Ramapo Magazine

Message from the President
Excellence With A Global Perspective

Photo of President Rodney D. Smith From inception, the knowledge imparted at Ramapo College of New Jersey was unconventional and innovative. Pioneers in interdisciplinary education, the faculty made a firm commitment to providing students an education for living. International education, experiential learning, and intercultural education are the common threads that are interwoven into the curriculum to provide learning opportunities that are committed to excellence.

Ramapo’s commitment to excellence is evident in the caliber of students it attracts. This year’s freshman class boasts an average SAT score of 1120 and ranks within the top twenty-four percent of their high school class. With the largest freshman class in its history, only forty-two percent of students who applied were admitted. As measured by class rank, incoming freshmen are increasingly better prepared for the academic demands expected of them.

Our distinguished professoriate leads by example with its commitment to academic excellence. Ramapo’s commitment is also evident in its low faculty to student ratio of 17 to 1. This supports the notion that faculty/student exchange and interaction are at the essence of a liberal arts education. Our curriculum facilitates critical thinking, learning across schools and disciplines, and deep exploration of subject matter.

The experiential focus of the Cahill Center emphasizes strong internships, cooperative education, fieldwork, and service learning. We have found that these characteristics of Ramapo College help to build and strengthen our community ties. Some view this structure as being expensive and unaffordable. At Ramapo, our position is that we cannot afford to be without it. Our expanding curricular offerings continue to attract well-qualified students.

Outstanding teaching, scholarly research, and an interdisciplinary structure are some of the exceptional characteristics that make the Ramapo teaching and learning experience unique. Another hallmark of Ramapo College is the international and intercultural education emphasis. Value-added experiences such as the International Scholars Residence for Fulbright and other visiting scholars afford students engaging faculty interaction in a residential learning community.

Underlying our phenomenal success are many qualities that make Ramapo a special place. One of these is Ramapo’s commitment to increasing the world’s globally-minded citizenry. Ramapo cultivates experiences to deepen its students’ insights into various cultures; increases their awareness of intra- and interpersonal diversities; and heightens their understanding of the foundations of intercultural, interreligious, and international conflicts.

When I think about the future of Ramapo College, I dream of an institution that reaches out to the wider community across the United States as well as internationally, not only for support, but also for networking relationships. I would like people to picture a vibrant multicultural community of scholars within a strong liberal arts setting, with people throughout New Jersey and all over the world represented. I can see this campus becoming an international microcosm, basically a living and breathing community for the advancement of interculturalism, interdisciplinary learning, international education, and experiential opportunities.

When we examine and discuss the tools of communication within the world, we see that commerce has become more globalized, geo-political divides are becoming both less and more complex, increased migration, emigration, and immigration issues continue to compete for priority with issues such as global warming, public health, equality, equity, and access to education. These issues are not national issues. They are world issues. As Ramapo trains this country’s leaders of tomorrow, we are committed to fostering intercultural and international sensitivity. We help our students to understand the need for solutions to global conflicts and world peace.

We invite our students to move into the future on a tabula rasa at Ramapo College. We encourage them to be bold and have the courage to not only seek answers – but, to ask questions that generations before dared not. We believe that our students have the power to transform our world, our planet Earth, and our society, but only if they dare.

Rodney D. Smith
President