New Jersey Institute of Technology

The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a public research university in the University Heights neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey. NJIT is New Jersey's Science & Technology University. Centrally located in the New York metropolitan area, its campus is within walking distance of downtown Newark. New York City, 9 miles (14.5 km) and under thirty minutes away, is directly accessible from campus via the Newark City Subway and the PATH rapid transit system.

Founded in 1881 with the support of Newark's 19th-century industrialists and inventors, especially Edward Weston (334 US Patents), NJIT opened as Newark Technical School in 1884. Application oriented from inception, the school grew into a classic engineering college â€" Newark College of Engineering (NCE) â€" and then, with the addition of a School of Architecture in 1973, into a technology-oriented university that is now home to five colleges and one school.

NJIT opened with 88 students most of whom attended part-time. As of fall 2014, the university enrolls more than 10,600 students, over 2,200 of whom live on campus. NJIT's 48-acre (19.4 ha) campus was extensively re-landscaped in the past decade. Architecturally significant buildings include Eberhardt Hall, the Campus Center, and the Central King Building â€" the old Central High School of Newark in the Collegiate Gothic style â€" which is being renovated into a STEM center.

NJIT offers 128 degree programs including 50 undergraduate (Bachelor of Science/Arts) majors and 78 graduate (Masters and PhD) programs. Via its Honors College it also offers professional degree programs in collaboration with nearby institutions. These include a program in medicine (M.D.) with New Jersey Medical School (Rutgers), and an accelerated engineering + law program (BS, JD) with Seton Hall Law School.

The university is organized into 27 academic departments. Three departments, Biological Sciences, History, and Theater Arts, are federated with Rutgersâ€"Newark whose campus borders NJIT's. With a student population that is almost 20% international NJIT consistently ranks among the 10 most ethnically diverse national universities in the country. It has multiple study abroad options along with extensive co-op, internship, and service opportunities. The university awarded 2,242 degrees in 2014 including 1129 Bachelors, 1058 Masters, and 55 PhDs. According to PayScale (2014), NJIT ranks 19th among Engineering Schools and 32nd among Research Universities in the US by Salary Potential.

Research at NJIT has grown substantially in the past decade, exceeding $107 million in 2013. Areas of focus include: nanotechnology, materials science, biomedical engineering (including stem cell research), signal processing, transportation planning, and solar physics. Regarding the latter, the school operates both the Big Bear Solar Observatory (optical), and the Owens Valley Solar Array (radio). A leader in applied mathematics, its Department of Mathematical Sciences is recognized as one of the most productive in the country. NJIT also focuses on economic development; two examples of which are the Enterprise Development Center (EDC), an on-campus business incubator that currently houses 90 start-ups, and the New Jersey Innovation Institute(NJII). An early leader in distance learning â€" it trademarked the term "Virtual Classroom" â€" the university offers a wide range of on-line courses and degrees.

NJIT is a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. It is also a sea-grant college, and a member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. A leader in attracting first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students into STEM fields, the university has participated in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program since 1999.

§History

The New Jersey Institute of Technology has a history dating back to the industrial age.

Originally introduced from Essex County on 3-24-1880 and revised with input from the Newark Board of Trade in 1881, an act of the New Jersey State Legislature essentially drew up a contest to determine which municipality would become home to the state's urgently needed technical school. The challenge was straightforward: the state would stake "at least $3,000 and not more than $5,000" and the municipality that matched the state's investment would earn the right to establish the new school.

The Newark Board of Trade, working jointly with the Newark City Council, launched a feverish campaign to win the new school. Dozens of the city's industrialists, along with other private citizens, eager for a work force resource in their home town, threw their support behind the fund-raiser. By 1884, the collaboration of the public and private sectors produced success. Newark Technical School was ready to open its doors.

The first 88 students, mostly evening students, attended classes in a rented building at 21 West Park Street. Soon the facility became inadequate to house an expanding student body. To meet the needs of the growing school, a second fund-raiserâ€"the institution's first capital campaignâ€"was launched to support the construction of a dedicated building for Newark Technical School. In 1886, under the leadership of the school's dynamic first director, Dr. Charles A. Colton, the cornerstone was laid at the intersection of High Street and Summit Place for the three-story building later to be named Weston Hall, in honor of the institution's early benefactor. A laboratory building, later to be called Colton Hall, was added to the campus in 1911.

Dr. Allan R. Cullimore led the institution from 1920 to 1949, transforming Newark Technical School into Newark College of Engineering (name adopted in 1930). Campbell Hall was erected in 1925, but due to the Depression and World War II, only the former Newark Orphan Asylum, now Eberhardt Hall, was purchased and renovated by the college in the succeeding decades. Cullimore left an unpublished history of the institution dated 1955.

As of 1946, about 75% of the freshman class had served in the armed forces. Cullimore Hall was built in 1958 and two years later the old Weston Hall was razed and replaced with the current seven-story structure. Doctoral level programs were introduced and six years later, in 1966, an 18-acre (7.3 ha), four building expansion was completed.

With the addition of the New Jersey School of Architecture in 1973, the institution had evolved into a technological university, emphasizing a broad range of graduate and undergraduate degrees and dedication to significant research and public service. While Newark College of Engineering remains, in 1975 a new university nameâ€"New Jersey Institute of Technologyâ€"was chosen to represent the institution's expanded mission.

The establishment of a residential campus and the opening of NJIT's first dormitory (Redwood Hall) in 1979 began a period of steady growth that continues today under the 2005 Landscape Master Plan. Two new schools were established at the university during the 1980s, the College of Science and Liberal Arts in 1982 and the School of Industrial Management in 1988. The Albert Dorman Honors College was established in 1994, and the newest school, the College of Computing Sciences, was created in 2001. As of Fall 2013 there are 5 residence halls on campus: Redwood Hall, Cypress Hall, Oak Hall, Laurel Hall, and the Dorman Honors Residence, in addition to several Greek houses.

In 2003, the launch of the new Campus Center on the site of the former Hazell Hall centralized campus social events. Construction of a new Atrium, Bookstore, Information Desk, Dining Hall, computer lab, and new student organization offices continued into 2004. In 2005, a row of automobile chop shops adjacent to campus were demolished. In 2006, construction of a new off-campus residence hall by American Campus Communities commenced in the chop shops' prior location. The new hall which opened in 2007 is dubbed the University Centre.

Robert A. Altenkirch was inaugurated as president on May 2, 2003 and retired in 2012. He succeeded Saul K. Fenster, who was named the university’s sixth president in 1978. On January 9, 2012, NJIT Trustees named Joel Bloom president.

Also in 2005, Eberhardt Hall was fully renovated and re-inaugurated as the Alumni Center and the symbolic front door to the university. Its restored tower was the logo of the former Newark College of Engineering and was designed by Kevin Boyajian and Scott Nelson. A rebranding campaign with the current slogan, "NJIT â€" New Jersey's Science and Technology University â€" The Edge in Knowledge", was launched to emphasize NJIT’s unique position as New Jersey's preeminent science-and-technology-focused research university.

Recently, the school has changed its accredited management school into AACSB-accredited business school. The business school focuses on utilizing technology to serve business needs. The school benefits from its close location to New York City; the financial capital of the world. It is located 25 minutes from Wall Street. The school has also strong academic collaboration with Rutgers business school. NJIT has a tie-up with Heritage Institute of Technology for summer internships.

In 2009, the New Jersey School of Architecture was transformed into the College of Architecture and Design (CoAD). Within the college, the New Jersey School of Architecture continues, and it is joined by the newly established School of Art + Design.

In June 2010, NJIT officially completed its purchase of the old Central High School building which sits in between NJIT and Rutgersâ€"Newark campus. With the completion of the purchase, Summit Street (from Warren Street to New Street) would be totally converted into a pedestrian walkway from a public street. The existing old 'Central High School' building is earmarked to be extensively renovated, preserved and used as classrooms as per the Campus Master Plan which includes tearing down of Kupfrian Hall to create more greenery.

Travel and Leisure's October 2013 issue named the university among America's ugliest college campuses, citing the 2013 Princeton Review survey which rated it as the least beautiful college campus in the country, and noting that the university "suffers from a mishmash of architectural styles" ranging from the "Gothic" Eberhardt Hall, a former orphans' asylum, to the "crematorium Modernism" Redwood residence hall.

As of the fall of 2014, the university has 7,550 undergraduate students, 3,096 graduate students, and 489 full-time and adjunct faculty. The male-to-female student ratio is about 3.2:1 and the student-to-faculty ratio is 17:1. Enrollment is currently 10,646 and is projected to reach 14,248 by 2020.

§Admissions

The average SAT score (math + verbal only) for enrolling freshmen in Fall 2013 was 1,163 (614 Math, 549 Verbal).

The average SAT score (math + verbal only) for enrolling freshmen to Honors College in 2008 is 1323 and a GPA of 3.65.

The minimum SAT score (math + verbal only) for enrolling freshmen to the Accelerated BS/MD program (combined with University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) is 1400.

§Colleges

§Newark College of Engineering (NCE)

§College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA)

§College of Architecture and Design (CoAD)

§College of Computing Sciences (CCS)

§NJIT School of Management(SOM)

It offers programs in finance, accounting, marketing, management information systems, international business, technological entrepreneurship, and corporate communications in conjunction with Rutgers University.

The School of Management was established in 1988 and was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 1997.

In 2006 and 2007, the Princeton Review named NJIT among the "Nation's Best 282 Business Schools." [3]

NJIT offers a Bachelor of Science program (four years, 124 credits), a Master of Science in management program (30 credits), and two Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs: One regular (48 credits; two years for full-time students, three or four years for part-time students) and the other an accelerated 18-month Executive MBA program for managers and professionals.

§Albert Dorman Honors College

Albert Dorman Honors College, the honors institution at NJIT, was formed in 1985 with the intention to help high achieving students perform to their full potential. Students in the Honors College have a chance to study and interact with other high achieving students as well as distinguished faculty members. Honors college students are not only backed by academic performance, but also by athletics or co-curricular participation.

§Research

The university is known foremost for its research capabilities in many fields, especially nanotechnology, solar physics, polymer science, and the development of a smart gun technology. The university research centers include the National Center for Transportation and Industrial Productivity and SmartCampus. The university hosts the Metro New York FIRST Robotics office. The university also hosts the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research which owns and operates the Big Bear Solar Observatory, the world's largest solar observatory, located in Big Bear Lake, California, and operates the Owens Valley Solar Array, near Bishop, California.

In the past, NJIT was home to the Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center,(CCCC), a premier research center for furthering the state of the art in Computer-mediated communication. The systems that resulted from this research are the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES), as well as the continuations: The Electronic Information Exchange System 2 (EIES2), and the Tailorable Electronic Information Exchange System (TEIES). One of the foremost developments of EIES was that of the Virtual Classroom (TM), a term coined by Dr. Starr Roxanne Hiltz. This was the first e-learning platform in the world, and was unique in that it evolved onto an existing communications system, rather than having a system created specifically for it. Their missions completed, the CCCC and EIES were terminated in the mid-90s.

The university currently operates a Class-10 cleanroom and a Class-1000 cleanroom on campus for academic and research purposes including counter-bioterrorism research.

The university also maintains an advanced 67-node supercomputer cluster in its Mathematics Department for research purposes.

§Athletics

See also: Great West Conference and NJIT Highlanders

NJIT's sports teams are called the NJIT Highlanders. The school colors are red and white, with navy. NJIT's athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division I (full membership officially 1 September 2009). The men's volleyball team plays in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) conference, the men's swimming and diving team plays in the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association, the men's soccer team plays in the Sun Belt Conference, the women's tennis team plays in the America East Conference, and the rest of the teams play as independents after the demise of the Great West Conference after the 2012â€"13 season. The club-level ice hockey team plays in the Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference. In December 2013, NJIT announced intentions to form a Division I Men's Lacrosse program for the 2015 season. On 6 December 2014 NJIT's basketball team defeated the nationally ranked (#17) Michigan Wolverines making headlines on national sports reports.

The sports available at NJIT are:

• Baseball (Men's only)
• Basketball
• Bowling (club-level)
• Cross Country
• Fencing
• Ice Hockey (club-level, participates in Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference (ACHA Division II club hockey))
• Lacrosse (Men's only)
• Soccer (Men's Associate Member, Sun Belt Conference)
• Swimming & Diving (Men's only) (Men's Member, Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association)
• Tennis (Women's Associate Member, America East Conference)
• Track & Field
• Volleyball (Men's Member, Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association)
• Cheer Team

§Residence life

§Living on campus

Over 70% of NJIT students commute to campus. The Residence Life community currently consists of over 2,000 students.

There are five residence halls on the NJIT campus. Redwood Hall was the first constructed in 1978 followed by Cypress, Oak and Laurel halls. Each hall has a unique character with Cypress and Redwood being primarily freshman halls and Laurel and Oak designated upperclassmen halls. The Warren Street Village opened in the Fall 2013 semester, including housing in the Dorman Honors Residence and several Greek houses which together add space for nearly 600 students. The Dorman Honors Residence also houses the Albert Dorman Honors College and several dining facilities.

A new almost-on-campus resident hall completed in 2007 known as 'University Center' (run by American Campus Communities) just beside the InfoTech building also accommodates students from NJIT and neighboring Rutgersâ€"Newark, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Seton Hall University.

Food services on campus are provided by Gourmet Dining Services or GDS. Taco Bell, Spice Cafe, a salad shop (Leafs & Grains), coffee shop (Tech Café), sandwich shop (Part of Leafs & Grains) and a convenience store (The C-Store) are also all available on campus. GDS also operates The Highlander Club (also known as The Pub) on the third floor of the campus center. Here, students can order take-out food of different varieties such as burgers, wings, and personal pizzas. A special 21 and over section also offers alcohol for sale. There are also "grease" trucks, that are located on campus, which serve food.

§Noteworthy events on campus

• Parts of Emmy Award-winning television drama series The Sopranos were shot on the NJIT campus in 2005 after the completion of a $83.5-million campus makeover.

§Notable alumni and faculty

Since its founding in 1881, NJIT has issued degrees to approximately 70,000 graduates. NJIT alumni have gone on to pursue distinguished careers in many sectors.

§Business

• Victor Pelson (class of 1959), Chairman of Global Operations and Member of the Board of Directors, AT&T; Chairman of New Jersey Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of NJIT Board of Trustees.
• Frederick Eberhardt (class of 1884), president of Gould & Eberhardt, a Newark-based machine tool manufacturer, and one of 88 in NJIT's inaugural class.
• Vince Naimoli (class of 1962), owner of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
• Jim Stamatis (class of 1985), vice president at Louis Berger Group.
• Dick Sweeney (class of 1982), co-founder of Keurig.
• Robert S. Dow, Senior Partner, former Managing Partner of Lord Abbett, and Olympic Fencer.

§Politics and military

• Ellen M. Pawlikowski (class of 1978), Lt General the United States Air Force
• Paul Sarlo, Democratic New Jersey state senator
• Funsho Williams, (MSc 1974), Nigerian civil servant and politician.

§Science and engineering

• Gerard J. Foschini, prominent telecommunications engineer at Bell Labs. Winner of the prestigious IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal.
• Beatrice Hicks (1919â€"1979), founder of the Society of Women Engineers
• Paul Charles Michaelis, researcher of magnetic bubble memory
• John J. Mooney (MSc 1960) â€" Inventor of the three-way catalytic converter
• T. J. O'Malley (class of 1936), aerospace engineer

• Wally Schirra (1923â€"2007), astronaut. Only person to fly in all of America's first three space programs (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo)
• Charles Speziale (class of 1970), scientist at NASA Langley Research Center and professor at Boston University.

§Sports and entertainment

• Raymond E. Blum (class of 1950), speed skater in the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland
• Hernan (Chico) Borja (class of 1980), professional soccer player
• Rah Digga (class of 19??), American rapper who is a member of Flipmode Squad
• Yoshisada Yonezuka, judo coach at NJIT, and head of United States Olympics judo team

§NJIT university presidents

• Charles A. Colton, 1st president, 1881â€"1918
• Daniel Hodgdon, 2nd president, 1918â€"1920
• Allan Cullimore, 3rd president, 1920â€"1947
• Robert Van Houten (class of 1930), 4th president, 1947â€"1970
• William Hazell, 5th president, 1970â€"1975
• Saul Fenster, 6th president, 1978â€"2002
• Robert Altenkirch, 7th president, 2003â€"2011
• Joel Bloom, 8th president, 2012â€"present

§NJIT professors and administrators

• Ali Akansu, professor of electrical engineering and computer engineering
• Yeheskel Bar-Ness, professor of electrical engineering and computer engineering
• Joel Bloom, president
• Ian Gatley, professor of physics
• Philip R. Goode, professor of physics
• Starr Roxanne Hiltz, professor emerita of information systems
• Burt Kimmelman, professor of English
• David Kristol, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering
• Gregory Kriegsmann, professor of mathematics
• David Rothenberg, professor of music and philosophy
• Sunil Saigal, distinguished professor of civil engineering.
• Kamalesh Sirkar, professor of chemical engineering
• Murray Turoff, professor emeritus of computer and information systems
• Leslie Kanes Weisman, professor of architecture

§Professors and administrators at other universities

• Erol Gelenbe, professor of computer science at NJIT, dean at the University of Central Florida and professor at Imperial College London.
• Lillian Gilbreth, professor at NJIT, and first female member of the National Academy of Engineering.
• Michael Hinchey, professor of computer science at NJIT, and professor at the University of Limerick.
• Paul Magriel, mathematics professor at NJIT, and leading backgammon player.
• A. Michael Noll, dean at University of Southern California.
• Donald Pederson, lecturer of engineering at NJIT, and dean at the University of California-Berkeley.
• Pierre Ramond (class of 1965), professor of physics at University of Florida.
• Victor J. Stenger (class of 1956), professor of physics at University of Hawaii who authored 9 books.
• Yuriy Tarnawsky (class of 1956), professor of Ukrainian literature and culture at Columbia University.
• Gary Thomas, deceased, provost and vice-president at NJIT, and Chancellor of the University of Missouriâ€"Rolla (currently known as Missouri University of Science and Technology).

§Rankings

• US News & World Report’s 2010 Annual Guide to America’s Best Colleges Today named NJIT 115th (Tier-1) overall in the National Universities category. It was also rated as the 7th most ethnically diversified university among universities in this category and as one of the best public national universities in the country. It was ranked by U.S. News & World Report (2011) as 139th (Tier-1) overall and the 5th most ethnically diversified National University. It was ranked 138th among National Universities in 2012.
• U.S. News & World Report (2011) also ranked NJIT's Graduate School (Engineering) as 86th overall in the nation.
• NJIT is ranked 11th in the nation (2009) for conferring bachelor’s degrees in engineering to African Americans, according to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.
• The Oct. 17, 2006 issue of U.S. News & World Report named NJIT’s program as 6th in the nation based on enrollment in ABET-accredited engineering schools and fifth in the nation based on the age of the program.
• NJIT was ranked by Princeton Review as one of top 50 best value public colleges in 2009.
• NJIT is currently ranked by Princeton Review as #5 in the Nation for Least Happy Students. In recent years, it has been ranked #1 in this category three times (2002â€"2005)
• NJIT was ranked by Princeton Review in 2010 as one of the Best Northeastern Colleges, #7 in the nation for Professors Get Low Mark, #8 for Least Accessible Professors, #11 for Dorms Like Dungeons and #1 Least Beautiful Campus.
• NJIT was ranked by Princeton Review in 2012 as one of the Best Northeastern Colleges, #7 in the nation for Professors Get Low Marks, #3 for Least Accessible Professors, #3 for Least Beautiful Campus, #3 for Least Happy Students, #10 for Administrators Get Low Marks, #3 for College City Gets Low Marks, and #13 for Town-Gown Relations Are Strained.
• NJIT was ranked by Princeton Review's 2014 list of the best 378 colleges as one of the Best Northeastern Colleges, #1 for Least Beautiful Campus, #1 for Least Happy Students, #4 for Administrators Get Low Marks, #2 for College City Gets Low Marks, #4 for Professors Get Low Marks, #1 for Least Accessible Professors, and #12 for This is a Library?.
• Princeton Review (2010 Edition) ranked NJIT's AACSB-accredited School of Management among the 301 best MBA programs in United States.
• Princeton Review (2012 Edition) ranked NJIT's AACSB-accredited School of Management among the 296 best MBA programs in United States.
• NJIT's School of Management was ranked as an Excellent Business School (3-Palm rating and top 150 in USA) by Eduniversal.
• NJIT was ranked 351-400th place university in the world by Times Higher Education in 2011â€"2012.
• NJIT was ranked 434th out of around 20000 colleges and universities in the world by Webometrics in Jan 2011.
• NJIT was ranked 135th out of 662 universities in USA in R&D expenditures in 2007 by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
• NJIT is currently ranked (2007) by the Chronicle of Higher Education as #9 in Information Technology / Information Systems and #10 in Mathematics in the United States for faculty productivity.
• NJIT was ranked among the top 100 world universities in Computer Science both in 2009 and in 2010 by Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).
• NJIT was ranked 1st for average amount paid to full-time professors in the nation among public universities.
• NJIT was ranked the 19th most popular National University in USA by US News and World Report 2010.
• NJIT was ranked 499th overall and 132nd for its Engineering, Computing, and Technology Faculty in the world by High Impact Universities in 2010.
• In 2013, NJIT was ranked 5th on a list of the schools with the worst professors compiled by The Center for College Affordability and Productivity.
• In 2013, NJIT was ranked 505 on Forbes' list of the America's Top 650 Colleges
• In 2013, NJIT was ranked the #1 college "value" in the country (based on cost vs. starting salary of recent graduates), by BuzzFeed.
• In 2014, The Daily Caller ranked NJIT #1 on its list of WORST Colleges In America PERIOD When You Consider Absolutely Everything That Matters.

§See also

• NJIT Highlanders
• New Jersey Institute of Technology Vector
• NJIT Capstone Program
• Robert Altenkirch
• 2007-08 NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team
• Lt Col Ralph S. Van Brunt Squadron of Arnold Air Society

§Notes

§Footnotes

• ^  To calculate the ratio of men to women select table CSD-B (found in this reference) and divide the total enrollment of men by the total enrollment of women.
• ^  EIES History.

§External links

• New Jersey Institute of Technology website
• NJIT Highlanders Athletics

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.