The Semester Town Halls Continue with President Repollet, His Staff & Students

By Chelsey Jaipersaud | Published April 15, 2022

President Lamont Repollet addressed student concerns regarding tuition, changes within facilities and buildings, and dining service advancements on campus during the Spring semester Town Hall.

The Town Hall was held on March 22 and alongside Dr.Repollet were Class President Kobe Robinson as well as Vice President for Planning Felice Vazquez and Associate Vice President for Facilities and Campus Planning Steve Remotti.

“I think as we start to create a system that’s inclusive, we must improve the voices of our students and I think that’s very important,” Dr. Repollet said.

Dr. Repollet said that when you’re looking at a student-centered or learning-centered university or institution, you’re looking at what its needs are, what they need to do to reach their self-actualization.

“This forum is not created to attack and to criticize, it is for moving this university forward and to ensure that your experience on this campus is actualized and you persist to graduation,” Dr. Repollet said.

A Kean student voiced their concern about tuition to which President Repollet responded that Kean University has one of the lowest tuition rates in the state of New Jersey for a four-year comprehensive university and they have not raised tuition for the last two years.

President Repollet further explained that incoming students who hold a 3.2 GPA or higher and make less than $65,000 a year will have their tuition covered by the university for the first year. Students also have the Garden State Guarantee which offers free tuition with the same requirements.

“The state of New Jersey has designated us as a research university and with that comes some incentives for students,” Dr. Repollet said.

Dr. Repollet explained that with the university established as a research institution there comes some incentives for students and that within the next two years students may start to see the Tuition Aid Grant or the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund go up. 

“We looked at every room in Vaughn Eames and ensured that we went back,” Remotti said. “We did find some issues, corrected those issues. We’ve since gone back and continued to audit that building, make sure we stay on top of those issues.”

President Repollet will be doing facility rounds with his leadership team in the near future to make sure the proper measures are taken. He also stressed the importance of having patience because these changes are going to take time.

Kean University is a majority commuter school and some students do not have schedules that a lot them a great amount of time to stop and eat. Students brought up concerns regarding dining services, having healthier options, and figuring out a better way for students to receive their food on time.

“When we’re looking at healthy food, what does that mean?” Dr. Repollet asked. “Are we looking at the dietary requirements of health by the federal government and what they require or what your perception of a healthy meal is?”

President Repollet said that he thinks the university is meeting those requirements, but he would prefer to hear from the students about food options that they consider healthy. With this comes student cooperation. The surveys that the university sends out are important for students to fill out because that is how the university goes about making effective changes whether that be involving food or maintaining the climate of the university.

Two surveys that were sent out to students were the campus dining survey and the climate survey

Director of Financial Planning and Analysis Orley Wainberg indicated that 933 students filled out the dining survey back in December.

According to the official Kean website, the Climate Survey will assess where the university is as an institution and where they plan to go. The survey will guide Kean as it works to grow as a welcoming, inclusive and diverse university.

“It’s the communication that you guys share with us that is just so valuable in helping us shape how we’re moving forward because it’s really difficult to understand fully the student experience,” Wainberg said.

Students are encouraged to fill out all surveys sent from the university to help Dr. Repollet and his team get a better understanding of changes that need to be made. “Your voices are important, continue to advocate,” Dr. Repollet said

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