Some People Have Asked Us What The Purpose Of This Blog Is

Here's a story that might help explain just that:

Two years ago, a student (let's call him David, because he has asked to remain anonymous) transferred to Kean with the intention of majoring in Social Work.  He made the switch from Raritan Valley Community College to Kean in 2008 after recieving his Associates Degree in Human Services, primarily because Kean offered him an affordable and well-regarded program.

David could have moved on to Rutgers, or a variety of other State Schools that offered better student-to-faculty ratios and a better overall reputation, but instead chose Kean because he wanted to help people.  Social Work is, after all, a degree centered around helping those who are less fortunate, those who fight the uphill battle towards financial security in hopes of realizing that elusive American Dream.

Where else, other than Kean University, would a New Jersey resident go for a Social Work Degree?  Ramapo College, Monmouth College, Centenary College, Seton Hall, and Richard Stockton College all offer the BSW Degree, but none of them has Kean's incredible diversity.  Furthermore, part of Kean's mission is to provide Education to those who are backed up against economic barriers.  So where else, really, should a student who plans to make his living by helping those who face such economic barriers go?  In Dave's opinion, nowhere.

Unfortunately, once Dave was accepted to Kean and attended the transfer-student registration session, he was told by his faculty advisor to avoid pursuing the BSW because the department was in shambles and on its way out.

Because he already had one foot in the door, Dave did build a schedule that day and has continued at Kean as a Sociology Major.  He still intends to help people, and may eventually find his way into a Social Work position once he graduates, but the tools he had hoped would help him achieve his goals vanished out from under him.


What surprises me the most about the whole situation is this:  Why would a school, especially one that focuses so predominantly on helping those in need, abandon a well-regarded Major designed to breed undergrads who would do just that?  Moreover, why would a school that plans on eliminating a field of study in such a way plan to do so without informing incoming and transfer students who expect to earn degrees?

The answer, at least in part, resides in the Middle States Report:  Two words, 'Fiscal,' and 'Crisis.'