After weeks of rescheduling, NJCU held its second Campus Conversation last Wednesday on October 12th. Students, staff, and professors attended the event which was also live-streamed via Zoom. Many of the questions people asked stemmed from NJCU’s financial emergency, whether it was on more layoffs or the uncertain future of the Fort Monmouth campus. At the end of the meeting, everyone was encouraged to attend the next one scheduled to take place in November.

Laney Fox, a player in NJCU’s women’s basketball team, criticized the use of synchronous classes in order to use up credits. “I can’t lock myself in a classroom,” she told the audience.

“We should be committed to always improving,” administrators replied to her. They also told her that if communication with professors doesn’t work to report it to the Dean.

Biology professor Meriem Bendaoud, who echoed Fox’s testaments, stated that the problem with synchronous courses is that the students are expected to teach themselves. 

Associate professor Max Herman asked if the NJCU faculty and staff would have a say in voting on the interim president. Herman was told that it was a process that was being worked out and that it should be ready within the next month or two. Herman also asked if there would be a comprehensive outreach program, to which he was told that one was in the works.

Gloria Boseman, a long-time nursing professor, said she was about to be furloughed. Boseman asked why after all this time she should still have confidence in the people running the college and where were they when she tried to contact them.

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) Angel Gonzales replied to Boseman saying that “NJCU is worth the fight” and that “we need to move forward.”

Acting Provost and Senior Vice President Donna Breault added “We need to be sensitive to leaders in the state or to what’s going to happen with Fort Monmouth.”

Boseman, who’s also an NJCU senate member, said she felt she was rejected by some of the higher-ups, encouraged to work in the Fort Monmouth campus, had no opportunity to alert her students about online classes, and was at times the only person on campus. 

Jodi Bailey, the vice president of Student Affairs, and Angel Gonzales, the chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer (CDIO) began the event with an acknowledgment and spoke of a $16.5 million HEFT (Higher Education Facilities Trust Fund) grant that had been completed along with a close fiscal deficit with a completed review of infrastructure. 

Ruth Diegue, the Student Government Association (SGA) vice president of Public Relations and Marketing who recently spoke at the White House about reproductive rights, criticized the Board of Trustees and faculty for their lack of representation in the Black and LatinX community.