Page 15 - College Planning & Management, January 2018

Business MANAGING HIGHER ED
RENDERING COURTESY OF STOCKTON UNIVERSITY
Public-Private Partnerships: A Path to Success
Two universities in New Jersey are experiencing growth and financial stability by developing partnerships with businesses and their communities.
BY SCOTT BERMAN
GETTING THE MOST out of capital projects requires, among other things, great attention to the details, stra- tegic thinking, cultivating stakeholder buy-in, working
closely with local communities, and finding and forging the right partnerships and funding formulas. It also takes bold vision and the ability to think big and persevere.
Two growing institutions in southern New Jersey, Stockton and Rowan universities, are examples.
A Win in Atlantic City
At Stockton University, a recent visit to the site of a 533-bed student residence showed bustling construction just yards from the storied Atlantic City boardwalk. The $93-million building is part of a $200 million initiative that Stockton is implementing, after various
fits and starts over the years, to create an Atlantic City campus some 13 miles from Stockton’s main campus in Galloway Township.
Slated to open in 2018, the Atlantic City Gateway residential cam- pus signals a determination to get the very most out of a project for a growing university and a transitioning city. Stockton officials are creating not only a residential campus that will offer new academic facilities and an attractive beachfront housing option for students, but also, as the Atlantic City campus’ Chief Operating Officer Brian Jackson, says, “an impetus for private development to find its way back into” the storied but financially troubled resort community.
The locale is compelling enough for Stockton to unmoor this, a ma- jor project, from its growing, crowded main campus. Granted, Stockton was founded in and has had a presence in Atlantic City for years, and offers classes and housing in other locations, Jackson points out.
JANUARY 2018 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 15