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Dear NJCU Community,

Happy New Year and welcome back for the Spring 2025 semester!

I am happy to announce that Dr. Louise Stanton, Associate Professor of Political Science and Dr. Yufeng Wei, Associate Professor of Chemistry, have been named the new Co-Directors of the Center for (CEL) at Â鶹´«Ã½.

The Center for Community Engaged Learning is the re-imagined successor to the Center for Teaching and Learning, refocusing the mission on better institutionalizing community engaged learning across campus — a priority of the new .

With a community-engaged learning requirement already incorporated into our in addition to CEL electives embedded in several of our academic programs, we are poised to grow our CEL curricular offerings alongside the number of community partners with which we work. From getting an inside view into how city councils, elections, and justice systems work to how groups go about preserving our bays and waterways, NJCU students already have had incredible firsthand CEL experiences that have shown them how their classroom experiences can lead to real-world change, particularly at the local level. 

NJCU students are able to apply their skills and talents to projects that make an impact. For instance, the digital humanities collaboration between and Hudson Pride has allowed students to use their technical prowess in a way that has brought to life the history of Jersey City’s LGBTQ community in a way not captured before, with the launch of .

Drs. Stanton and Wei have been tireless CEL advocates from NJCU’s earliest forays into this arena. Their teaching portfolios are a showcase of the benefits CEL opportunities provide to students.

Before joining NJCU in 2009, Dr. Stanton enjoyed a career in campaigns, government, and law. She holds a Ph.D. in Global Affairs from Rutgers University-Newark and a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, N.J. She has been a member of NJCU’s since 2009 and, since then, has served as Pre-Law Advisor, Chair of the Department, and Director of the NJCU Honors Program. Louise has been recognized as a committed teacher, receiving the National Society for Leadership and Success Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2019 and the NJCU Vice President’s Award for Community Service in 2016.

Dr. Wei, who received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Columbia University in 1999, joined NJCU in 2015. Since joining our faculty, he has built an impressive track record of obtaining major research and teaching grants from agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health as well as getting first-time accreditation for the by the American Chemical Society. Currently, Yufeng is leading a team of faculty and staff through AAC&U’s Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. He is also organizing a Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) conference, sponsored by the AAC&U, for STEM faculty and administrators, slated for May 2025. Naturally, Community Engaged Learning is the conference’s theme.

Please join me in congratulating Drs. Stanton and Wei on this appointment. Their work will greatly enhance the educational experience of NJCU students, enrich our work with established community partners, and provide the ability to forge new ones. You can contact Dr. Stanton at lstanton@njcu.edu and Dr. Wei at ywei@njcu.edu.

Sincerely,

Dr. Donna Adair Breault
Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs