Spotlight On: Christopher Capuano, President, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Spotlight On: Christopher Capuano, President, Fairleigh Dickinson University

2022-07-15T07:39:16-04:00February 8th, 2022|Education, North & Central Jersey, Spotlight On|

Fairleigh Dickinson University president2 min read February 2022 New Jersey’s diversity and access to cutting-edge industries has Fairleigh Dickinson University President Christopher Capuano bullish on the future of the University and, most importantly, its students. “Universities have to reinvent their curriculum and develop new programming to meet 21st century industry needs, while at the same time improving access and affordability to such programming for more students,” Capuano told Invest:. 

What challenges did you overcome in 2021?

The biggest challenge in 2021 was getting our campuses reopened after 18 months of students and employees studying and working remotely due to the pandemic. We have all had to play the role of public health officials on our campuses to keep everyone healthy and safe, which has been our top priority.  In addition, we have learned how technology can help us reach more students and be more innovative in our delivery of courses and degree programs.

What are some challenges and corresponding opportunities you see in New Jersey’s education sector?

Higher education is undergoing many changes right now.  For example, after the global financial crisis in 2008, we saw the birthrate decline in this country, and subsequently this has led to a softening in the growth of high-school graduates.  However, some demographic groups in certain regions of the country (e.g., Black and Hispanic students in the Northeast) are showing modest increases in the number of high-school graduates, and hopefully more of them will be going to college. With this in mind, Fairleigh Dickinson University will be creating a new academy for high-school students from underserved communities who are interested in pursuing careers in business and STEM. And students who study at this academy will be able to complete an associate’s degree while completing their high school diploma, through a new and innovative dual-enrollment program.

Fairleigh Dickinson is a large, private university that is within commuting distance of many students from underserved communities in northern New Jersey.  Therefore, Fairleigh Dickinson must do its part to better ensure that more students from underserved communities in New Jersey have opportunities to earn a college degree at a quality private university close to where they live, and leave college with the skill sets necessary to succeed in 21st century business, STEM and other professional fields.

At Fairleigh Dickinson, we are working with corporations in different industries to understand what those skill sets are and to make sure our students have them when they leave the University.  Prospective students today are very savvy about what career or profession they are interested in, and employers are more clear than ever about what their expectations of new employees are, so universities must develop new and cutting-edge programming to meet the expectations of students and prospective employers in a myriad of industries, while at the same time improving access and affordability for more students, including more students from underserved communities.  At Fairleigh Dickinson, we’re doing just that. 

What are some other changes in higher education and how have they impacted operations at FDU?

Another change in higher education is that students today learn differently than students learned years ago. There was a time when three-hour lectures and endless notes were effective learning strategies at universities. But not today! You will lose students’ attention in 20 minutes if you lecture all the time. Students today grew up with technology and want to be engaged in the learning process. We have to deliver and adapt our instructional modalities to maximize learning outcomes and student success. In addition, our goal at Fairleigh Dickinson is to help students graduate in less time and with less debt, so that they can enter the job market in four years or less. Further, more of our programs are integrating career experiences into the learning process, which at Fairleigh Dickinson we call ‘immersive learning’. For example, we have one of the top hospitality schools in the country, and it utilizes a full-immersion learning modality in some of its programming. A student is based off campus, interning at a resort while taking classes online. It can take as little as two-and-a-half years to complete the program, and when students graduate they become an employee of the company they interned with. This is a win-win scenario because the student is guaranteed a job, and the company gets an employee who it helped educate.

Are there any legislation or policies that you are tracking right now and how might they benefit students and the 21st century workforce?  How might advances in technology benefit students?

Be it at the federal or state level, I am supportive of free-college initiatives for students who would otherwise not be able to go to college, but not at two-year colleges alone.  I believe students should have a choice on how to spend the money they receive and attend a four-year college if they wish, which frankly is a better fit for many students and where students often have a better chance of graduating and graduating on time.  Fairleigh Dickinson and many other private four-year colleges in New Jersey have the resources, both in and outside the classroom, to fully support students and ensure their success.  And our class sizes are small enough that if students don’t attend classes regularly, we know it and can intervene on their behalf.

The federal government has been talking about doubling the Pell Grant, which is good because more students would be able to afford the tuition at an institution of their choice. Higher education should be more accessible and financial support should not be so restrictive. It should not force students to attend a college that may not be the best fit for them. To this end, Fairleigh Dickinson University recently lowered tuition to $32,000 annually to improve the affordability of a private university education, and more recently FDU announced a program that guarantees full Pell-eligible students a tuition-free education for four years.

The federal and state governments should provide more funding to help more students go to college, but universities should do their part as well. Working together, we can all help more students get a college education, especially more students from underserved communities, and create a more skilled and diverse workforce—a workforce that better reflects the diversity in our communities, state and country.

In addition, adapting our approaches to learning through advances in technology and delivering more courses and degree programs through online and hybrid learning platforms will create more flexibility for students when going to college while managing the other responsibilities and challenges in their lives.   

What partnerships has Fairleigh Dickinson cultivated and why are those partnerships important? 

Fairleigh Dickinson has long had partnerships with companies in many industries and is currently developing more partnerships. For example, the multinational medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Company (also known as BD) has long been a close partner of Fairleigh Dickinson University and is very supportive of its programs and students.

Fairleigh Dickinson has a growing number of programs in the health sciences in particular, as this is one of several centers of excellence at the University, and industry partnerships with leading corporations like BD help distinguish programming and better ensure that students who study at Fairleigh Dickinson will graduate and get good jobs.

More of what universities do today must be linked to a career or profession, and therefore universities need industry partners to make that a reality. Today, more than ever, companies and universities are working closely together to create a rich and diverse talent pipeline, especially in New Jersey. In addition to the top educational system in the country, New Jersey has a very deep and increasingly diverse talent pipeline in many industries, which makes New Jersey a great place for companies to invest.

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