New Jersey § 18a:64n-2

§ 18a:64n-2.

The Legislature finds and declares that: a. Montclair State University is a State university located in Montclair, Little Falls,

Clifton, and Branchville, New Jersey, currently operating pursuant to the authority

granted to State colleges by N.J.S.18A:64-1 et seq. and P.L.1994, c. 48 ( C.18A:3B-1 et seq. ). b. Building on a distinguished 108-year history, Montclair State University is a leading

institution of higher education in New Jersey. The university's 10 colleges and schools serve 21,000 undergraduate and graduate

students in more than 300 doctoral, master's, and baccalaureate level programs. c. Montclair State University is currently comprised of the College of Humanities

and Social Sciences, the College of Science and Mathematics, the College of Education

and Human Services, the Feliciano School of Business, the College of the Arts, the

John J. Cali School of Music, the School of Communication and Media, the Graduate

School, the School of Nursing, and the New Jersey School of Conservation. d. Effective February 1, 2016, the national Carnegie Classification of Institutions

of Higher Education, which is the widely recognized classification of United States

institutions of higher education, recognized Montclair State University as a Research

Doctoral University, based on the substantial growth at the institution in doctoral-level

education and research activity. e. Effective March 31, 2016, the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education officially

changed Montclair State University's programmatic mission to a doctoral degree-granting

institution. f. Pursuant to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, doctoral

universities are ranked at three levels: Research 1, which have the highest research

activity; Research 2, which have higher research activity; and Research 3, which

have moderate research activity. Among the public universities in New Jersey, Rutgers-New Brunswick is a Research

1 university; NJIT and Rutgers-Newark are Research 2 universities; and Montclair

State University and Rowan University are Research 3 universities. Of these institutions, only Montclair State University has not been recognized as

a public research university by the State of New Jersey. g. Montclair State University has successfully expanded its research activities and

doctoral programs and its ability to attract federal funds for research from the National

Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, the United States Department of Education, and other federal

agencies. h. Examples of important faculty research initiatives at the university include projects:

to develop medical countermeasures for botulinum neurotoxin; to better evaluate drugs

that inhibit, and find the causative agents of, Parkinson's Disease; to study the

catastrophic collapse of ice shelves in the Antarctic; to solve the challenges of

positioning autonomous vehicles in the ocean; to understand how urban students can

come to think of themselves as mathematicians; to understand the sociodemographic

factors contributing to racial and ethnic disparities in cancer prevention; to study

the psychological effects on victims of natural disasters such as Superstorm Sandy;

to evaluate the effectiveness of the portfolio management model being utilized in

urban elementary schools; and to understand the unpredictable dynamics of stochastic

disease spread. i. These contributions to knowledge and the offering of advanced higher education

programs are reflective of Montclair State University's historic contributions to

New Jersey. Established in 1908, Montclair State University was the first of the State colleges

to offer graduate programs in 1932. j. In the past 15 years, Montclair State University has worked strategically and aggressively

to grow enrollment, faculty, and facilities, and that growth has enabled the university

to expand its educational programs and research initiatives in service to the State

and the nation. k. In light of Montclair State University's actual and successful transformation to

a public research doctoral university and in recognition of the university's change

in programmatic mission, it is appropriate at this time to designate Montclair State

University as a public research university.