Board of Trustees Elects New Officers

Nelida Valentin, center, will serve as chair of the Stockton Board of Trustees for the upcoming year.
Galloway, N.J. 鈥 The 番茄社区app Board of Trustees elected new officers and approved the naming of the newest Atlantic City residence hall when it met Sept. 20.
The new slate of officers includes: Board Chair Nelida Valentin; Co Vice-Chair Nancy Davis; Co Vice-Chair Jose Lozano and Secretary Michelle Keates.
Valentin, 鈥86, of Trenton, was appointed to the board in 2016. She is vice president of Grants and Programs for the Princeton Area Community Foundation in Lawrenceville. She served as director of Cluster and Business Development at New Jersey Institute of Technology鈥檚 Innovation Institute and as executive director of the Newark Workforce Investment Board. She holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Business Studies from Stockton and a master鈥檚 in Political Science/Public Policy from Rutgers University.
Outgoing chair Raymond R. Ciccone of Surf City, a 1979 graduate, was recognized for his service. Ciccone was appointed to the board in 2012 and has served as chair since 2020, helping guide the university through the pandemic and the construction of the Atlantic City Phase II expansion. His term expires in 2027.
鈥淩ay Ciccone is a shining example of what it means to be an Osprey. A first-generation student, Ray used his education and experiences from Stockton to become a leader in his field.鈥 President Joe Bertolino said. 鈥淗e has spent his career improving the world of business, while also giving back to his community through public service.鈥
Juan Diego Chaparro Villarreal, of West New York, was sworn in as the new Student Trustee Alternate. Former alternate Shalayby Parsons, of Salem, becomes the new Student Trustee.
In other business, the board approved naming the Phase II Atlantic City residence hall Parkview Hall. The new facility opened to more than 400 students last month. It is located at the corner of Atlantic and South Providence avenues in the Chelsea section of Atlantic City with views of O鈥橠onnell Memorial Park.
Bob Heinrich, vice president for Enrollment Management, shared preliminary enrollment figures for fall 2023. The university welcomed 1,536 first-time students. Total enrollment at the university is 8,727.
Finally, as part of the new 鈥淢ission Moment鈥 segment of the meeting, professors Stacey Culleny and Meg White provided an overview of The Future Teachers of Color Conference they organized in May. More than 200 local high school students attended the event and were exposed to careers in education. Culleny said a recent study found that over 50 schools in New Jersey don鈥檛 employ a single teacher of color, even though, according to the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), students of color make up over 50% of state schools. She and White reported the event was a successful first step in trying to overcome that disparity.
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