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New Campus Names, Identities

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s two New Jersey campuses offer distinctive learning experiences, and now two new names with accompanying points of distinction are being introduced to better define and promote each campus.

For the past several months, utilizing research from the University’s Admissions Consultant George Dehne and Associates, University administrators, working with campus committees, have developed new names and identities for the Teaneck-Hackensack and Florham-Madison campuses. The Teaneck-Hackensack Campus will be known as the Metropolitan Campus for Professional and International Studies, while the Florham-Madison Campus will be called the College at Florham, a name focusing on the centerpiece of the campus, the Mansion. To best define and describe each campus, their characteristics are being singled out in the following manner:

• Fairleigh Dickinson University’s College at Florham, located on a former Vanderbilt-Twombly estate in suburban Madison (Morris County), N.J., offers undergraduates a classic experience for the contemporary world in a small college setting. Its focus is on providing outstanding on-campus and residential living opportunities, hands-on learning experiences, strong graduate and professional school preparation, and customized educational options — all framed by a global perspective.
• The University’s Metropolitan Campus for Professional and International Studies, located in the dynamic New York/New Jersey corridor in Teaneck (Bergen County), N.J., features a university atmosphere with an international perspective, attracting students from the United States and around the world. Undergraduates have access to the resources of a major graduate center, and nearby New York City is an integral part of their learning experience. Accelerated bachelor’s/ master’s options are among its many professional preparation programs.

Effective immediately, these identities are being used to describe the campuses to incoming students (particularly first-time, full-time undergraduates). And, specific programs are being planned to roll out the new names on a broader basis, but the formal change will not take place until the beginning of the fall semester. The task of crafting the new identities began last semester with the creation of a University Positioning Committee, chaired by Art Petrosemolo, associate vice president of communications and marketing, and consisting of Gary Hamme, vice president for enrollment and career management; Mark Campbell, senior vice president for government and community affairs and executive associate dean, New College; James Lyddy, senior vice president for University advancement; Richard Bronson, interim campus provost, T-H; Peter Falley, provost, F-M; Howard Silver, electrical engineering, T-H; Marilyn Rye, English / communication / philosophy, F-M; Bill Kennedy, director of Web operations; and Donald Begosh, BS’59, MBA’82, R, president of the Alumni Association Board of Governors.

“We worked closely with the strategic planning committees on each of the campuses,” Petrosemolo said, “and listened to the input of students, faculty and administrators. Fortunately, much of the Dehne Report mirrored many of the findings of the campus strategic planning committees.”

Bullet points of distinction were developed for each campus as well as finalizing names to describe the locations. There was a real need, Petrosemolo said, to move away from the current geographic locations of hyphenated Teaneck-Hackensack and Florham-Madison and focus on the composition and particular strengths of the campuses.

“The challenge has been,” said Gary Hamme, “that we have two very distinct campuses, each appealing to a different segment of the college-age population. We are now focused on helping prospective students choose the right campus to meet their needs.”

The initial changes in the use of the campus names can be seen on the University Web site, where College at Florham and Metropolitan Campus are used as descriptors. Also the University’s new admissions literature, aimed at the incoming class and beyond, now uses the new campus names after “Fairleigh Dickinson University.”

“Plans for rolling out the new names and identities are being discussed,” Petrosemolo said. “Our campus committees have recommended we introduce the change formally to the entering class of 2006 at orientation in August 2002, and that is our plan. In all likelihood, we will use the existing candle-lighting ceremony, the first day freshmen and transfer students arrive on campus, to unveil the new names.”

Other visible positioning changes under consideration are new campus banners to use at University events, revised interior campus signage welcoming visitors to the Metropolitan Campus or the College at Florham, and modified identities on campus athletics fields.

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