Kean ‘Counts On’ Data to Bridge Equity Gaps

More than 150 Kean University faculty, staff and students recently took part in the University’s “Count on Me” Mid-Year Convocation focused on using data to address equity gaps across the institution. 

The event – conducted in the spirit of an interactive “unconference” – offered all attendees the chance to speak up and share ideas in a workshop setting at Miron Student Center.

“The Mid-Year Convocation highlighted how interconnected we all are here at Kean. We all count on one another and work together to eliminate systemic barriers to student success,” said Kean President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed.D. “I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this meaningful event.”

Kean Senior Vice President Michael Salvatore, Ph.D., Vice President Carlos Rodriguez, Ed.D., and Associate Vice President Neva Lozada, Ed.D., led the event, which offered discussions on enrollment, advising and more.

“We want you to be a leader and a learner,” Salvatore said to the attendees.

The conversation focused on ways to close equity gaps by consistently taking purposeful action through the lens of the University’s Moon Shot for Equity initiative. In 2022, Kean became the first university in New Jersey to join Moon Shot, a network of universities across the country taking strategic steps to remove systemic barriers to student success.

The convocation also featured discussion of advisement practices to guide students toward graduation, and of research and the desire to expand research into every corner of the University.

One session discussed high-impact practices for research universities, facilitated by Kean Vice President for Research Susannah Porterfield, Ed.D. The topic of research is important as Kean works toward achieving a designation as an R2 research institution.

“The earlier we can get students into research, the better. If that is embedded early, it becomes part of our DNA,” said Associate Professor Heather Stokes-Huby, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics at The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics and Technology, who attended the event.

Students contributed to the convocation as well.

“As a student, one of the best ways to increase student engagement is to define the benefits of research,” said junior communication major Dyquan Waters of Linden.