By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
OCEANPORT – On June 27, the Board of Trustees of New Jersey City University announced the school is experiencing a “financial emergency” and facing a $20 million deficit. Layoffs began the next day for primarily nonunion management personnel, including Michael Edmondson, Ph.D., dean of the school’s Fort Monmouth campus.
NJCU president Sue Henderson announced her departure earlier that day, vacating her post July 1 along with Edmondson. Ira Thor, the school’s senior director of University Communications and Media Relations, said, “the entire situation is still unfolding” and a 90-day plan and temporary budget has been instituted. Simultaneously, State Sen. Brian Stack
(D-Union City) is seeking $10 million in state aid to keep the school operating. NJCU’s main campus is in Jersey City.
The Oceanport campus opened in For t Monmouth’s Squier Hall last August after a three year renovation of the 72,000-square-foot circa 1935 building on 22 acres, originally home to the U.S. Army Signal Corps. It was purchased by developer KKF, an affiliate of the PRC Group of Long Branch, a commercial and residential real estate development and property and construction management firm.
“We are fully committed to NJCU at Fort Monmouth and making it a long-term success, along with the educational opportunities that come with it,” Thor said during a phone interview July 1. “A lot will depend on funding from Trenton. Our initial pain will be in the managerial cohort. As of right now, there are no expected changes to any existing student programming.” Three summer class sessions are scheduled at the Oceanport campus and were ongoing at press time.
Edmondson, who led The Two River Times on a hard hat tour of the facility in March 2021, contacted the newspaper June 29 regarding his dismissal. During a phone interview, he said the June 27 board of trustees meeting was the first he heard of the financial emergency.
“This week was one of the most difficult of my career,” he said. “I’m disappointed over having my position terminated and the negative impact that will have on all the relationships I’ve built in Monmouth County. We had great partnerships and I made great friends.”
Edmondson joined NJCU in 2018. He previously served as director of continuing education at Mercer County Community College.
Among those immediately commenting on his LinkedIn page were Kara Kopach, executive director of the Fort Mon- mouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), who characterized the dismissal as “a loss for NJCU and the Fort Monmouth community,” calling Edmondson “an incredible leader, community stakeholder, and friend.”
Although Squier Hall has had NJCU as its tenant since last August, FMERA officials noted “the project is not considered complete at this time and post-closing obligations remain the responsibility of the developer.” All Fort Monmouth projects must adhere to a “punch list” of agreed upon details negotiated during the purchase and sale process that must be finished before any property sale is deemed complete.
Joseph F. Scott, chairperson of NJCU’s Board of Trustees, announced that Jason Kroll, NJCU vice president and chief strategy officer, will “lead the transition as Acting President of NJCU.” In a letter posted on the NJCU website Scott wrote, “With over 17 years of experience in multiple senior leadership positions at three distinctly different institutions – Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Monmouth University, and NJCU – the Board of Trustees are confident that Jason is uniquely capable of leading NJCU during this transitional period.” A national search will be conducted for Henderson’s successor.
Henderson, who was with NJCU for 12 years, was the institution’s first female president. NJ.com’s Hudson Bureau reported that the NJCU faculty senate claimed that during Henderson’s tenure the school went from a $101.8 million surplus to a $67.4 million deficit. Rapid expansion was also cited: In addition to creating the Fort Monmouth campus, NJCU undertook a $400 million “university village” and a business school on the Jersey City waterfront.
Scott praised the educator for her “transformational initiatives,” adding, “Dr. Henderson spurred the university’s efforts to become the educational partner in the revitalization of Fort Monmouth. Throughout her tenure, (she) has ensured NJCU tuition and fees would remain among the lowest of all public, four-year colleges and universities in New Jersey, and implemented the NJCU Debt-Free Promise Program to make a college education accessible and affordable.”
At the Oceanport campus, courses are focused on high-tech cyber and homeland security, criminal justice, business, and state-of-the-art nursing education. About 300 students were enrolled at the Fort Monmouth campus when its doors opened in August 2021.
“This was ‘year zero’ for us, our marketing was just getting started,” said Thor, adding classes had “robust full and part-time enrollment. Courses don’t fill in year one. That usually takes three years.”
Opened in 1929 as the New Jersey State Normal School, the institution was renamed New Jersey State Teachers College in 1935, and Jersey City State College in 1958. It became NJCU in 1998.
Kroll, the acting president, stated in a letter released on the school’s website: “I am deeply sorry that this is where we find ourselves… There will continue to be serious hardships within the NJCU community, which will be particularly felt by personnel.
All options must be on the table. These actions are necessary for the university to recalibrate and position itself for a better future. We are working… with the Gov- ernor’s office and our state rep- resentatives to navigate through the rocky waters of this crisis. NJCU is resilient and I am con- fident that with us all working together we will see this emergency through and write a strong next chapter in our history.”
State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11), who chairs the Senate’s Education Committee, sent the following response to a request for comment: “Just learned of NJCU’s financial emergency. They have not shared this prior to this past week. It shows an immediate need for the State of New Jersey
to be more involved in the financial matters of our public state colleges and universities who are seeking state financial support.”
Oceanport Mayor John “Jay” Coffey previously told The Two River Times, “Having a college campus on this site is a benefit to Oceanport. It enhances the entire fort project and will reflect positively on Oceanport as a place to live and work. Additionally, it will pay real estate taxes. A school that pays taxes is a unicorn.”
Before the Oceanport campus opened, the university had a presence in Monmouth County for 15 years, offering degree-completion programs in partnership with Brookdale Community College on its Wall and Lincroft campuses.
