TCNJ

Special Section: R. BARBARA GITENSTEIN RETROSPECTIVE Four central tenets have guided Gitenstein in her presidency: 1. Public education should be both of the highest quality and affordable. 2. We must never rest on our laurels; we must always strive to do better. 3. Adversity should be the basis for meaningful change. 4. Open and honest communication is not optional. Each of these tenets can be seen through the lens of case studies that illustrate President Gitenstein's approach to goals and situations that she successfully handled during her almost 20 years at TCNJ. Work to make TCNJ a "national exemplar" in undergraduate education began under Presidents Brower and Eickhoff and accelerated shortly after President Gitenstein's arrival. e campus community set out to transform the curriculum both in terms of what is taught and how it is taught and learned. e goal was to deliver an affordable education that was of the highest quality. e framework that emerged called for increasing learner-centered activities in the classroom, the amount and quality of writing, immersion experiences, and independent inquiry. e course load for students would decrease from five to four, allowing for more in-depth and frequently longer classes. Faculty workload would shift from a separate teaching/ research culture to one that emphasized faculty as teacher-scholars. Central to the experience would be the opportunity for students of all disciplines to conduct mentored research with faculty. "We sought to reinforce the relationship between faculty and students," said Gitenstein. "Our faculty thought deeply about their research and how they could engage students in it so that students could learn by serving as junior colleagues while conducting research." e academic transformation process was multilayered. An updated mission was needed to create a shared understanding of what the college was trying to achieve. Governance had to be revamped to create a structure for collaboration conducive to the complicated work at hand. A new curriculum needed to be designed that would match the college's expectation for excellence, while meeting the degree requirements and accreditation standards of individual schools and programs. Faculty and student workloads had to be redefined. ese changes then needed to be accepted by faculty governance, including the senate and union. Many schools struggle to achieve any one of these tasks. at TCNJ was able to do it all so successfully in just a few short years is a testament to the leadership of President Gitenstein, Provost Stephen Briggs, and the many dedicated members of the community who were involved in the process. e following timeline highlights how the transformation laid the foundation for the outcomes later achieved. November 16, 1998 Faculty Senate sends President-Designate Gitenstein a memo detailing "e Ten Big Issues Confronting TCNJ." Promoting collegial decision-making, building and sustaining a faculty of teacher-scholars, and strengthening the academic program are among the priorities. August 1999 Framework for restructuring of governance system submitted. Leads to implementation of the highly participatory "Governance 2000" the following year. December 7, 2000 Board of trustees adopts new institutional mission statement. TCNJ "provides a challenging and supportive environment in which talented students, exceptional teacher- scholars, dedicated staff, committed alumni, and a supportive board of trustees join together to develop the full potential of each member through the transforming power of education." Academic Year 2000–01 College restructures academic units of the then-School of Arts and Sciences into the present-day Schools of the Arts and Communication; Humanities and Social Science; and Science. May 2002 Final recommendations for student and faculty work at TCNJ submitted. "In order to bring about transformative change in the educational experience of TCNJ students, faculty and students alike must create a culture of consistently high expectations," wrote the document's authors. ACADEMIC TRANSFORMATION 1. Leadership at Work In her October 1999 inaugural address, President Gitenstein described her management philosophy as "more Dickinson than Drucker." While the president has invoked the poet on many occasions since, her leadership style is her own.

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