Stockton Holds Line with No Increases in Tuition or Fees for 2013-14 Academic Year

President Herman Saatkamp

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Board of Trustees voted Wednesday, July 10 to approve the operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2014 with no tuition increase.

“Stockton is mindful of the issues our students and their parents face in paying for college,” said President Herman Saatkamp, “and we are determined to keep their costs down while maintaining the quality of a Stockton education.”

“Through economies such as our energy-savings and other sustainability programs, Stockton will manage its resources to benefit students, parents and taxpayers,” President Saatkamp said.

The budget passed by the State of New Jersey includes level funding for state colleges and universities.

Other costs, such as salary increases negotiated by the state, are rising and we need to absorb these, noted Charles Ingram, vice president of Administration and Finance for the college. “Historically, the college has been fiscally conservative and we’re continuing to capitalize on that to manage our budgets.”

Undergraduate tuition for a full-time student from New Jersey is $3,974.09 per semester, the same as last year’s. Stockton’s flat-rate tuition program enables full-time students to take between 12 and 20 credits and pay the same rate. Students who take 20 credits can graduate sooner and potentially save thousands of dollars in the cost of classes and housing or commuting.

Fees for all undergraduate students also remain unchanged for the coming year, at $2,186.94 per semester. These fees cover a range of services such as course supplies, technology fees and also help finance the college Wellness Center.

Tuition and fees for master’s and doctoral courses also will remain the same. Room and board, passed at the May 8 board meeting, increased an average of 2 percent, depending on the housing and meal plans chosen.

President Saatkamp noted that the college has worked hard to increase scholarships for students through fund-raising, with about $11 million budgeted for this year.

“Stockton is proud to be able to hold the line on behalf of our students without cuts in services or jobs,” President Saatkamp said. “Though moderately priced compared with our peer institutions, Stockton’s distinctive education prepares students for the global opportunities and challenges they will face after they graduate.”

Stockton Awarded $1M, 3-Year State Grant for K-12 Math Teachers’ Professional Development

 

Math teachers in Cape May and Cumberland counties will be getting professional development from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey via a three-year, $1 million grant from the state Department of Education.

Faculty from Stockton’s School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NAMS) and its School of Education, as well as staff from the Southern Regional Institute and Educational Technology Training Center (SRI&ETTC) will work with 60 teachers from 10 school districts to support successful implementation of the new Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The new standards have been adopted by 46 states, including New Jersey. The standards were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts, to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare the nation’s children for college and the workforce.

The project, titled the Stockton Coastal Collaborative, is expected to receive nearly $1 million in funding over the three years of the Math-Science Partnership.

Participating school districts include Wildwood Public Schools, a K-12 district, Woodbine School District, a K-8 District, Middle Township School District (K-12) and Commercial Township School District, a K-8 District. Cumberland Regional High School and each of its K-8 sending districts including Hopewell Crest, Stow Creek, Greenwich, Deerfield, and Fairfield Township, will also participate.

“The program will guide participating teachers through an exploration of topics that will increase their individual and collective abilities to improve student achievement,” according to a statement by Patricia Weeks, director of the SRI&ETTC in the college’s School of Education who will serve as co-director of the project with Dr. Chia-Lin Wu, associate professor of Mathematics, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Sgt. Tracy Stuart Named Stockton College Police Officer of the Year

Lieut. Cynthia Parker, interim chief of the Police Department, and President Saatkamp present Sgt. Tracy Stuart, center, with her Officer of the Year Award.

Sgt. Tracy Stuart of The Richard Stockton College Police Department was named Officer of the Year at the Board of Trustees meeting July 10.

Sgt. Stuart, Stockton’s first K-9 officer, and her partner, Hemi, graduated from the New Jersey State Police Explosives K-9 Scent School in 2011 after becoming a team earlier that year. Officer Stuart and K9 Hemi have served on the Office of Homeland Security’s Regional Task Force, NJ Detect and Render Safe, since graduating from scent school.
Sgt. Stuart began her career with The Richard Stockton College Police Department in September 2007. She grew up in Plainfield, NJ and now lives in Barnegat, Ocean County.

Officer Stuart was instrumental in organizing and advising the Stockton Neighborhood Watch, which has increased in size annually with her leadership. Her proactive and community-oriented approach to police work were cited as factors that led to her becoming the department’s first K-9 Officer.

Officer Stuart is also a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) instructor and provides training to the campus community each semester.

Sgt. Stuart and K-9 Hemi have maintained a vigorous training schedule to maintain the level of excellence expected from a K-9 Team. She was able to advance K-9 Hemi’s training resume by obtaining a dual certification as an explosives and tracking K9.

Officer Stuart’s many accomplishments and contributions have recently earned her the position of Sergeant of Student Services Administration.

“Sgt. Stuart exemplifies the professional law enforcement officer that The Richard Stockton College Police Department and The Richard Stockton College Community are honored to acknowledge as Officer of the Year,” said Lieut. Cynthia Parker, who is serving an interim police chief and who presented the award to Stuart, along with President Herman Saatkamp.

Dr. Mary Lou Galantino, Who Is on Roster of Fulbright Specialists, Working at Haitian Clinics This Summer

Dr. Mary Lou Galantino

Dr. Mary Lou Galantino, professor of Physical Therapy in the School of Health Sciences, Sara Pitcher, of Hillsborough, NJ, and a student in the doctor of Physical Therapy program and Dr. Galantino’s daughter, Madi Pack, are helping patients at two clinics in Haiti this summer.

The July 21-Aug. 3 trip to two locations on the island covers a lot of ground – literally and figuratively. Healthcare professionals are providing medical services and Madi is "assisting in Jacmel, facilitating dance performances and yoga with 100 kids over the course of a week,” her mother said.

The project also includes working with physical and occupational therapists, doctors and nurses from various countries, studying traditional healing practices and doing research that will continue when they return home.

Dr. Galantino is on the roster of Fulbright specialists for her expertise in HIV-AIDS rehabilitation, cancer rehabilitation and integrative medicine, and is also a yoga instructor and certified wellness coach. “This is an optimal way to serve others, explore a different culture in their context of health and well-being, and have students join in the clinical and research experience,” she said.

The first week was spent at a clinic run by Global Therapy Group outside Petion-Ville, near Port-Au-Prince, Haiti’s capital and largest city.

Global Therapy Group, based on Overland Park, Kansas, went to Haiti immediately after the January 2010 earthquake and is still offering rehabilitation services, Dr. Galantino explained.

They are helping earthquake victims and individuals with chronic disease including musculoskeletal issues, HIV, high blood pressure and stroke, and other diagnoses, she said. Many people lost limbs to the quake, and still need physical or occupational therapy, and there’s a need to help children with developmental disabilities as well, she added.

The three are spending the second week at Jacmel, about four hours from Port-Au-Prince, working with the Haiti Family Initiative, based in Wilmington, DE.

There they are working with a team of physicians, nurses, social workers offering physical therapy wellness programs and services. “We will specifically be targeting women’s and children’s health issues,” Dr. Galantino said.

Emily Bessemer, of Brick, NJ and also a student in the doctor of Physical Therapy program, is helping with the research on this end, Dr. Galantino added. “She was instrumental in doing much of the foundational work in investigating various places to serve and assisting with the research and Stockton’s Institutional Review Board proposal,” she said.

Stockton’s dual-credit partnerships with southern New Jersey high schools, which kicked off in September 2011 with 33 students from the Greater Egg Harbor Township Regional High School District, have grown to include more than 400 students from 10 schools.

The program offers college-level courses to high school students in their own schools, a way for students to save time and money in getting a college degree. Stockton-designed courses are taught by high school instructors who have been trained and mentored by Stockton faculty. The credits are accepted at Stockton when students enroll.
 

For more information on the program: http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/extaffairs/content/docs/pressrel/StocktonOCHighSchoolPartnership2013PressRelease.pdf.