Stevens Keeps Moving Forward

With a record-breaking incoming class and new faces in key leadership roles, the fall 2024 semester brought exciting changes to Stevens. With the spring semester now in full swing, I am delighted to say that Stevens continues to make great strides. Members of the Stevens community are excelling in every area of endeavor, and I would like to thank all of the faculty, staff members and students who responsible for our success.

As I noted, this academic year brings us a record-breaking incoming class and a streamlined organizational structure.

More than 2,700 new students joined the Stevens community this year. About 1,100 are full-time, first-year students, and they came from a highly competitive pool. More than 24% are from underrepresented ethnic groups — a Stevens’ record and 22% jump from last year — and 34% are women. This is a credit to Stevens’ ongoing effort to improve diversity and expand opportunity.

Also arriving at Stevens for 2024-2025 was a new Dean of the School of Business, GJ De Vreede, who joined us after serving as interim dean of the University of South Florida (USF) Muma College of Business. An accomplished administrator and distinguished scholar, I am confident that he will continue the school’s remarkable progress.

Restructuring and Growth

Our largest school, the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science, expanded this year with the addition of the Department of Systems and Enterprises, formerly the School of Systems and Enterprises. This reorganization will no doubt help bolster our systems engineering programs and aid recruitment. I am grateful to all the members of the faculty and staff who made the transition happen seamlessly at the start of this semester.

Our research enterprise has continued to be restructured and modernized under the leadership of Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Ed Synakowski, who has brought in new professionals to manage Office of Sponsored Programs, Office of Technology Commercialization, Office of Research Integrity and Compliance, and the Office of Electronic Research Administration.

Research continues to be a strength, helping Stevens build a reputation that belies our relatively small size. FY24 research expenditures of $63.8 million were a record, up from $51.7 million during the previous year. Research awards were down from the previous year, but the number of proposal submissions during the current fiscal year is a record.

SUCCESS – On Campus and Abroad

This academic year is the first for our new core curriculum, which is now required for all of our incoming undergraduates. The curriculum, called SUCCESS — Stevens Undergraduate Core Curriculum: Essential Skills for Success — ensures that our students are comprehensively prepared and equipped with the knowledge, technological literacy and entrepreneurial skills required to succeed in the 21st century.

We have also started down the road toward expanding our online education offerings. Arshad Saiyed, hired last spring, hit the ground running this fall in his role as Chief Online Learning Officer and Dean of Professional Education. He is spearheading Stevens’ efforts to deliver high-quality, technology-infused online courses and expand access to our programs.

We also continued to see our international influence and reputation grow. In September, I accompanied New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to Montreal for the signing of a memorandum of understanding intended to strengthen the connections between fintech developments in the Montréal/Quebec and New York/New Jersey global financial centers.

I am also pleased that after hosting September's Africa-US Presidential Forum on STEM, AI and MBA, Stevens was able to partner with the Nekotech Center of Excellence to recruit and enroll talented students from Liberia.

All of this has helped cement our standing in the academic world. Thanks to initiatives such those I mentioned – and your ongoing commitment to excellence – Stevens ranked No. 76 among the best universities in the United States, according to the U.S. News & World Report annual list of college rankings.

Thanks for all your contributions! I wish you all a successful spring semester!