Ground is broken on a new three-story home for the School of Education; the campus’s first building gets a much-needed facelift; and updates are made to two residence halls.

This year’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Gala, which will be held Saturday, November 13, at the Trenton Marriott at Lafayette Yard, will honor James Boatwright, who retired this summer after directing TCNJ’s EOF Program for nearly a quarter-century.

Under a plan endorsed by the Alumni Association, rooms in Paul Loser Hall will be renamed with past College monikers as a way of acknowledging TCNJ’s 155-year history. Room 123 is now known as “The Trenton State Room.”

Plans for a “Campus Town” development that could add shops, eateries, a health club, and residential space to TCNJ’s campus are moving ahead. Discover how different the campus could look in just a few years.

The Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement’s Demonstration Garden is a 2,000-square-foot plot that bears over two-dozen types of vegetables, herbs, and flowers, many of which have been harvested and delivered to local aid centers.

Two anonymous donations totaling more than half a million dollars have generated an excited state of affairs in the chemistry and biology departments.

CNN reported recently on The College of New Jersey being a cost-effective institution, with many students making their college decisions based on admission prices and the quality of education provided. Read on watch the CNN report.

The Princeton Review and GamePro magazine ranked the College as one of the 50 best undergraduate institutions in the U.S. and Canada at which to study game design. TCNJ was the only New Jersey school that made the list.

The illustration that accompanied the September 2009 feature “Shattering Barriers and Opening Doors” won two awards recently.

During an April 7 lecture in Kendall Hall, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee joked, “I’ll try my best not to say something that’s a career-ender.” But remarks he made that same day to a TCNJ student journalist are reverberating far beyond campus.

Photos from our 2010 Commencement ceremonies.

Photos from our 2010 Commencement ceremonies.

In March, graduates from the Department of Computer Science returned to campus to take part in a panel discussion. The event — “Innovation!” — gave current computer science students the chance to ask the alumni about their successful experiences in starting and maintaining companies.

In order to expedite and enhance public accounting education in New Jersey, TCNJ’s School of Business and Rutgers Business School have entered into an agreement to ease undergraduates’ transition to master’s training.
With the signing of a recent agreement, Rutgers University will offer TCNJ business students admission into its Master of Accounting [...]

TCNJ’s School of Business placed No. 65 out of 111 schools that qualified for inclusion on the 2010 “BusinessWeek” Survey of Best Undergraduate Business Schools.

Alumni and students have been posting their own one-liners to a facebook group that’s dedicated to determining which experiences are quintessentially TCNJ. Read on to discover some of the wittiest responses.

The Art and Interactive Multimedia Building provides nearly 70,000 square feet of studios, classrooms, computer labs, offices, and display space. See what it looks like.

During construction of the new Art and Interactive Multimedia Building, public art was installed on the quadrangle between the new building, Paul Loser Hall, and the Music Building.

Twitter CEO/co-founder Jack Dorsey shared his recipe for success with the campus in October.

David Sarnoff pioneered American commercial radio and television. A collection of his historical treasures and technological innovations has found a new home on campus.

Working closely with faculty mentors, four criminology students are sifting through Lawrence Township Police Department data on traffic stops, response times to calls for service, distribution of crimes, and force workload. The pilot program in crime analytics was made possible thanks to a grant from the Jeffrey R. Ralston Foundation.

Since the earthquake that shook Haiti on January 12, an array of student organizations have been working to generate support for the island nation.

The College of New Jersey is ranked at #23 of 100 public colleges in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. The ranking, which appears in the February issue of the magazine, is part of Kiplinger’s annual report on the Best Public College Values.

The oft-controversial Australian philosopher Peter Singer spoke on campus recently about extreme poverty in developing countries and the reasons why members of an affluent society are so reluctant to help fight it.

Read how the College’s endowment fared during the economic uncertainty of the previous fiscal year. Plus, a link to the new “Honor Roll of Donors” Web site.

Hungry students returning to campus this fall had their choice of two newly renovated eateries at which to dine. Sneak a peek at the new layouts.

Last June’s “Survey Says…” article asked you to brag about how special your alma mater is. Here are some new points of pride that you can share with friends and family.

TCNJ’s scores in the five benchmark categories of the National Survey of Student Engagement exceeded those of a comparison group of institutions with which the College typically competes for students. Find out which ones.

An alumna, the vice president of a real estate services firm, and a former trustee chairperson returning after a 12-year hiatus were recently sworn in as the newest members of TCNJ’s Board of Trustees.

On Tuesday, October 2, students, faculty, and staff gathered to dedicate TCNJ’s newest residence halls and honor William H. Hausdoerffer ’36, the former student, professor, and administrator for whom one of the buildings is named. Read on to see photos from the event.

Students in Lincoln Konkle’s “Springsteen’s Lyrics as Literature” course are examining the timeless, universal themes—such as growing up, love, death, political power, religious faith, and doubt—that are a part of the Boss’s songwriting.

Several events that are open to alumni are scheduled for International Education Week, November 16 through 20, 2009.

Two new buildings, one new name. Find out about the College’s newest residence halls and the men for whom they are named.

Despite a steep rise in subscription fees, the School of Business Financial Learning Center has renewed access to its Bloomberg Terminal, a prized, professional-level electronic research and training tool utilized by business people worldwide as a real-time market database.

Every year, the committee develops a host of linked courses and programs in support of a singular theme. Plans for the 2009–10 academic year include discussions by a diverse group of speakers on “the family,” a series of College Art Gallery exhibits focusing on the topic, and a selection of topical First Seminar Program courses.

The Alan Dawley Center for the Study of Social Justice is a thriving resource for campus. Read more about the center’s newest initiatives.

A video recap of Senior Week events and Commencement.

Photo recap of Reunion Weekend 2009, which featured awards presentations, a nostalgic look at 50 years of student life, concerts, and much more!

Commencement Day 2009 was memorable for all 1,600+ students who received degrees, but it was doubly so for Joe Palumbo ’07, MA ’09. After receiving his master’s degree that morning, he proposed to his girlfriend, Christine Fasano ’07, that afternoon inside her old dorm room in Townhouses West.

Political commentator Ann Coulter and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean spoke on campus this past semester.

The magazine’s online component received top honors in the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District II’s 2009 Accolade Awards program in the “Magazine–Web sites” category.

A recap and photo gallery from the on-campus event celebrating EOF’s four decades of success in providing access to TCNJ for highly motivated, yet economically disadvantaged students.

The Alumni Association bestowed its highest honors on James Gater ’71, MEd ’80, Susan Clayton Hibbard ’70, and Linda Suydam ’69 during Reunion 2009.

Children’s book illustrator and author Brian Pinkney spoke to adjunct professor Patricia Slager’s Multicultural Children’s Literature classes on Thursday, April 1.

A new partnership between The College of New Jersey and New Jersey School for the Deaf (NJSD) is paying benefits to the students from both schools who are involved.

As part of her MD/PhD coursework at Yale University, Katherine Uyhazi ’05 is doing research work at the Yale Stem Cell Center. In February, Uyhazi returned to TCNJ to give a talk, “MDs, PhDs, and Stem Cells: Everything You Wanted to Know but were Afraid to Ask,” as part of the Young Alumni Lecture Series. Afterward, she told us about the research she is doing.

The Corporation for National and Community Service honored The College of New Jersey today with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities.

TCNJ Musical Theatre’s production of Seussical! thrilled Kendall Hall audiences in November. A production of Little Shop of Horrors is scheduled for April. Visit www.tcnj.edu/~tmt for ticket information.

The Center for Assistive Technology and Inclusive Education Studies (CATIES) at The College of New Jersey was awarded a $1,340,430 grant from the US Department of Education for Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities—Projects for Children and Young Adults Who are Deaf-Blind.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine has again ranked TCNJ as the best value in New Jersey among public college and universities. The ranking, which appeared in the December issue of the magazine, is part of Kiplinger’s annual report on the “100 Best Values in Public Colleges.”

David Shephard was sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. He spent a decade behind bars before he was able to prove his innocence. Last November, as part of a Wrongful Convictions Forum sponsored by the Bonner Center and the College’s Liberal Learning Program, Shephard detailed the events that led to his conviction and imprisonment, and explained how he regained his life through post-conviction DNA testing.

PERSIST (Program to Enhance Retention of Students in Science Trajectories) in Biology and Science will assist economically disadvantaged students by providing scholarships of up to $10,000 per student per year. The four-year program is made possible by a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

TCNJ Foundation received donations from a number of sources last fiscal year.

“Wilder in the Twenty-first Century,” held on campus in October, was the first international conference dedicated to the study of the playwright/novelist Thornton Wilder. Read more about the event.

Read what “U.S. News & World Report,” The Princeton Review, and “Creative Colleges” had to say about The College of New Jersey

Lollanobooza 2008 brought together thousands of students, faculty, and staff for fun, alcohol-free activities on what is traditionally one of the biggest drinking nights of the week. Watch a video recap of this campus tradition.

With an ongoing national teacher shortage, especially in the areas of science, mathematics, special education, and world language, The College of New Jersey took action by hosting the New Jersey Future Educators Association Conference. Watch a video recap of the the event.

While some of us kicked back and relaxed this past summer, 69 students and 41 faculty members spent their “vacations” collaborating on scholarly and creative projects in fields related to the arts and humanities, the social and physical sciences, business, and engineering as part of the College’s Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience.

Pictorial recap of Commencement 2008, held on campus May 16.

The second annual President’s Scholarship Reception, held Friday, April 25, provided the opportunity to honor benefactors of TCNJ Foundation scholarships, and connect these donors with the students their scholarships benefit. The evening also featured the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Art and Interactive Multimedia Building. The building, which will feature studios, classrooms, offices, computer laboratories, and a recording studio, is scheduled for completion in fall 2009.

The School of Business achieved its first-ever ranking in the Business Week Survey of Best Undergraduate Business Schools, placing 72nd out of the 96 undergraduate business schools that qualified for inclusion in the 2008 survey. TCNJ is the only school ranked in the prestigious survey that caters exclusively to undergraduate business education.

In the wake of last year’s Virginia Tech shootings, TCNJ implemented a text- and voice-messaging emergency-alert system on campus last fall. Students, staff, and faculty can sign up to receive text-message alerts about campus emergencies, timely warnings of criminal activity, and information on major campus shutdowns.

United States colleges and universities are graduating fewer individuals with science, technology, and engineering degrees, and within those ranks, very few of the graduates come from the inner cities. Now, with the help of a generous new grant from the Martinson Family Foundation, TCNJ will help to cultivate the future engineers of New Jersey.

In July 2008, Carol Bresnahan, PhD, will begin her tenure as provost and executive vice president. She comes to TCNJ from the University of Toledo, where she served as the vice provost for academic programs and policies and as professor of history. During her time there, Bresnahan oversaw the first-year-experience, honors, study-abroad, and service-learning programs, as well as the offices of the university registrar and undergraduate research.

The First-Year Experience Program at The College of New Jersey recently restructured its model to enhance the community engagement requirement for freshmen students. The Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement has taken a leading role in this effort, creating a more eclectic and inspirational experience in an effort to impassion students to continue their volunteer efforts beyond their curriculum requirement. Each incoming freshman must participate in specific learning seminar classes or in one of the many issue-based Community Engaged Learning days that are scheduled throughout the year.

Two hundred years ago, Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) induction ceremonies were covert affairs complete with secret handshakes and rituals. Things were decidedly less secretive on April 9, when the Delta of New Jersey chapter of PBK was installed at the College and the first class of TCNJ students was inducted into the society.

A recent study focusing on the retention rate of TCNJ students who entered the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Program in 2004 showed that a new funding initiative has produced exceptional results. While the EOF Program has enjoyed considerable success since it was adopted by the College in 1968, the EOF Promise Award initiated by President R. Barbara Gitenstein three years ago has caused a spike in the rate of retention of EOF students.

The First-Year Experience Program at The College of New Jersey recently restructured its model to enhance the community engagement requirement for freshmen students.

Is TCNJ successfully serving its role as a bridge to graduate study? Do its transfer students graduate within an acceptable time frame? How do the knowledge bases of TCNJ students grow throughout their college experiences? To answer questions like these, as well as many others, the College established the Center for Institutional Effectiveness this fall.

After a year of evaluating and reinventing itself in response to President Gitenstein’s challenge to “articulate a new student development model” and “foster a campus culture that values student life professionals as essential partners in the learning process,” student life, now the Division of Student Affairs, has redefined its mission and restructured its delegation. The reorganization provides a more definitive role for student affairs administrators in an effort to enrich the students ’ living experiences at the College.

For the 16th year in a row, TCNJ is the top public college in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Universities—Master’s category for the northern region of the country. Overall, the College ranks fifth out of 165 public and private institutions in the classification.

The College unveiled its Academic/ Administrative and Housing Facilities Master Plans last semester, outlining major changes that will take place to the campus’s physical structure over the next 15 years