A Sense of Mission — Adams Enters Second Decade as FDU President (Part 3)


	or Adams, the key to building a sense of mission is to provide support and direction and then to empower individuals to take ownership of ideas and programs. “With the framework in place, we tried to encourage faculty to infuse, integrate, adapt and create global dimensions within the scope of their expertise. Our faculty and staff are innovative and must have the freedom to seize the initiative. By empowering those in the best position to creatively direct programming, we began to transform both the content of programs and the entire academic environment.” The mission statement specifically gave birth to several high-profile efforts early in Adams’ presidency. These included the formation of an Office of Global Learning, which supports a broad array of initiatives. In 2001, FDU became the first traditional university to require that all undergraduate students take one online course per year. All freshmen begin the program with a specially designed Core course, The Global Challenge, which introduces students to global education and to a variety of critical global issues. FDU also created the new category of Global Virtual Faculty™ — now more than 60 scholars and practitioners from around the world who partner with campus-based faculty and bring diverse perspectives to the classroom via the Internet. The University traditionally had ties to the United Nations. Peter Sammartino was well-known for bringing U.N. representatives to the University, and even had students drive ambassadors from New York City to campus. Adams sought to renew that partnership. Together with The Ambassador’s Club at the United Nations, the University established the U.N. Pathways Lecture Series, which to date has welcomed approximately 70 ambassadors or heads of state to campus while also broadcasting videoconferences from U.N. headquarters to FDU and other universities. In addition, FDU earned designation as a nongovernmental organization (NGO) associated with the U.N. Department of Public Information. As such, FDU faculty and students enjoy special access to U.N. programs and briefings. Most recently, FDU became the first comprehensive university in the world to gain special consultative status with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Adams notes, “As a result of this new status, FDU will be invited to send delegates to international conferences and meetings, students will have access to volunteer and internship opportunities in the NGO sector, and I will be able to nominate faculty experts as consultants on issues under study by ECOSOC.” The close relationship with the United Nations was highlighted by the visit last year of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who received an honorary degree during FDU’s Academic Convocation. Among the many other developments that advanced the global mission (See “Mission Milestones & Highlights”) are the expansion of study-abroad offerings; the establishment of dual-degree affiliations with universities overseas; an increase in the number of international students on campus; the creation of Global Scholars (Metropolitan Campus) and Florham Scholars (College at Florham) programs, which provide students with global living-and-learning experiences; and the birth of a new campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which is designed to serve primarily international students. FDU also built the Global Issues Gateway Web site www.gig.org, which features an online academic journal on globalization, tools to virtually connect FDU classrooms to other classrooms worldwide and videos of FDU’s global events. “We have created exciting opportunities for students to experience a global education,” Adams says. “And while the global programs have been conspicuous, we have undertaken many other initiatives that have produced important benefits for the University and our students.” For example, the University established new partnerships with community colleges in New Jersey and expanded its off-campus offerings throughout the state. A new polling institute, FDU’s PublicMind™, made its mark with important survey research on political affairs and other subjects. FDU established online degree-completion programs for the National Guard, as well as other online offerings relating to global security and terrorism studies. More than $3 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense made those programs possible. The University also launched the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise to support sustainable initiatives on campus and in the business community. Puerta al Futuro (Gateway to the Future), an evening and Saturday associate’s degree program that transitions adult Spanish-speaking students into English-language instruction, was created, and similar programs have been developed for Korean- and Chinese-speaking adults. In addition, important investments in FDU’s facilities were made. For example, new residence halls were built on each of the two New Jersey campuses to accommodate the growing numbers of resident students. A new Fitness Center was created on the Metropolitan Campus, and the College at Florham Student Center was renovated and expanded. The International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management moved into a new home in the Chaîne House at the College at Florham, which also houses the world’s premier gourmet society, Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. A state-of-the-art Cyber Crime Training Lab was opened on the Metropolitan Campus, and new science labs were constructed at the College at Florham. Early in Adams’ tenure, the University’s Silberman College of Business gained accreditation from the prestigious AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an honor earned by less than one-third of the nation’s 1,200 business schools. Silberman College and the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies have regularly been featured in The Princeton Review’s Best Business Schools publication, while the undergraduate engineering programs were cited among the best by U.S. News & World Report. In 2006, the University was successfully re-accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. “The accreditation team praised FDU for its significant progress,” Adams says, “and particularly highlighted the development of the global mission, the academic breadth and rigor of the curricula and our improved fiscal health.” The Middle States Commission later evaluated the new FDU-Vancouver and called it a model international branch campus. And Wroxton College was recently awarded ASIC Premier College Status by the Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC), a British organization that evaluates academic institutions. Wroxton College is one of an elite group of 13 colleges in the United Kingdom that have earned this prominent accreditation. The University has gained many other forms of recognition throughout the decade. For example, The Global Challenge won the Instructional Technology Council (ITC ) Award for Outstanding Online Course, and the Global Virtual Faculty™ was honored by the American Council on Education as one of the top programs nationwide deserving recognition for its use of technology to internationalize the curriculum. Most recently, in 2009, Fairleigh Dickinson was selected as one of three spotlight profiles in the annual report Internationalizing the Campus: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities, published by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. “NAFSA is an important organization supporting international education, and this distinction honors the continued advancement of our global mission,” Adams says. In particular, NAFSA cited FDU’s use of technology for faculty development and to internationalize the curriculum. Among other highlights, the Institute of International Education ranked FDU among the top 10 master’s-level institutions nationwide in the number of international students studying on campus. (FDU has nearly 1,100 international students from 88 countries.) And FDU has hosted a wealth of international forums and academic gatherings. Most notably, a two-day Symposium on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution in 2006 spanned both New Jersey campuses, drew more than 1,000 people and featured more than 50 leading human-rights practitioners and scholars. During the decade, FDU also embarked on the most ambitious capital campaign in its history. Called FDU NOW: The Campaign for Fairleigh Dickinson University, the effort has raised more than $40 million for various strategic initiatives. These include funds for the University endowment, scholarships, athletics and key capital projects, including a new academic hub at the College at Florham called the Monninger Center for Learning and Research and a new student union building at the Metropolitan Campus. For Adams, such support is a significant affirmation of the progress achieved at the University. “People have responded so enthusiastically to what is going on here. They are excited to join us and support our efforts and goals.” top of page \| next … On a Mission \| Making the Mission Real \| Making It Personal \| Moving Globally

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