Compliance - State
Transition Plan for Â鶹´«Ã½
April 2024
A Transition Plan for Â鶹´«Ã½, authored by the Secretary of Higher Education, was shared with NJCU in April 2024. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:3B-53.6(b)(3), the Secretary of Higher Education was tasked with developing a Transition Plan outlining the process for the withdrawal of the State monitor from the University. The Transition Plan reinforces the findings of the State Monitor’s Fiscal & Governance Monitoring Report and Fiscal Accountability Plan issued on March 12, 2024 and largely reflects the recommendations outlined by the State Monitor.
Full 2024 Transition Plan for NJCU (PDF)
SPH Consulting Group Report
February 2025
FINDING THE RIGHT PARTNER: Due Diligence Support for Exploring Strategic Partnerships
Current leadership and staff at NJCU, in collaboration with the State Monitor, have been working tirelessly to address the fiscal challenges, the extensive deferred maintenance needs, and the significant debt and lease burden, while reducing academic programming, decreasing staff counts by approximately 30%, and striving to continue to meet the ongoing needs of their students and faculty. Significant progress on all these fronts has been made with a dedicated focus on the long-term sustainability of NJCU’s distinctive and important mission.
The higher education environment in the U.S. is currently characterized by a continuing decline in the population of individuals that traditionally sought higher education, increasing costs and regulatory burden, and massive excess teaching capacity. Which in any sector would call for significant consolidation. Consequently, the need for NJCU to consider major institutional restructuring to ensure the sustainability of its mission to its core students, primarily individuals from the Hudson and surrounding counties, in whatever form necessary, was articulated.
A merger was suggested as a potential restructuring option. A Request-for-Proposals (RFP) was issued to identify a firm specializing in mergers in higher education and SPH Consulting Group responded and was selected.
The report that follows stems from this engagement and addresses the due diligence and the partner identification portions of the engagement. SPH understood that a rapid timeline was necessary to meet the milestones of the state’s budgetary process, and that the objective was to assist NJCU leadership in identifying a path forward to sustainable, ongoing, and quality operations at NJCU, so that the institution could continue to successfully serve its core student population. SPH strived to focus its analysis on what would be best for the students traditionally served by the institution, and to provide an external and objective perspective. Information that would assist NJCU and Â鶹´«Ã½ (NJ)state leaders in their decision-making. SPH observations are current as of November 2024, although we understand NJCU leadership has continued to address many of the areas addressed in this report. Following, we provide a summary of our findings to date.
President's Memo to the NJCU Community
February 2025
On February 5, 2025, we gathered as a university community for a candid and constructive forum that underscored the strength of our shared commitment to Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s mission. Faculty, staff, and students engaged in thoughtful exchanges abou t the state of the university, reflecting on both the challenges we face and the opportunities before us. These discussions were not just an exercise in dialogue; they were a testament to our collective resolve to continuously improve, adapt, and future-proof our institution in service of our students and the communities we uplift. This memorandumseeks to capture the key themes that emerged from our conversations— the areas where we are making progress, those that require renewed focus, and the steps we must take to ensure that NJCU remains a beacon of opportunity and excellence for generations to come. More than an assessment of the present, this document is a blueprint for the future—one that is shaped by the voices of those who define our institution and its impact every day.