INFORMATION FOR
New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Margo Chaly visited William Paterson University on Wednesday, October 7, with Deputy Secretary Carlos Barrezueta meeting with students to hear firsthand about their college experiences, concerns, and aspirations, and conferring with William Paterson President Richard J. Helldobler and other campus administrators.
The centerpiece of the visit was a private roundtable discussion with eight William Paterson students representing a variety of academic majors and extracurricular experiences. During the hour-long conversation, Chaly invited students to share what they hope to achieve through their education, the challenges they face, and their perspectives on higher education issues including accessibility, affordability, well-being and belonging, and workforce preparation.
Several participating students have benefited directly from state-supported initiatives, including the Educational Opportunity Fund, which provides academic and financial support to students from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds; the Hunger-Free Campus grant program, which helps colleges address food insecurity among students; and “ReUp,” an initiative to reengage adults who had begun college in the past but stopped out for personal or financial reasons.
During her visit, Chaly toured William Paterson's Nel Bolger RN Nursing Simulation Laboratory, a state-of-the-art training facility within the University's School of Nursing, which enrolls more nursing students than any other college campus in New Jersey.
She also visited the University's Speech and Hearing Clinic, a regional public resource that provides diagnostic and therapeutic services to community members while serving as a clinical training environment for graduate students pursuing master's degrees in speech-language pathology.
