By Ally Uhlendorf, Isabella Darcy & Eddie Young
Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editors
President Michael Bernstein sat down for an interview with The Signal on Sept. 24 to discuss updates on existing initiatives, the latest on the College’s debt and plans for the academic year.
Bernstein began his second year as president of the College, and third year in the presidential role in June. With a background in economics, he has spent his time at the College focusing on reducing its debt while maintaining its status.
“I think we're doing pretty well,” Bernstein said, noting tensions at some higher education institutions across the United States. “I think we're in a pretty good place. I think staff, faculty and students are in a pretty good place, and we get the job done.”
Here’s what the president had to say:
CATs & housing updates
Coordinated Action Teams, referred to as CATs, were created in late 2024 to address specific campus policy areas with three groups: dashboard, library and housing.
The dashboard team was tasked with creating a spot on the College’s website to locate statistical information about the institution and how it operates. There are two dashboards now up and running. These are updated regularly. One externally for anyone that wants to access, and an internal one with more detailed information for people with login credentials for the College.
The library team is looking into renovating the R. Barbara Gitenstein Library, taking a more modern approach in redesigning it.
“The core of the building is a collection of books and periodicals, and around the edges are all of you in your desks,” Bernstein said. “We want to reverse that.”
The renovation process is still in its design phase, but Bernstein said he hopes it will take as little as a year-and-a-half to two years to complete.
Another part of the renovation will be to move the campus bookstore from Campus Town to the library.
“It’ll be much more focused on the digital delivery of materials to students for their studies,” Bernstein said.
Housing-wise, Decker and Cromwell Halls will be getting air conditioning next summer. This follows the successful installation of air conditioning in Norsworthy Hall last year.
Starting next year, the College will be implementing a “differential housing pricing scheme,” according to Bernstein. This means that the price of housing will be dependent on the building you live in, instead of the rate being constant for everyone.
“What’s currently being paid for housing will be the mid-range rate,” Bernstein said. “There would be a discount below that rate for certain housing that doesn’t have a lot of amenities, like the towers, and there would be higher rates for dorms like Phelps or Hausdoerffer who have more amenities and are in better shape.
TCNJ adding early action
The College recently added early action as an option for prospective students. Previously, students were only able to apply to early decision or regular decision. The president said this has and will increase application rates and attract more applicants.
“We don’t want students to be avoiding applying to TCNJ because we don’t have early action, and they want it. From what I understand, there’s been an increase in applications in response to our posting early action,” Bernstein said.
This decision was influenced by schools similar to the College offering early action and providing a more equal opportunity for prospective students who are looking into attending the College.
“As always, we’re in a competitive marketplace. If peer institutions are going to do it and students are responding, we’re going to do it,” Bernstein said.
TCNJ highlighted in “Dream School” list
The College was one of the 75 schools mentioned in “Dream School,” a recently published book by New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Selingo. The College was considered a “Breakout Regional” in the book, and was one of four New Jersey colleges mentioned.
“[Selingo] associates us in the same breath as UNC-Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia and the University of Michigan,” Bernstein said. “That’s pretty damn good company. I’ll take that any day of the week. Really proud about that recognition.”
Nationwide college threats
The president touched upon the nationwide increase in violent threats against colleges and universities, and how the College prioritizes safety for the campus community.
“Our campus police force is pretty damn good at what they do. They have systematic critical incident plans and emergency plans. You know, God forbid, but I am quite confident that if an active shooter incident [were to occur] on our campus, that police force would respond immediately,” Bernstein said. “We have protocols, you know, to-do lists. They’re a pretty impressive group. Chief Grant does a great job.”
However, the president recognizes that this is a trying time for higher education institutions in the United States due to the rise in threats and active violence.
“All that being said…we’re living in pretty difficult times. There’s a lot of challenging and frightening stuff that goes on out there, so we’re very vigilant,” he said. “Police are monitoring social media, they’re monitoring general communications.”
The College recently received two anonymous, non-specific threats via a post on the social media platform Fizz Social Corp. The threats were deemed false following an investigation by Campus Police, but followed an ongoing theme of anonymous threats spreading on various campuses. Schools such as Villanova University, Montclair State University and multiple historically Black universities and colleges were subjects of these threats recently.
Speaking on the incident, the president reassured that these cases are taken seriously.
“We live in fraught times, and we have to take everything seriously. We have a student post something on social media that they thought was a joke; we’re not joking about it,” Bernstein said. “Because you can’t say, ‘oh, yeah, this is just a joke.’ We don't have that luxury anymore.”
Debt updates
Like many other institutions across the country, the College has been facing adversities with debt. Currently, a schedule is being followed to pay off the debt. Bernstein said the College will make significant payments through the end of academic year 2027.
“Our debt is high, but it’s not catastrophic. They’re not punishing us about it in the financial markets,” he said. “But I think we have an opportunity to, as I say, generate a little more headroom over the next couple of years. And I think the CFO and his team are going to start to develop a strategy to do that.”
Multiple New Jersey institutions, including the College, have brought this issue to the attention of elected officials. However, there is no current solution to these debts from the state.
Government affairs
With the New Jersey gubernatorial election approaching on Nov. 4, Bernstein is keeping up with the campaigns of candidates Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciatterelli. The College’s government affairs officer is in regular contact with both campaigns, according to Bernstein.
Over the summer, Bernstein and numerous presidents from other New Jersey institutions met and spoke with the candidates at a retreat hosted by the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Bernstein said he and the candidates discussed deferred maintenance — which refers to postponed capital projects that drive up the College’s borrowing costs, maintaining affordability and accessibility for public schools in the state, and how candidates would deal with potential pressures from the federal government.
“It was good to have a chance to talk with both of them,” Bernstein said.
Looking ahead
Along with monitoring CATS groups’ progress, Bernstein and his team are working to refurbish the College’s academics.
Revisions to the Common Core are on the horizon.
“I think all of us would agree the Common Core is a little overgrown, muscle-bound … hard to understand ” Bernstein said. “We’re going to try to slim it down, rationalize it, make it a little more efficient and straightforward.”
The College is also looking to add more programs to the new School of Graduate, Global, and Online Education, and to establish a clear set of plans to handle artificial intelligence.
Standards on how the College will enforce academic integrity when AI comes into play are already being developed. Bernstein said he wants to expand standards even further by embedding AI in curriculum “in ways that make the most sense” to best prepare students for the next steps in their lives and careers.
By spring 2026, Bernstein hopes to finalize and publish a “master plan” that consolidates the College’s two strategic plans. “TCNJ 2027: Extending Our Excellence” will be integrated with “We are TCNJ: A Strategy for Inclusive Excellence” if everything proceeds as expected.
The president is currently looking forward to welcoming families, friends and alumni to campus on Oct. 11 for the College’s Homecoming celebration. He is also excited to cheer on the football team, as they take on William Patterson University.
