By Alexandria Addesso
The Kean Federation of Teachers discussed the updated status of Middle States and the possible outcomes of Kean University losing accreditation at their welcome back meeting on Sept. 10 in the Little Theater.
“Kean is in crisis. That is a fact.” said James Castiglione, president of the Kean University teachers’ union.
According to the KFT report on the meeting on Aug. 2, President Farahi had agreed that the KFT and his administration needed to work together on such issues as accreditation. The report of the meeting with Farahi also brought up the discussion of Kean’s low enrollment.
When asked by Castiglione if the accreditation issue could be affecting enrollment at Kean, President Farahi replied,” It’s a logical explanation; it could be the economy, scheduling reasons, but to think that accreditation status does not have effect on enrollment is faulty.”
During a question and answer section of the meeting a professor asked how she should respond to the constant questions from her students about accreditation and what would happen to students if accreditation was lost.
Castiglione recommended being truthful with students and that Kean has been given a two-year probationary status from June 2011, when the initial infraction was committed.
In the case of Kean University losing its accreditation, Castiglione said the school could close or more likely, “Merge with Rutgers-Newark, Montclair or maybe become a branch of Ocean County College.”
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