Kean University Introduces New Online System and Faculty

By Tyra Watts | Published September 29, 2022

The Fall 2022 semester has started in full swing as Kean University welcomes its students back for the academic year, as well as welcoming new incoming freshmen.

Plenty of new things have occurred within the past year, such as a new online system, Okta.

Okta will replace the university’s current online system, ClearLogin. Okta makes it easier for Kean students to log in and access Kean-related resources. Currently, Kean is working on replacing ClearLogin with Okta for other Kean applications such as KeanGoogle.

According to Kean University’s OCIS Knowledge base, students can enroll in Okta by downloading the OktaVerify app onto their mobile device. Students can log in using their Kean NetID/password on https://sso.kean.edu By scanning the QR code, their mobile device will pair to the Okta account.

If students have any issues with the sign-up process, they can contact the OCIS Help Desk at 908-737-6000.

Meanwhile, there has been an increase in faculty members. This semester, Kean University has welcomed 53 new faculty members with the goal of the university becoming an R2 Research Institution. 

The faculty members are excited to start their research, including Kalasia Ojeh, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology and Africana studies.

Before coming to Kean University, Ojeh had a tenure track at the University of Louisville and taught there for three years. 

“The University of Louisville was a research-intensive institution,” Ojeh said. “At the time, I was in the Department of Pan-African Studies, so I was asked to teach courses in the research methods section of Pan-African Studies. I would teach the senior seminars in Pan-African Studies and statistics and qualitative methods at the graduate level.”

What inspired Ojeh to come to Kean University and continue her research was that she viewed the university as a school that serves the population of Kean students.

“I want to support, help to develop, help to prepare for the labor market and graduate school,” she said. “Compared to the University of Louisville, Kean is way more diverse and provides opportunities to not only give back but support the type of students that I want to support.”

Ojeh also mentions how she is a scholar of sociology and black studies. She explains the national conversation on Critical Race Theory, and how Kentucky State Senate has a bill that does not allow Critical Race Theory, gender, and sexual orientation to be taught in classrooms from kindergarten to college. 

“Being in a space that does not support diversity, does not support conversations talking about race and inequities, racial culture and joy, you know, was not a space for me,” Ojeh said. “So Kean having an initiative in both jobs that I applied for was in Africana studies and sociology, it kind of meets the need that I, or the pull, for what I wanted to come here.” 

In terms of what to achieve during her time at Kean, Ojeh hopes to revitalize both Africana studies and sociology programs, and wants students to get excited about learning these topics.

“I hope to inspire students to know that they, like me, could do work that they find valuable in a scientific way and ask questions and do research that could answer questions,” She said.

Ojeh provides an example of this by asking the question of why inequality exists between Elizabeth, Hillside, and Union. She also asks why the educational outcome looks different in those spaces and how we see investments in infrastructure improving the lives of people in Elizabeth, Union, and Hillside. 

“I’m here to show the importance of research, and you know, a lot of my students before would say, ‘Oh we don’t need to know statistics,’ but knowing research is very important, knowing statistics is very important for people of a considered minority or non-white backgrounds,” She said. 

Ojeh chose sociology and Africana studies as her focus. She explained how when trying to choose a major in college, she wanted to find a way to express what was happening in her life. She grew up in Harlem and noticed some kids would get to school on time with the ability to focus, whereas other kids could not. She saw a similar trend when she entered college, more particularly in her classical sociology theory course.

“When I got to my classical sociology theory course, I did not find any people of African descent in the theory building. So I said, “Why is there not one person in the eternity of human existence of this displicine that contributed to sociology theoretical development that is black?” She explained.

Ojeh went on to explain that she had to find black studies and came across a scholar by the name of W.E.B DuBois.

“He wrote so many scholarly works that many of his works were sociological, so now there’s a push within sociology to make DuBois a founder of the field, like a classic theorist as well,” She said. “So I’ve been a part of that research lineage now.” 

In terms of getting used to Kean life, Ojeh states how she took part in Kean Day and will be a part of the Open House event. 

“One of the things that I want to do is be present, and I want to be a part of and familiar with what Kean has to offer,” She said. 

Meanwhile, Amir Bhochhibhoya, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics. He works at Kean with his wife, Pragya Charma Ghimire, Ph.D., who is an assistant professor of exercise science. 

They are both from Nepal and have previously worked at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. 

Bhochhibhoya has taught for nearly ten years, spending the first5 years being a teaching assistant. The last five have been spent as a professor.

When asked what made him decide to go to Kean University, Bhochhibhoya explained how he worked at Lander University and how small it was compared to Kean, and that it was their fifth year, which means he and his wife would get tenure. 

They were comfortable at Lander University, but they wanted to grow and challenge themselves. 

“We started looking for jobs, and at Kean University we both applied for the job, and when I came here I realized that Kean University is trying to become from R3 to R2, so that was an opportunity for us,” He began.

“When the change is happening, it is easier to join during that change rather than when it already happened or doesn’t happen.”

Bhochhibhoya also tells a story about going in for the interview, and how they asked questions and he asked questions as well. He found out that a faculty member went through a similar situation that was going through of having a five-year experience individually and moved to Kean five years ago. 

 “I asked him what he liked about Kean after five years, and he said “The students,” He stated. “So when someone says that, you just feel like probably we have the better interest here. The reasons were in my mind, but when I came in for the interview, I think that question like the interest in that, helped me to decide that “Okay, let’s do it” 

As stated earlier, Bhochhibhoya is an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics. Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution, patterns, and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and biostatistics is the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. 

Bhochhibhoya explains how both work, and uses COVID-19 as an example. 

“It is about how you quantify health,” He began. “Before you know the problem is, you need to know how big the problem is. With COVID-19, in the beginning, we had two cases so we need to worry, and when we saw how quickly it was spreading, we can quantify that, as well as how worse it could be and how many people are going to die.”

In terms of what to hope to achieve at Kean, Bhochhibhoya hopes to be able to challenge himself more.

“If you don’t challenge yourself, then you won’t have fun,” He began. “At this time, I think when you have the energy, you just want to be more productive and challenge yourself. And at Kean, so far, it has been two weeks, and I’m in the department but I see a lot of opportunities for me to grow.”

When asked how he would incorporate epidemiology and biostatistics in his research, Bhochhibhoya states that he always starts with what is the problem and brings up his take on vaping as an example. 

“Like, how big is vaping? In 2011, less than 2% of high school students are vaping, and now in 2020, more than 27% of high school students vape,” He began. ”Quantifying those numbers and finding the data from different credible sources helps me to not only inform myself but inform the rest of the people who are reading my paper about how big the problem is and also try to see where in the problem there is some effectiveness and then incorporate that into my research.”

When asked about the possibility of him and his wife collaborating on research in the future, Bhochhibhoya states that they do so all the time.

“We have done a couple of research together, and she’s kind of like a second eye for me when I write the paper and I help her in the same way,” He said. 

Bhochhibhoya then mentions how he is excited for the semester and enjoys talking to the students because he sees a lot of hope in terms of what they can achieve. 

“Kean students have lots of things going on in their life like their family and their work they are trying very hard to be successful academically and in their life too,” Bhochhibhoya said. “Being able to help someone in that position, I feel blessed.”

In terms of the four-day orientation that Bhochhibhoya, Ojeh, and the rest of the new faculty went through, Bhochhibhoya says that it was very helpful. 

 “When you go to a new place, you try to see what kind of environment it is and Kean University is very welcoming,” He said. “I look around, and it is a very diverse population, and very talented people all around. That excites you as you begin your career in a new institution.” 

Overall, Kean University has seen a lot of improvement within the last year or so in terms of faculty and new online campus features. 

The university is working towards its goal to be the premier university for students to excel in their studies. 

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