48 for Montclair State

As Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of University College, it is my privilege to connect with alumni to share how we are making an impact--and empowering students to make the most of their education.

Thanks to the support and generosity of our donors, Montclair State University continues to deliver rigorous programs and life-changing opportunities.

As the newest academic home for pre-major/undeclared students, University College aims to provide students with the support, guidance, and opportunities needed to forge a successful academic path at Montclair State University.

Some of the exciting initiatives at University College include:

• Proactive Academic Advising: We help our pre-major first-year and sophomore students create a successful academic plan to guide them toward major declaration. During their advising session(s), our students’ academic advisor can walk them through their schedule, discuss what challenges they may be facing academically, connect them to campus resources, and guide them toward further major exploration.

• Innovative Exploratory Programming: Our academic programming team aims to create innovative and impactful opportunities to connect our students to their future academic home in one of the other Colleges and Schools on campus.

  • The Discovery Program is a comprehensive initiative designed to help students connect their interests, skills, and values to a potential major that is the right fit for them through any one of our six tracks that guide them through the other Colleges and Schools.

  • Crash-a-Class is an exclusive opportunity that gives exploratory students the chance to experience ‘life inside the major’ from a seat inside the classroom; with 100+ class options to choose from each semester, there’s a class available for all academic interests!

  • Academic Exploration Week is a week-long series of events, held annually during the fall semester, that supports a student’s individual exploration through any of the other Colleges and Schools on campus.

  • Major Madness is a month-long initiative, held annually in the spring, that showcases all of the individual academic departments, and their respective majors, on campus.

• First-Year Discovery Tracks: Selecting a major can be one of the most important decisions our students can make during their time at Montclair State.  From their first semester students can focus on courses that will help prepare them for that decision.

  • The STEM Pioneers Program offers first-year, first-generation students who have an interest in the sciences the opportunity to learn first-hand what life inside the College of Science and Mathematics looks like before committing to a specific major.

In addition to designating your gift to support the Colleges and Schools at Montclair State University, you can also support initiatives that impact the campus community like the Emergency Scholarship Fund, the Red Hawk Pantry, or the Fund for Montclair State.

With thanks,

David S. Hood, Ed.D.

Associate Provost, Undergraduate Education

Dean, University College