Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:  

At the 11th hour, on the 11th day, in the 11th month of the year, we Americans pause and recognize our men and women in uniform – past and present – who have defended our freedom and constitutional rights.  On this Veterans Day 2021, the Monmouth University community honors our service men and women for their selflessness, duty, and courage.

Today, especially, we thank all of the veterans who are part of Monmouth University, including the students, faculty, staff, and alumni whose public service continues to enrich the character of our community. In recent years our veterans have inspired new academic and outreach efforts including: our Military Bridge Program; a long collaboration with Frontline Paper; and the Coming Home Project, grounded in our School of Social Work. I am proud of these initiatives and so many more that support our military and veteran students in meaningful and important ways.

Please join me in thanking our men and women in the armed forces whose heroism protects our great nation. May their selfless acts inspire our own, and may the star-spangled banner wave proudly this Veterans Day – and every day in the future.  

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

Over the past several months, we have been working diligently to prepare campus for the long-awaited return of our students and employees. 

I am pleased to share a short video highlighting recent upgrades and improvements to our physical plant. These capital improvements are early milestones in the implementation of our new five-year strategic plan – Excellence. Access. Ambition – which charts a bold and exciting course for the University.

I am especially grateful to our team in Campus Planning and Facilities Management for their hard work preparing our buildings and grounds so expertly, and in time to welcome our students and colleagues for the new academic year.

My thanks to all of you for helping to preserve and enhance the beauty and safety of Monmouth’s outstanding campus. I hope you enjoy these enhancements, and look forward to seeing many more of you in the weeks ahead.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Students:

As we embark on a new academic year – the 88th in Monmouth University’s proud history – I am so pleased to welcome you back to campus for what my faculty and staff colleagues hope will be one of our best years yet. We look forward to seeing all of you in person, and to making your Monmouth experience a positive and memorable one.

I wish to extend a special welcome to our new first-year and transfer students. And, I would also like to welcome in a special way our rising sophomores, many of whom are settling into campus life for the first time this fall. We are so pleased that you’ve chosen Monmouth as your new home, and look forward to tracking your successes in the classroom and beyond over the coming years.

The past 18 months have presented unprecedented challenges, to which the Monmouth community has routinely responded with determination, flexibility, resilience, and compassion. I am grateful to each of you, as well as to our faculty and staff, for continually prioritizing the needs and best interests of our University community.

Over the past several months, our team has been working diligently to plan for your arrival this fall in a safe and responsible manner. We are eager for you to see the changes and improvements to our campus, including many new and upgraded facilities to advance our academic mission and community-building ideals. Early next week, I will send a message highlighting these recent facilities updates.

While things are slowly beginning to resemble our pre-pandemic state of normalcy, we must continue to remain vigilant in following our health and safety protocols, informed by prevailing public health guidance. Please continue to mask up, back up, wash up, and adhere to testing requirements. As I’ve said before, it is going to take each of us to protect all of us. Thank you for your continued commitment to the health and welfare of the Monmouth community.

My best wishes to each of you for a safe and successful fall semester.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

On August 4, the University reinstituted an indoor mask requirement in response to the increase in COVID-19 cases, including the Delta variant, throughout New Jersey and, in particular, Monmouth County. 

As promised, we have continued to monitor the public health situation to inform our campus safety practices and protocols. Given the sustained and growing impact of COVID-19 in our state, we will continue to require masks indoors in all campus facilities until further notice.

Specifically, all members of the Monmouth University community and guests to our campus – regardless of vaccination status – are required to wear masks indoors, except when eating or when alone in a private office or residence hall room. This requirement is in accordance with prevailing guidance from the Center for Disease Control, as well as the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission. As has been our practice, we will continue to monitor the public health situation and update our health and safety protocols accordingly.

The University continues to host vaccination clinics on campus for members of our community, including immediate family members. Our next clinic will be held in Anacon Hall on September 1 from noon to 4 p.m. If you have not yet been vaccinated, we urge you to do so as soon as possible. Additionally, we encourage you to continue thorough hand washing and sanitizing practices and to maintain a safe social distance whenever possible. As a reminder, you are welcome to contact the Office of Student Life at x3417 to request and coordinate pick-up of a reusable Monmouth mask.

Thank you for your continued cooperation as we work towards a safe and successful return to campus this fall.

Sincerely,

Pat

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Pamela Scott-Johnson who joins us today as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. Although this is her first official day in office, I know that many of you have already had the opportunity to speak with her during her preparations to join the Monmouth University community.

I am delighted that Dr. Scott-Johnson will lead our strategic efforts to invest in academic excellence. Her vision and experience will be instrumental in partnering with faculty to develop new, high-quality, market–relevant undergraduate and graduate programs. 

She comes to Monmouth from California State University, Los Angeles, where she served as the dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences since 2016. At Cal State LA, Dr. Scott-Johnson led the largest college at the university, with more than 150 faculty members in 12 departments serving nearly 6,000 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. Recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative institutions of higher education, the university earned a No. 1 ranking for upward mobility from The New York Times.

Her commitment to teaching and research excellence will also be critical as we transition from a top-tier regional institution to a national university with a growing portfolio of doctoral programs, and deliver on our strategic plan to meet the needs of a rapidly changing student body.

I look forward to introducing Dr. Scott-Johnson to you in the weeks ahead.

Sincerely,

Pat

Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Monmouth University Community:

I write today with an important update to our existing health and safety protocols in response to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases, including the Delta variant, throughout New Jersey and in particular, Monmouth County.  

Effective tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 4 through Wednesday, Sept. 1, all members of the Monmouth University community and guests to our campus – regardless of vaccination status – will be required to wear masks indoors, except when eating and when sitting in a private office or residence hall room. This decision has been informed by prevailing guidance from the Center for Disease Control, as well as the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission.

Over the ensuing weeks, we will continue to monitor the public health situation and we will revisit our masking and other health and safety protocols for the fall semester later in the summer. The University continues to host vaccination clinics on campus for members of our community, as well as their immediate family members. Please continue to check your Monmouth email for information on upcoming clinics and if you have not yet been vaccinated, we urge you to do so as soon as possible. Likewise, we encourage you to continue thorough hand washing and sanitizing practices to help keep our community as healthy as possible. As a reminder, you are welcome to contact the Office of Student Life at x3417 to request and coordinate pick-up of a reusable Monmouth mask.

Thank you in advance for your continued cooperation as we work towards a safe and successful campus reopening this fall. As you well know, in order to preserve the health and safety of our entire community, each of us must commit to protecting all of us.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Dear Colleagues:

Today, as we reopen our campus more fully to employees, I wish to extend both a warm welcome back and my sincere thanks for your continued loyalty and dedicated service to Monmouth. We look forward to re-establishing and renewing our sense of community and camaraderie in the coming weeks as we prepare for a new academic year.

I also wish to extend a special welcome to William (Bill) Siemer, who joins us today as the new Executive Director for Campus Planning and Facilities Management. As you may recall from my previous open calls with faculty and staff, Bill recently retired as Captain from the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps, following an impressive 32-year military career. Bill succeeds Patti Swannack in the oversight of our campus planning, construction, and facilities management functions.

Most recently, Bill served as Executive Officer and Deputy Associate Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command in Norfolk, VA. In this capacity, he led an executive staff in the management of a 4,300-person civilian unionized team and oversaw the delivery of $4.1B in annual design, construction, and facilities services supporting 80 million square feet of facilities valued at $40.3B across 18 Navy and Marine Corps campuses.

Bill is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer, Certified Educational Facilities Professional, Certified Energy Manager, and a Level III (Senior) Contracting Officer for the U.S. Navy – specializing in Construction, Design, and Environmental contracts. Bill holds an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Please join me in welcoming Bill to Monmouth and thanking him for his exceptional service to our country. The senior administrative team and I are so pleased to have such an accomplished and collaborative leader in place to help ensure both the maintenance and the optimal utilization of our buildings and grounds within our fine campus.

Sincerely,

Pat

Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

I write with additional information to help address outstanding questions and to clarify the thinking around our return-to-campus plans for the fall semester.

In anticipation of a full campus reopening in September including in-person academic delivery, co-curricular and extracurricular programming, support services, athletics training and competition, and residence halls at full occupancy, we will need our employees to be present on campus to most effectively serve our students, who are eager to return after the challenges of the past year and a half. The senior administrative team and I also look forward to having our employee community together again on campus to carry out Monmouth University’s mission.

Accordingly, it is our expectation that all staff employees will resume their pre-pandemic work arrangements by Monday, August 2, 2021. All faculty employees are similarly expected to return to campus for the start of fall classes, as is customary each fall semester. We have gone to great lengths to ensure a safe living, learning, and work environment for all on campus, and we are confident that our recently announced healthcare protocols will help to safeguard our community this fall. To achieve a full return of our workforce by these dates, I have asked each Division Head to determine the best return-to-campus schedule for their respective area.

While the remote work schedules in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end July 30, 2021, flexible schedules relating to work hours may be available for qualifying employees. Additionally, the voluntary reduced work schedule first announced on December 16, 2020, is still available for employees who are interested in reducing their current work schedule. In considering requests for any of these individual work arrangements, we will need to continue to prioritize the collective best interests of the University – and our students.

The University will continue to consider requests for reasonable accommodation(s) under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), if and where needed, to allow employees to perform the essential functions of their job. Any such requests should be directed to the Office of Human Resources. If you have other exceptional circumstances impacting your ability to return to campus on August 2, and would like to petition for an alternate work plan, you must notify your Division Head and the Office of Human Resources at humanresources@monmouth.edu by Friday, July 16, 2021. We will process these requests as quickly and carefully as possible, according to a variety of factors and, while there is no guarantee of approval, please know that we will try to be as reasonable and equitable as possible with our decision making.

If you have questions on these return-to-campus expectations, please direct them to the Office of Human Resources, at 732-263-5228 or humanresources@monmouth.edu. Our campus reopening this fall will require the best efforts from all of us. I am confident that our faculty and staff will continue to deliver the first-rate program that makes Monmouth University so distinctive and special for our students. I look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Pat

Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

On this final day of an academic and fiscal year that none of us will soon forget, I write with an administrative update on our division of academic affairs. Today marks the end of an exceptional two-year term of service for our Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Rekha Datta, who will return to our faculty as Professor of Political Science and the Freed Endowed Chair in Social Sciences.

I am grateful to Dr. Datta for her thoughtful leadership and for her extraordinary commitment to Monmouth’s mission during this time. Dr. Datta’s deep dedication to our students’ success is unequaled, and her reputation for routinely placing the needs and best interests of our students first is both accurate and well-earned. Our University was lucky to have had a leader as committed and compassionate as Dr. Datta for the past two years, and Monmouth has developed into a stronger community under her direction.

Dr. Pamela Scott-Johnson will be joining Monmouth University as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on August 9, 2021. I look forward to welcoming her to our community at that time. In the intervening period, any questions or concerns of an academic nature can be directed to our Interim Associate Provost, Dr. Susan Forquer Gupta. I am grateful to Susan for her continuing service in the Office of the Provost.

I am equally thankful to each of you for your loyal service to Monmouth during the past year. I look forward to seeing you at our next regularly scheduled open call. Until then, please accept my best wishes for a Happy July 4^th weekend.

Sincerely,

Pat

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

Please remember that Monmouth University will be closed on Friday, June 18 in observance of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth commemorates emancipation and the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. In accordance with the State of New Jersey’s designation of Juneteenth as a public holiday, the University will recognize Juneteenth on the third Friday of June each year.

The observance of Juneteenth as an official University holiday presents an additional opportunity to renew our commitment to racial justice and equity across the Monmouth community. It is my fervent hope that each of us will take time to pause and reflect on the historic importance of Juneteenth, and to consider the ways in which we might continue to foster an inclusive and inviting community for all our members.

I am gratified by our ongoing efforts to address inequity wherever it exists, and to ensure that all feel welcome at Monmouth.

Pat

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President