Ramapo Magazine

Ramapo College's Study Abroad program opens a whole new world for students. Pictured are Clifford Peterson and William Frech with participants and new friends in China.

Challenging cooperative education placements and internships nationally and internationally give students an experiential, hands-on learning advantage. Above, a student at Cablevision explores the latest in technology used in the broadcast field.

Ramapo College encourages its students to encounter the world beyond the campus through its emphasis on experiential learning, which encompasses a rich combination of internships, field placements, community service, study abroad, and cooperative education programs. The College purposefully involves students in the cultural diversity of the world and of American society through global partnerships, active telecommunications networking, and the performing arts. At the core of Ramapo's mission is the goal of preparing students to become globally literate as citizens and professionals in an increasingly interdependent world.

Highlights

Students enrolled at Ramapo hailed from twenty states and more than fifty countries.
Study Abroad programs attracted 187 Ramapo students "the highest number ever and a 55.3 percent increase from 1995" who participated in nine different programs in 1999. Two new programs to Greece and London were introduced plus an American Southwest program for winter session 2000 and a French language program in Quebec City, Canada for summer 2000.
Incoming freshmen had the option to attend a summer orientation in Quebec City, Canada, giving them an opportunity to meet and get to know one another while enjoying this beautiful city.
Ramapo was chosen to host the Governor's School of International Studies, a one-month residential program for one hundred gifted and talented high school seniors. The group traveled to Quebec City, Canada for a week as part of the program. Ramapo was selected due to its reputation as a leader in global studies and received a $270,000 grant to fund the program.
The Ramapo Lecture Series focused on "Culture of Peace: Global Challenges for the 21st Century," through a grant funded by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission of the State of New Jersey.
Four international scholars shared Ramapo's International Scholar's residence, one from Volgograd, one from Shanghai, and two Fulbright scholars from Mexico and Russia.
International housing on campus was resurrected with twelve students participating in two academic courses to create an international residential learning community."

Students participating in the Alternative Spring Break program restore a cemetery in Hot Springs, North Carolina where slaves were buried during the Civil War.

Alternative Spring Break transported Ramapo students from wintry New Jersey to Oaxaca, Mexico and Hot Springs, North Carolina. Students were involved in projects that helped the community, including working with developmentally disabled children, restoring a slave cemetery, and cleaning a river.

The Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies sponsored a well-received fall lecture series for the College campus and the community, plus spring events including a trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
During its inaugural year, the Berrie Center welcomed almost 8,000 people through its doors with performances ranging from jazz to symphony, Shakespeare to puppetry, plus performers from around the globe. The Berrie Center is the newest arts destination for the surrounding community, local schools, and the campus population.
More than 325 agencies and companies including Jaguar, IBM, Haband, CNBC, Merrill Lynch, the New Jersey Nets, Sanyo, Sharp, and Sony participated in Ramapo's Cooperative Education and International Cooperative Education programs. Over 400 domestic and eighteen international cooperative placements gave Ramapo students valuable experiential learning opportunities.
The College hosted Sharp, United Water, Ingersoll-Rand, McBride Corporate Real Estate, BD (Becton Dickinson), Cablevision, and UPS for corporate activities through its innovative Business Partners Program.
Three Business Network Programs were sponsored and presentations were made by Jim Florio, former New Jersey Governor; Per Lofberg, president and CEO of Merck-Medco; and William Luddy, chief creative officer of Plural, Inc.
The Governor William T. Cahill Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services, in conjunction with the Office of Student Development, sponsored Senior Transitions 2000, a program to help graduates prepare for the job market. Fourteen workshops, including an "etiquette dinner" kicked off this successful new initiative.
Service-Learning matched approximately 200 students with unpaid assignments within an educational context, giving them invaluable experience in the non-profit sector.
More than fifty student clubs on campus devoted their time and passion to community service projects. The Ramapo Service Corps sponsored or participated in events including Adopt-a-Highway, Annual Hunger Conference, Special Olympics, and local Alternative Break opportunities in childcare and literacy programs.
October, faculty and staff participated in Lee National Denim Day to raise money for breast cancer research.