Stockton University

Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Founded in 1969, Stockton accepted its charter class in 1971. At its opening in 1971, classes were held at the Mayflower Hotel in Atlantic City; the campus in Galloway Township began operating late in 1971. Nearly 10,000 students are enrolled at Stockton and it is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The university has a second campus in Atlantic City.
In November 1968, New Jersey approved a $202.5 million (equivalent to $1831.03 million in 2024) capital construction bond issue with an earmarked $15 million (equivalent to $135.63 million in 2024) designated for the construction of a new state college in Southern New Jersey. In 1969, a 1,600-acre (650-hectare) tract was selected for the campus in the heart of the New Jersey Pine Barrens in Galloway Township. The trustees originally named the school "South Jersey State College", but they later renamed it to "Stockton State College", in order to avoid confusion with Rutgers College of South Jersey.
In 1970, as construction began to run behind schedule, the trustees realized they needed an alternative location for the first class in 1971. They selected the historic Mayflower Hotel in Atlantic City as the temporary campus.
Classes began on schedule with the commencement of the first academic year in September 1971. The college took shape as 1,000 students (50 of whom were Educational Opportunity Fund students), 97 staff, and 60 full-time faculty took over the former resort hotel. By December 1971, occupancy of the first phase of the new campus construction took place, with the transfer of classes and offices to Galloway Township during the winter holiday period.
Accreditation of Stockton State College by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools was first granted in December 1975. In July 1991, the college was re-accredited unconditionally for another 10 years by the Middle States Association Commission on Higher Education, and Middle States accreditation was reaffirmed most recently in 2012.
In 1978 the US Congress passed legislation creating the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, the first such designation in the nation, to protect the area's ecology and aquifer, which serves the large metropolitan region. In 1988, the United Nations designated it an International Biosphere Reserve, in recognition of its importance.
In 1993, the college's name was changed to the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Rochelle Hendricks, New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education, approved Stockton's petition to become a university on February 13, 2015. On February 18, 2015, Stockton's board of trustees voted to change the former college's seal to reflect the new name, Stockton University. The executive committee of the New Jersey Presidents Council, which represents the presidents of the state's public, private and community colleges and universities that receive state aid, had also voted for the change. In February 2015, the college was awarded university status and was officially renamed Stockton University on February 18, 2015.
In the fall of 2017, Stockton University began constructing a new facility in the Chelsea neighborhood of Atlantic City. The addition was met with applause from local residents and community leaders, who hailed it as a redevelopment of the long-declining neighborhoods in Ward 5 of Atlantic City. By Thanksgiving 2018, the construction of the campus was complete. The campus budget was $178.28 million, is three stories tall and has an apartment-style complex for student living, called the Kessleman Hall. It also includes retail space along the Atlantic City boardwalk. Approximately 1,300 students are enrolled.
Richard E. Bjork led the college as it graduated its first classes, expanded programs and achieved accreditation in 1975, the year it completed Phase II of the campus. The next year, the Performing Arts Center, a community and campus resource, opened.
Mitchell led during continued growth as enrollment approached 5,000 students. Housing II, residential facilities for students, opened in November 1981 and the N-Wing College Center in February 1983.
Vera King Farris established the Holocaust Center in 1990, and the first Master's program in the country for Holocaust & Genocide studies in 1999. She directed the college to adopt sustainable design and practices, and oversaw expansion during the 1990s, including construction of the Arts and Sciences Building, designed by Michael Graves.
Emphasizing green buildings, Herman Saatkamp directed completion of a campus master plan in 2005 and a major capital program, including construction of the largest building, the Campus Center, opening in 2011. He initiated the 2010 purchase of what is now Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club, established the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism in the School of Business, and a collaborative agreement in 2011 with the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration to expand opportunities for students at both institutions in hospitality and tourism. Under his leadership, Stockton expanded its geographic reach, opening instructional sites in Cape May County, Ocean County and western Atlantic County, NJ. He led Stockton's first comprehensive fundraising campaign, which exceeded its goals by raising $25.36 million, including gifts that helped transform Stockton's facilities and programs. Saatkamp oversaw Stockton's purchase of the Showboat casino.
On April 22, 2015, Saatkamp announced his resignation, to take effect on or after August 31, 2015. On April 23, Saatkamp received a vote of "no confidence" from a portion of the faculty. On April 28, it was announced that Saatkamp was taking immediate medical leave.
Harvey Kesselman, a former provost and executive vice president, was named acting president when Dr. Saatkamp announced his intention to resign and subsequently went on medical leave. Kesselman became interim president September 1, 2015, and was named Stockton's fifth president at a December 2015 meeting of the university's board of trustees. Kesselman was inaugurated on September 23, 2016. Under his leadership, Stockton has added new academic programs, such as a doctorate on Organizational Leadership and a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science. He guided a major facilities expansion at the Galloway campus and strengthening the university's roots in Atlantic City, where he and other students took their first classes when Stockton opened in 1971.
Construction of the $33.2 million Unified Science Center 2 and a $15.2 million classroom building were completed in 2018, creating three sections of a new Academic Quad and entrance to the university. Kesselman negotiated a public-private partnership with Atlantic City Development Corp., or AC Devco, for a new campus in Atlantic City with residences for 533 students overlooking the beach and Boardwalk. Stockton Atlantic City also includes an Academic Center for up to 1,800 students, and a parking garage. All of Stockton's new facilities opened for classes in fall 2018.
In the 2010s, the university completed several major building projects and other initiatives. The new Campus Center opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 7, 2011. The 154,000-square-foot (14,300-square-metre) building was designed as a green, sustainable building which would be an inviting, inclusive, and exciting gathering place for the entire community.
Stockton opened a new $39.5-million Unified Science Center with state-of-the-art equipment in September 2013. The 66,350-square-foot (6,164-square-metre), three-story facility expands Stockton's School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NAMS), which graduates over 20 percent of all the math and science majors at New Jersey's public colleges and universities.
In August 2010, as part of its expansion of its tourism and hotel management program in the School of Business, Stockton announced plans to purchase the nearby Seaview Resort & Golf Course. On September 1, 2010, Stockton completed the deal for $20 million. In 2010, Stockton established the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT), part of the Stockton School of Business in Atlantic City at Stockton's Carnegie Center.
Stockton University officially completed the sale of the Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club on July 31, 2018, to KDG Capital LLC of Florida for $21,070,000. The hotel retained the name Seaview Hotel & Golf Club. Dolce Hotels and Resorts by Wyndham will continue to manage the hotel while Troon will continue to operate the two 18-hole golf courses.
The university has built an Atlantic City campus at the Boardwalk and Albany Ave, with student residences overlooking the beach and Boardwalk. Stockton University Atlantic City opened fall 2018 with more than 500 residential students and more than 1,800 students taking courses in the new Academic Center, built on the former site of Atlantic City High School. The project is a public-private partnership with Atlantic City Development Corp., or AC Devco, a non-profit modeled on New Brunswick Development Corp., which expanded Rutgers' New Brunswick campus. The project includes a parking garage topped by new offices for South Jersey Gas, with 879 parking spaces for use by the university, South Jersey Gas and the public; and an academic building that can accommodate up to 1,800 students. The university also owns and operates the nearby Rothenberg Building.
Funding sources for the Atlantic City campus include $50.4 million in bonds from the Atlantic County Improvement Authority from proceeds of almost $70 million in tax credits issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
In December 2014, Stockton had purchased the shuttered Showboat Atlantic City hotel and casino for $18 million, with plans to develop a full-service residential campus awarding undergraduate and graduate degrees and other professional training programs. The former resort, dubbed the "Island Campus", would have been converted casino and employee spaces into classrooms, cafeteria space and offices for faculty and staff. Several floors of hotel rooms would be renovated into student housing, while the remaining rooms would be operated as a hotel. The House of Blues would be modified to house the school's performing arts programs.
Soon after, it was publicly disclosed that Trump Entertainment Resorts held a covenant to the property, preventing the site from being used as anything other than a casino. It was through this covenant that Trump Entertainment Resorts prevented Stockton's plans to open an Atlantic City campus on the Showboat property. President Saatkamp came under fire for making the purchase despite knowing about the covenant. The university reached a deal to lease the property from investor Glenn Straub, who planned to purchase the Showboat. Straub later sued the university to prevent Stockton from backing out of the deal. Stockton sold the Showboat property to Bart Blatstein in January 2016.
Stockton's academic programs provide opportunities for study in fields including Criminal Justice, Psychology, Environmental Science, Biology, Business, Historical Studies, and Literature. Additionally, courses are offered in emerging fields such as Computational Science, Tourism and Hospitality Management, and Homeland Security. Stockton also offers a Doctor of Physical Therapy program. The Division of Continuing Studies in the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies provides credit-bearing and non-credit certificate programs, CE approved continuing professional education for health sciences, human services and business professionals, and a growing number and variety of community education offerings.
Stockton's Division of Student Affairs is organized to provide comprehensive programs and services to more than 8,800 students, including more than 3,000 students who reside in university facilities. These programs and services are intended to enhance campus life and enrich the academic programs of Stockton.
Stockton University is home to more than 130 official student clubs and organizations including a Student Senate. The Office of Student Development oversees all student clubs and organizations.
There are student media organizations, including the Argo, a student-produced newspaper. WLFR 91.7 (Lake Fred Radio) is the studen-run FM radio station licensed to Stockton in 1984. SSTV Ch. 14, Stockton Student Television, is Stockton's on-campus television station. Stockpot Literary Magazine is an annual literary publication featuring art, poetry and writing of Stockton students and alumni. The Stockton yearbook (The Path) is an historical record of the academic year.
Stockton has six housing units on campus. Housing II and III are complexes of traditional three-story residence halls, while Housing I, IV and V are all apartment-style complexes of varying architectural character.
The Housing I, IV, & V apartment style complexes all vary in layout, furnishings, sizes, pricing, and student privacy. Rooms in all residences are completely furnished and include beds, desks, bureaus, wastebaskets, lamps, telephones, air conditioning, carpeting, and curtains. Cable TV and telephone service are also provided. Single rooms are open to new students on a limited basis.
In 2019 Stockton was ranked No. 35 in "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report. Stockton also ranked tie No. 17 in Best Colleges for Veterans and No. 9 in Top Public Schools in the North.
Military Times named Stockton in its "Best for Vets: Colleges 2019" listing, ranking it No. 24 on the list of four-year schools.
Stockton is an environmentally friendly campus featuring a geothermal heat pump, fuel cells, and photovoltaic panels. In 2002, Stockton installed a 200 kW fuel cell at an initial cost of $1.3 million. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities provided a grant to cover most of the cost of the unit, with Stockton paying only $305,000. South Jersey Industries (SJI) also provided a rebate of $710,000 for the unit. The fuel cell provides just under 10% of the total energy for the campus; Stockton has the lowest energy cost per student among universities in New Jersey.
Stockton achieved national LEED certification for its new sustainable design. In 2006, the F-Wing expansion, including classrooms, offices and an atrium received the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Stockton's commitment to environmentally responsible design has resulted in "green" initiatives that have both saved energy and decreased greenhouse gas emissions. These include the development on campus of one of the largest geothermal heating and cooling systems in the world. The geothermal systems incorporate seasonal thermal energy storage so that waste heat or winter cold can be collected when seasonally available and stored for use in the opposing seasons. A borehole thermal energy storage system (BTES) was installed in 1994 and is used for heating the older half of campus, with waste heat collected from air conditioning equipment there. In 1995 a fuel cell and photovoltaic panels were installed buildings to generate energy.
An aquifer thermal energy storage system (ATES), the first of its kind in the United States, began operation in 2008. The ATES system reduces the amount of energy used to cool Stockton's newer buildings by storing the chill of winter air in the water and rock of an underground aquifer, and withdrawing it in the summer for cooling. (Because building insulation standards have changed over time, the older buildings have a higher heating than cooling need, and the opposite is true for the newer buildings.)
In 2008, Stockton approved an agreement with Marina Energy LLC for the installation of solar panels on The Big Blue athletic center roof to generate electricity. Marina Energy is a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries. Stockton paid nothing for the equipment and signed a 10-year agreement to buy the generated power. In 2009 the job was completed.
As part of the capital plan, Housing V was built in 2009 to accommodate the rising demand for student housing. It incorporates geothermal heating and cooling using closed-loop technology, for a total of 450 tons cooling capacity. To eliminate the possibility of groundwater contamination in the event of a leak, freeze protection is provided in the circulating fluid. The design accommodates future solar thermal heating systems. Sustainable design includes landscaping: upper-story deciduous trees were planted along the south-facing facades of the residence halls to provide shade during the summer months, but allow the warmth of the sun to reach the buildings during the winter. This design received the "Green Project of Distinction" award from Education Design Showcase.
Stockton's next green project was the largest single building project in its history. Designed and built according to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Gold Standard in sustainable design, the new Campus Center, completed in 2011, provides 153,000 square feet (14,200 m) of space for dining, bookstore, pool, theater, lounges and offices.
It will use 25% less energy than standard construction, and 40% less water. Other features include low-emitting adhesives, sealants, paints and coatings. Additional "green" features of the building include a storm water-collection system to irrigate an on-site "rain garden" landscaped with indigenous and adapted plant species. It also has a sophisticated energy management system for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting.
In 2013, Stockton received approval from the New Jersey Pinelands Commission to administer the state's first comprehensive forest management plan on public land. Stockton actively manages more than 1,500 acres of forest on its campus, benefiting the local wildlife populations, protecting the campus against fire and pathogens and providing recreation such as hiking and wildlife viewing.
Team mascot is the Osprey
The Stockton Performing Arts Center [1] offers musical and theater performances for the community, serves as a venue for student productions and performances through the School of Arts and Humanities, and hosts other campus events.
Stockton has had a campus Art Gallery since 1973. Initially located in a classroom-sized space and relocated in 1979 to a former dance studio, the Art Gallery opened in a dedicated exhibition space in January 2012. The Art Gallery is a dramatic two-level space with an open central well that visually connects the two floors. The creative conversion and re-design of the gallery and L-Wing was completed by the architectural firm PS&S (Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor). The Art Gallery exhibits the work of graduating art majors every year in addition to art by local, regional, and nationally known artists.
In 2010, Stockton College entered a partnership with the South Jersey fine arts center Noyes Museum wherein Stockton would supply funds for needed repairs, and Noyes would provide access to their collections to Stockton. The partnership grew, and eventually the Noyes Foundation which ran the museum entirely ceded its assets and control of the museum to Stockton from 2016–2017. The original Absecon site was sold and the museum currently has exhibits at Stockton's Kramer Hall in Hammonton, as well as the Noyes Arts Garage in Atlantic City.
Stockton University CDP is a census-designated place (CDP) covering the residential population of the Stockton University campus in Atlantic County, New Jersey United States.
It first appeared as a census designated place in the 2020 U.S. Census with a population of 2,428.
39°29′33″N 74°31′55″W﻿ / ﻿39.49250°N 74.53194°W﻿ / 39.49250; -74.53194