Introducing Kean Skylands

By Emily Robles | Published by September 26, 2019

Kean University’s new Skylands campus in Morris County offers more than the average grounds.

Students are surrounded by hundreds of acres of pristine wooded land and study in what was once an abbey for a religious order. Students can stroll along a “Canopy Walkway” that leads to a four-story open concept treehouse offering an immersive experience for select majors.

“Students can expect a much more relaxed environment than what is typically experienced in New Jersey,” says Executive Director of the College of Natural, Applied and Health Sciences Daniela Shebitz. “There is no better teacher for environmental science than nature itself. As professors, we are excited to see how students observe environmental interactions and how they are inspired by the complexity of nature and hope that they carry with them a passion to protect the plants, animals, air, and soil around them.” 

Being surrounded by nature generates fewer distractions, Shebitz said.

“I think that students are most likely to learn about the connections between species and their environment through experiencing their interactions up close,” she said.

Located about an hour from the Union campus in Jefferson, New Jersey, the campus was built on 40 acres of protected land and is near the County College of Morris, Sussex County Community College and Passaic County Community College.  

Kean is marketing the campus as an ideal place for students leaving community college with an Associate’s Degree, seeking to earn their Bachelor’s Degree. Kean also has a campus at Ocean County Community College, which has been successfully recruiting students with AA degrees. 

The former abbey that once served as a training center and religious retreat for Paulist Monks is now a, “30,000 square foot lodge renovated to house today’s classrooms, labs, a gym, student lounges, and event centers,” according to its website.

According to a 2017 article in the New Jersey Herald, the 1,100 acres property was purchased by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2009 for $12 million when the religious order found that it could no longer afford to maintain it. 

In October 2014, the NJDEP approved a 20-year lease of approximately 40 acres of the property to Kean University. The article said the Kean renovation was expected to cost about $14 million.

So far, the programs offered at Skylands include Environmental Biology, Criminal Justice, General Business Management and Psychology. Classes range from face-to-face communication to online courses. 

Currently this semester, there are three Environmental Science courses, two Criminal Justice courses, and one Management course available to take at the campus. The campus has nine classrooms and 24 residential rooms.

“More programs will start to be offered on this campus based on student demand,” said Margaret McCorry, Kean’s director of Media Relations.

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