Division of Student Affairs 2024 Year in Review

The areas under the Student Life & Advocacy Pillar include the Offices of the Dean of Students (Advocacy & Support; Off-Campus Living & Community Initiatives; Title IX, Compliance, & Restorative Justice; Student Orientation & Transition Programs; Graduate Student Life; Basic Needs; Faith, Spirituality, & Interfaith Initiatives; Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution; and Student Legal Services); and Residence Life.

Student Support:

• 9,000+ student contacts via email, virtual-drop-in appointments, and scheduled in-person appointments.
• 304 requests for temporary conditions were made during the 2023–2024 academic year, with 179 requested this fall semester.

Student Transitions:

• Over 12,000 plus students attended new student orientation during summers of 2023 and 2024 with over 45 campus partners participating each summer.
• 2,290 students completed the online orientation (771 first-year students and 1,519 transfer students).

Graduate Students:

• Graduate Student Life (GSL) facilitated 72 opportunities for students to connect with each other through graduate student-centered events and programs. Examples include Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week and Life @ The Graduate Student Lounge.
• GSL provided 65 opportunities to connect students to support services and resources through orientations and resource fairs (e.g., RU Grads: First Weeks @ Rutgers).
• GSL created opportunities for students to join six peer-designed and facilitated affinity groups for African students, BIPOC LGBTQIA25+ students, Bisexual+ students, Chinese students, international students, and Neurodivergent students.

Student Basic Needs:

• The Rutgers Food Pantry had over 6,300 student visits with an average of 3.6 visits per student (1,750 unique visits and 1,538 first-time visitors).
• 62,535 pantry items were distributed to students with a financial value of $89,810.23 ($51.32/per student) and weighing over 46,000 total pounds.
• 33 students were provided emergency student funding totaling $23,900.

Faith and Spirituality:

• Advised and supported over 40 faith-based student organizations including the individual advisement of 150 students involved in these organizations.
• Coordinated the work of 25 recognized chaplaincies providing support for students’ spiritual needs.

Student Conduct:

• Received over 4,800 conduct incident reports (including policy violations and academic integrity cases), resulting in over 7,400 individual conduct cases and over 6,200 adjudicated cases (5,341 conduct and 883 academic integrity cases adjudicated).

Student Legal Issues:

• Student Legal Services helped 423 students with a variety of legal issues related primarily to landlord/tenant matters, immigration, domestic violence, municipal court, and notary service. Though Student Legal Services does not directly represent students, they help connect students with legal representation, often at discounted rates.

Title IX Issues:

• 270 reports of student sexual misconduct were received and administrated by Title IX and Compliance.
• 52 students experiencing a pregnancy or related condition were provided accommodations by Title IX and Compliance.

New Restorative Justice Program:

• The Restorative Justice Program facilitated approximately 78 community building circles, 7 training workshops (several which were multi-week trainings), and 10 individual conflict management workshops.

Residence Life/Housing:

• Over 15,000 students assigned to campus housing in the past year (one of largest housing programs in the country).
• Almost 1,500 students participate in 14 living and learning communities that supported by 13 academic partners.
• New Neurodiversity and Disability thematic community established Fall 2024 named Open Arms Community by current members, this thematic living community focuses on neurodiversity and disability and is a place where students can “unmask” as a person with a disability without fear of judgement or discrimination and make connections with other students with disabilities to both learn from one another and to bond through common experiences. Students do not have to identify as neurodivergent or a person with a disability to join Open Arms. The community is also open to allies who would like to gain a better understanding of the experiences of individuals with disabilities and the neurodiverse community.

The areas under the Administration and Student Services Pillar include Dining & Retail Services; Student Activities Business Office (SABO); Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for the Student Experience (business, human resources, assessment, marketing/communications, development/fund raising and Student Affairs IT support).

Fundraising:

• Over 1 million dollars raised in the past year to support student need (e.g., food pantry, emergency funding, scholarships, etc.).

Business Affairs:

• Student Organization generated $5,460, 365.99 in financial transactions in the past academic year, all managed by the Student Activities Business Office. 

Human Resources:

• Over 2,000 student employees employed across Student Affairs (e.g., Dining, Recreation Centers, Student Centers, etc.).
• Employee years of service across all Student Affairs units (Dining Services being the largest): 10 or fewer years: 522; 11 – 20 years: 302; 21 – 30 years: 91; 31 or more years: 27.

Dining:

• 4.96 million meals served annually, or 24,000 meals per day throughout the academic year, including student board, guests, employees, catering, and athletics. 
• 1,767 students with dietary restrictions were supported through Dining’s nutritionists, ensuring these students had access to delicious, nutritious, medically safe, and/or religiously appropriate meals seven days a week throughout the semester.
• Dining Services continues to be an active member of the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative, participating in three research studies and two scholarly/research publications this past fall.
• Since November 2024, all fresh chicken used in dining hall recipes is Halal-certified. 

Parents and Families:

• 2,514 individuals attended the 12-session Parent and Family Orientation in the summer of 2023.
• 44,519 subscribers to the R Family Hub. 1.8 million emails were sent through the Hub in the last year including newsletters and special announcements, with a 62% open rate (a significantly higher open rate than most other communications).
• In-state families represented 77% of the registrants of in-person events (13% Out-of-State and 10% International).