Alexander Kasser Theater was filled with optimistic students and faculty for President Susan Cole’s annual opening address on Tuesday, September 3.
“As the university evolves the speech evolves,” said Chief of Staff Keith Barrack.
During the event, Cole highlighted new students, staff and faculty joining the school, as well as new initiatives Montclair State will be taking.
“We are shaped by a force that is ruthlessly competitive,” said President Cole.
One thing that has changed this year is the university’s demographics. Each year, it continues to attract more diverse students. The diversity ranges from geography to ethnicity.
This school year, students are coming from 43 states along with Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. An additional point was made that 21% of the population consists of African Americans and 30% of the population identifies as Hispanic.
Out of 16,000 undergraduate admissions, there are 4,600 new freshmen and transfer students, with 3,100 of them being freshmen.
“The job for everyone is to assure they succeed and graduate from the university in a timely manner,” Cole explained.
President Cole also disclosed the most popular majors, which are psychology, biology, business and justice studies. For freshmen who are undeclared, University College is there to help them. This year, University College will be seeing over 900 freshmen who are struggling to declare a major.
A new school year brings new systems. The university will be introducing Navigate, a new system to more effectively engage with students and track their trends. Also being introduced is MONTCLAIRconnect, an online community exclusively for alumni. This will serve as a network to them and a way for the university’s 130,000 graduates to connect outside of social media platforms. While Navigate will be introduced in phases, MONTCLAIRconnect will be launching this Fall.
The university will be welcoming a new class of 16 tenured faculty members this semester along with new guidelines for the athletic training certification, which will require a masters.
Overall, Cole is expecting the 2019-2020 academic year to be one of greater evolution and success for students and faculty alike.
