly PublicMind), it will include five graduate programs:
  • Master of Arts in Global Affairs
  • Master of Public Administration
  • Master of Administrative Science
  • Master of Cyber and Homeland Security Administration
  • Master of Student Services Administration
  • The faculty of the newly configured School recently revised the School's strategic plan and unanimously endorsed it.

School of the Arts

• Construction of a newly renovated Animation Lab on the top floor of Florham's Dreyfuss Hall will move ahead this summer thanks to the generosity and vision of stalwart supporter, Krys Doerfler. The new state-of-the-art glass walled facility was designed by NK Architects and will feature an expanded footprint from 17 to 21 student workstations and other enhancements such as: drawing tablets, sit/stand desks, storage and display capabilities, programmable lighting, HVAC, virtual reality and motion capture technology, and a dedicated 3D printing room.
• An inaugural collaboration with the Morristown Festival of Books featured MFA Creative Writing Director Rene Steinke moderating an authors' panel and hosting an Open Mic on campus to launch the prestigious festival's programming.
• The School sponsored and hosted Film Festival De Cine in conjunction with LatinXiones, a collaborative project of Morris Arts to engage the local Latinx community. This theme carried forward to our annual WAMfest (Words, Arts, and Music Festival). WAMfest showcased special appearances on campus from: Chita Rivera, New Jersey Ballet, American String Quartet, Arts by the People, and indie singer/songwriter Ambar Lucid.
• Our partnership with New Jersey Ballet took a leap forward as FDU students are now able to enroll in classes at its new state-of-the-art facility in Florham Park for academic credit.
• FDU's Film Department's Client Video Class volunteered with the Women's Association at Morristown Medical Center (WAMMC) on its "Calling All Kids" Campaign. WAMMC's in-house video project's success and growth is vital to its youngest patients healing. This special project provided FDU students with professional client work and strengthened our relationship with Morristown Hospital/Atlantic Health, which our Animation Program also supports through internships.
• In response to the unique challenges of distance learning in the arts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the School launched a web series called FDU Arts Talk to bring industry leaders in arts and culture to engage with our students, faculty, and community-at-large. Featured guests included: two-time Tony-Award winner Norbert Leo Butz; Film Producer of The Irishman, Joker, and Wolf of Wall Street, Richard Baratta; and Chris Nee, Emmy/Peabody winner ad creator of Disney's mega-hit animated series Doc McStuffins and many others.

University Advancement

• Commitments to the capital campaign are now close to $70 million.
• Total giving through May 31, 2020 is $13,369,882, up 70% from May 31, 2019.
• Total donors through May 31, 2020 is 5,126, down 3.6% from May 31, 2019.
• Our 42 Hours of Giving generated more than $130,000 in gifts from more than 900 donors, in great part thanks to the $50,000 challenge grant provided by Greg Olsen.
• Virtual Charter Day has raised $217,750.
• The University is receiving $230,000 from the estate of Franette Sheinwald for the Florham Campus.
• Hundreds of alumni from across the country attended weekly Webinars on topics ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic, to leadership, to online predators-all presented by the Office of Alumni Relations. These will continue throughout the coming year.

Other Important Strategic Initiatives

• Restructuring Across the New Jersey Campuses
  • Academic restructuring Phase I, the merging of Becton College and University College, is complete and has resulted in a new Becton College that operates on both New Jersey campuses with merged departments in like-disciplines. Phase I restructuring is effective July 1, 2020.
  • Academic restructuring Phase II, the realignment of many of the Petrocelli College degree programs with other units at the University where they better fit and where they can flourish, as well as the elimination of programs that no longer align with the University's mission, is complete and also will be effective July 1, 2020.
  • A new Anthony J. Petrocelli Center for Continuing Studies has been developed and will oversee Middle College, Precollege, Community College Partnerships, and additional corporate partnerships. Steve Nelson, Metro Campus Executive, will be the interim Director of the new Center for the coming year.
• Refreshing Summer Sessions
  • After many years of declining enrollment in our summer courses, we developed many course offerings for this year's summer sessions to promote opportunities for students to get ahead with their studies. We also offered a summer tuition discount (take one course at regular tuition and a second and subsequent courses at 50% tuition). These offerings attracted higher than expected enrollment.
  • We also developed a number of non-credit professional development certificate programs for students (including adult learners) who are looking to add to their credentials during the summer while they are also job-seeking. We will offer similar opportunities during the 2020-2021 expanded winter session.
• Other Initiatives
  • We prepared the first annual update of the 5-year financial plan, which included:
    • planned restructuring and a new (reduced) cost structure,
    • new academic programs and initiatives,
    • a facilities and information technology capital plan, and
    • a compensation plan.
  • We have completed the graduate tuition rates study and have implemented new rates for the Fall 2020 semester.
  • As noted above, we have also implemented a summer tuition discount initiative and reduced-rate certificate programs.
  • We are interviewing three firms that submitted proposals in response to our RFP for a new tuition leveraging partner, as our contract with RNL ends on June 30.
  • We are conducting very extensive marketing through social media, SEM, and digital ads utilizing geo-targeting and a database of contacts for the summer term, for our new fall graduate tuition rates, for online studies to students in four major areas in India, and for students admitted or attending elsewhere to stay local this fall with a match on their net tuition if they transfer to FDU.
  • We are conducting a Virtual Parent Information Session the evening of June 10, following two successful Virtual Admitted Student Days. The student platform remains up and live although there are no Zoom meetings occurring at this time.
  • We also launched a new summer term landing page with an online application and registration portals to support the new summer offerings and rates noted above.
  • We are working on developing a virtual campus visit, virtual open houses, and student club/association virtual platforms.
  • We will be merging International Admissions and International Student Services to improve service, efficiency, and to cross train all staff.
  • We are utilizing social media extensively to interact with potential new students and families.
  • We are also implementing operational changes to support a modified academic calendar this coming fall and winter, and we are developing a marketing plan for Fall 2021 recruitment.